Organizing Information
Overall Advice
More information: Preparing your Poster for the Fitchburg State Undergraduate Research Conference
Keep in mind the flow of the poster and how it will navigate the viewer through your research:
Image from The Natural Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference: Guidelines for Poster Preparation, University of Pittsburgh
There are plenty of ways to create your poster, here are a few of our favorites:
PowerPoint: You might already have experience with PowerPoint as a presentation tool, so you shouldn't be surprised to learn that it is among the easiest ways to create a poster for a presentation too! Use this template to get started on a standard sized 48" x 36" tri-fold poster.
Google Slides: Don't have PowerPoint? No worries! Google Slides comes free with your Google account and is another easy platform to use to create a great poster.
Canva: Canva is a free design website that allows you to create posters, handouts, infographics, and more. Create a free account and start designing! When you're done with the design, easily export to PDF or JPEG files. Another free infographic tool is Piktochart.
* When you're using any of these platforms, start by making sure that your page dimensions are appropriate for when you're ready to print. In Slides, go to File > Page Setup and in PowerPoint, go to Slide Size on the Design tab. Also, make sure that your dimensions are in INCHES NOT PIXELS.
You can use Microsoft WORD and EXCEL (or web-based alternatives from Google) to make individual pages or boxes as part of a larger poster design
Finding Images
Using images from the internet can be problematic because of copyright issues, the following recourses will clearly explain usage rights for each image on their platform and will help you navigate what images you can or cannot use.
Note: Before copying and pasting a Fitchburg State logo, make sure you're doing it right: Fitchburg State University General Visual Identity Guidelines (Logos and more)
The following give some suggestions on producing an appropriate sized poster using PowerPoint.
Use the following tips to avoid blurry or pixilated images on your poster:
Image from Udemy Support
Before copying and pasting a Fitchburg State logo, make sure you're doing it right:
Fitchburg State University General Visual Identity Guidelines (Logo and more)
Finding Images
Using images that you find online can be problematic because of copyright issues, so be sure to check the usage rights associated with the image. The following resources will clearly explain usage rights for each image and will help you navigate what images you can or cannot use.
Thank you to librarians at DiMenna-Nyselius LIbrary, Fairfield University for sharing their OER Resource guide.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.