TEMPLATE INFORMATION ADDING PHOTOGRAPHS POSTER TIPS

LABELING THE HEADERS

CHANGING THE BACKGROUND AND COLOR SCHEME

IMPORTING TABLES AND GRAPHS

PREPARATION AND PRACTICE

This template is sized at 45.72 cm (1.5 ft) x 91.44 cm (3 ft) but formatted to be double that size when printed. Any poster printing facility should be able to double the final printing size to create a 91.44 cm (3 ft) x 182.88 (6 ft) poster.

Using the template will create an easy to read, professional poster and will save you valuable time figuring out proper placement of titles, subtitles and text body.

For poster design beginners helpful tips can be found in the poster template itself.

POSTER LAYOUT

To start using this template you first need to delete most of the contents of this page. Keep the poster title and one of the section headers. The cleared template should now look like the figure below left.

Once you have decided how many sections you need for your poster (Introduction, Methods, Results, References, etc.), use the “copy” and “paste” commands to create as many copies of the section headers as needed. Move the header copies approximately to where you think they need to be on the poster, so you can get a better sense of the overall poster layout. See figure below right.

You can now start adding your text. To add text use the text box tool to draw a text box starting from the left edge of a column to the right edge and start typing in your text or paste the text in from another source.

Repeat the process throughout the poster as needed.

TEXT SIZESThe font in this template is Arial. It is easy to read and provides a clean look.

Due to a page size limitation in PowerPoint all the work done on this template is at half the size of the final poster. For example, the font in the headers are 22 pt but the printed size will be 44 pt.

CHANGING THE COLUMN LAYOUTDepending on your layout, you may want to change the column configuration.

To select a different layout go to Formant > Slide Design and the slide design pane will open. From there you can select an alternate layout.

Poster presentations can be personalized by changing the background and the color scheme.

To change the background go to Format > Background , click on drop down list. If you want a background picture, select Fill Effects and then the picture tab. Insert the picture of your choice.

To choose another color scheme go to Format > Slide Design and the slide design pane will open. Select Color Schemes at the top of the column and the color scheme options will appear. If none of them are suitable, color schemes can also be edited by clicking Edit Color Schemes at the bottom of the column.

It is important to use the largest images available for your poster and to avoid copying and pasting images. To insert an image to your poster go to Insert > Picture > From File.

When the only source of a needed photo or graphic is in low resolution, scaling must be done with care. Scaling an image more than three times its original size may distort the image and create pixilization. A simple way to preview the printing quality of an image is to zoom in at 100% or 200%, depending on the final size of the poster. What you’ll see is likely what you’ll get at printing time.

Original image at 100%, enlarged 200% and 400%.

To import charts and graphs from Excel, Word or other applications simply open the file, select the desired item, copy it and paste the chart on the poster. You can scale your charts and tables proportionally by holding down the Shift key and dragging in or out one of the corners.

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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

EastWestNorth

TABLE ONE

1998 1999 2000

2001 2002 2003

2004 2005 2006

The solid headers are used to identify and separate the main topics of your poster presentation. The most commonly used are:

Introduction, Summaryor Abstract

Conclusion

Materials or Methods Literature Cited

Result Acknowledgements

Once the poster is complete, recruit a friend or colleague, put up the poster and go through the presentation paying attention to how long it took - it should be no longer than 5 minutes!

Have your “practice” audience ask questions and try to give clear, to the point responses. Try to anticipate questions your conference audience may ask and be prepared!!

What you see in the template at 100% - 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

What it will look like when printed (200%)

22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Consideration should be given to the fact that although a poster may lead to a paper, a poster itself is not a paper. Posters will be “presented” during one of two scheduled poster sessions during Petrophase 2008 but the time allotted to the presenter will only be 5 minutes, followed by a 5 minute question and answer period.

Many posters are too text-heavy. Once a poster is put together, the author should work back through it with an eye to cutting phrases, words and paragraphs. Wherever possible use figures and charts to explain key points and use short bulleted lists to present research aims, protocols, conclusions, etc. Details can be provided verbally and the visual elements will give the poster greater appeal.

Presenters may wish to prepare handouts that provide additional detail and information to those who are interested.

Petrophase 2008 Poster Presentation TitleAuthors and Contributors Names

Associated Institutions