Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5241 USA
(269) 387-5486
Poster Printing Guidelines
The Department does not presently have poster printing capabilities. Please plan to have your poster printed at the new FedEx in the 51 student center.
Successfully creating a poster
- Use Microsoft PowerPoint, Publisher or similar software to create your poster. Most print shops will accept posters in .ppt(x), .pdf, .jpg or .png formats; other file formats will not be accepted for printing.
- Contact the print shop to find out the largest possible printable area - most shops will accommodate posters up to 42” by 96”. You can use custom page sizing to make your poster half the final size. (e.g., page size set at 21” x 42” and ultimately prints at 200 percent).
- Use a minimum of 18pt font; 24pt is preferred (choose either 9 or 12pt if poster will print at 200%). If using PowerPoint, type the text in Microsoft Word or notepad and copy and paste it into PowerPoint as it can be somewhat tricky working with a huge page size.
- Use a plain white or light-colored background. Drawn boxes around text can be useful. The University provides specific guidelines when using its visual identity (logos).
- Sample poster guidelines: , .