Oversized Printing Services

Oversized Printing Policies

• The University Library will only accept print requests for academic printing for student or faculty poster sessions (no marketing-type or signage printing).
  • Academic printing is defined as a poster created for a poster session that is presented either on- or off-campus and is the product of research or a class assignment.
    • Examples: fall/winter term economics poster sessions, Shepherd Poverty poster sessions, LACS poster sessions.
• 2 business day turnaround time is required for all submissions.
• Posters must be submitted as PDFs and will be printed at 30×40 inches.
• Contact University Copying Services for small format printing or for marketing-type and signage printing.

Oversized Printing Prices

Academic posters created by students or by faculty/staff members are printed gratis.

• Posters for academic poster sessions are created for a poster session that is presented either on- or off-campus and are not already subsidized by the Office of the Provost or other official University entity.
  • Examples: fall/winter term economics poster sessions, Shepherd Poverty poster sessions, LACS poster sessions
• If reprints are requested, due to typos or other issues that are not a result of the printing process, the University Library will charge for reprints at a rate $25 per poster.

Academic Poster Setup

• Academic posters should be created as 30×40 inch documents—in either portrait or landscape orientation.
• The library may accept printing requests for dimensions larger than 30×40 inches on a case-by-case basis.
  • For posters printed at sizes larger than 30×40 inches, the requester will be responsible for trimming to size (contact Elizabeth Teaff for details).

Software Setup

In PowerPoint on a PC

• Create a new blank presentation
• Select Design → Slide Size → Custom Slide Size
• Type in 30×40” (or 40×30”) and click OK
• It doesn’t matter what you click on the resulting popup (either maximize or ensure fit)

In PowerPoint on a Mac

• File → Page Setup
• Customize slide to 30×40” (or 40×30”) and click OK
• It doesn’t matter what you click on the resulting popup (either maximize or ensure fit)

In Publisher

• Open new document [left icon]
• More Blank Page Sizes for printing Create New Page Size
• Customize slide to 30×40” (or 40×30”) and click OK

In Google Slides

• Open up a new blank slide.
• File for printing Page Setup
• Customize slide to 30×40” (or 40×30”) and click Apply.

Organizational Tips

When creating the textual content of your poster, remember the following tips.

• Consider your audience.
• Create logical divisions—such as Introduction, Methodology, Results, Data, Conclusions, & References.
• Label your information—use headings, captions, etc.
• The less text the better—a poster is not a 12 page paper!
• Include proper citation for any image or content you did not create.
  • Ask your professor if you should follow a particular citation style (e.g. APA, Chicago, MLA).
• Don’t forget to include a TITLE, YOUR NAME, CONTACT INFORMATION, & ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATION/FUNDING BODY.

Design Tips

Font tips:

• Choose the proper font size for readability.
  • Use 24–48 point font for body text.
  • Use 48–80 point font for headings/subheadings.
  • Use 80–100 point font for the main title.

Coloration and Brightness:

• Make sure there is enough contrast between the poster background and text.
• Pick a color scheme; but, limit it to 3 or 4 colors. Need help creating a color palette? Try Adobe Color CC.
• IMPORTANT FOR DATA VISUALIZATION: Consider those who have color vision deficiencies.
  • According to Colin Ware’s Information Visualization, “About 10% of the male population and about 1% of the female population have some form of color vision deficiency. The most common deficiencies…result in an inability to distinguish red and green.”

Poster Proofing

The University Library is NOT RESPONSIBLE for proofing posters before printing. To ensure your poster has no spelling or grammar errors, prufreed and proofread again!

Submission for Printing

Convert poster file to .pdf. Do this by selecting Save As and choosing .pdf as the file type.

• • Upload poster files as PDF to BOX via this link to print
  • Include your first and last name in the file name of your poster.

Submission to the Digital Archive

The University Library is interested in adding capstone posters & final project posters to the University’s Digital Archive (@ repository.wlu.edu).

If you want to digitally preserve your work for future scholars, fill out the online submission form. Attach a .pdf file of your poster to this form.

There is no submission deadline; but, the form is only visible to current students.