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Creating Research Posters

Creating research posters

A research poster is one of a few common ways in which scholars share their work, and the highly visual format provides a lot of flexibility in how you engage your audience. Regardless of whether you're creating the poster for a classroom assignment, for a research fair, or for a conference, the process you follow is largely the same. Before you get started creating your poster, there are a few practical concerns that will guide your design process:

Poster format and dimensions

Will your poster be digital-only, or will it be printed out? You may be given specific dimensions to use but, if not...

  • Posters for digital display:
    • Standard, with a width:height ratio of 4:3
    • Widescreen, with the ratio 16:9
    • Square, with the ratio 1:1
  • Printed posters:
    • Standard, 48 by 36 inches (most common)
    • Widescreen, 56 by 31.5 inches or 64 by 36 inches
    • Square, 42 by 42 inches (used by Summer Legal Scholars)

Timeline

The most important thing to keep in mind is when your poster needs to be 100% complete. Designing a poster can involve a lot of choices, and it may take longer than you expect!

  • Your completed poster may need to be submitted to an instructor or event organizers ahead of your presentation
  • Getting a poster printed takes time! Make sure you know how much time printing will take and plan accordingly

File formatting

The first place to go for file formatting information is either the conference organizers or the print service you'll be using. The type of file you'll need to produce at the end of the poster creation process will depend heavily on the printing service or digital display technology being used. That being said, PDF is a very safe bet if you aren't sure.

Design tools

Are you required to use a specific template or tool? If not, there are a lot of options for creating a poster.

  • Microsoft PowerPoint is commonly used for research poster design, but requires tweaking as it is not set up with posters in mind
  • Adobe Creative Cloud includes many high-powered graphics design tools (like Illustrator and Photoshop), but has a steep learning curve
  • LaTeX is a typesetting tool which is commonly used in math and science, and can be used to create research posters
  • Canva is a "freemium" browser-based graphic design tool that offers good functionality but limited options for unpaid users
  • Inkscape is a free and open-source design tool meant to serve as an alternative to Adobe Illustrator