Evidence Based

How to Create a Poster in PowerPoint

Open your PowerPoint program

Create a new document (file > new > create blank presentation)

From slide layout menu, choose blank slide

2

Go to the Design tab, then Page Setup to enter the dimensions of the poster (the maximum

that can be printed at UTA is width 56” x height 36”)

From the Design tab, choose a Background style (color and gradient)

3

There are options within the View tab that will help you to edit your poster. Click on “Gridlines”

to have a visual guide to help you to align the different elements of your poster. Use the zoom

tool to zoom into specific parts of the poster to work on them or zoom out to see the entire

poster (~ 33%).

Use the Insert tab to add text boxes to add words to your poster

4

Use the Insert menu to add pictures and/or tables to your poster.

General tips for creating posters:

 Title should be in a font size of at least 48.

 Text in the body of the poster should be font size of 24 or larger.

 Tables are a good way to present information in the limited space of a poster. You can

create tables within PowerPoint (Insert > Table) or copy/paste them from a Word

document.

 Use images ≥ 150 dpi. Images taken from a website are usually 72 dpi, resolution too

low to render well on a poster.

Other resources:

This tutorial by Hess, Tosney, and Liegel is an excellent resource for creating and presenting

academic posters: http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/