• Get Help Making a Poster
• Creating a Poster
  • PowerPoint for Windows OS
  • PowerPoint for Mac OS
  • Google Slides
• Designing a Poster
  • PowerPoint
  • Google Slides
• Exporting your Poster to Printable Format
  • PowerPoint for Windows OS
  • PowerPoint for Mac OS
  • Google Slides
• Submitting a Poster Order
• Troubleshooting and FAQs
  • Issues with Size
    • PowerPoint for Windows OS
    • PowerPoint for Mac OS
    • Google Slides
  • Issues with Resolution
    • If the Whole Poster is Blurry
      • PowerPoint for Windows OS
      • PowerPoint for Mac OS
      • Google Slides
    • If Parts of the Poster are Blurry
  • Frequently Asked Questions

1. Open PowerPoint

2. Click “Blank Presentation”

3. Start with a blank slate

   1. Under the “Home” tab

   2. Click “Layout” in the “Slides” section

   3. Click “Blank Slide”

4. Set the poster’s size:

   1. Click the “Design” tab

   2. Click “Slide Size”

   3. Click “Custom Slide Size”

   4. Enter the desired poster size

   5. Click “OK”

   6. A pop-up box will ask if you want to “Maximize” or “Ensure Fit”. If you have no content on your slide, this choice will not matter, either is entirely acceptable. If you do have content on your slide already, please read through these descriptions before deciding:

      1. Maximize - Will scale the slide to fit the new width or height without going over the edges of the new slide size. Then you will need to fix the poster to fit the excess space on the slide. This option has the least amount of work to fix for printing, but the program may over-resize images, which may cause pixelation.

      2. Ensure Fit - Will keep everything on the poster the current size and just enlarge the slide around it. This option is more work because you will need to manually scale the items to fit the new poster size. However, there is more control over images to make sure they don’t become pixelated.

1. Open PowerPoint

2. Select “Blank Presentation”

3. Click “Create”

4. Start with a blank slate

   1. Under the “Home” tab

   2. Click “Layout” in the “Slides” section

   3. Click “Blank Slide”

5. Set the poster’s size:

   1. Click the “Design” tab

   2. Click “Slide Size”

   3. Click “Page Setup”

   4. Enter the desired poster size

   5. Click “OK”

   6. A pop-up box will ask if you want to “Scale” or “Don’t Scale”. If you have no content on your slide, this choice will not matter, either is entirely acceptable. If you do have content on your slide already, please read through these descriptions before deciding:

      1. Scale - Will scale the slide to fit the new width or height without going over the edges of the new slide size. Then you will need to fix the poster to fit the excess space on the slide. This option has the least amount of work to fix for printing, but the program may over-resize images, which may cause pixelation.

      2. Don’t Scale - Will keep everything on the poster the current size and just enlarge the slide around it. This option is more work because you will need to manually scale the items to fit the new poster size. However, there is more control over images to make sure they don’t become pixelated.

1. Open Google Slides, and sign in

2. Under “Start a new presentation,” click “Blank”

3. Change the name of the presentation to your first name, your last name, and a one-word description of your poster. Ex: buckybadger-biology

4. Start with a blank slate

4. 1. Click the “Slide” menu

   2. Click “Apply Layout”

   3. Click “Blank”

5. Set the poster’s size

   1. Click the “File” menu

   2. Click “Page Setup”

   3. From the drop-down menu, select “Custom”

   4. Enter the desired poster size

   5. Click “Apply"

1. If you are going to have a background image, it is recommended to add that in first so you are then able to design the text and aesthetic of the poster accordingly.

2. To change the background of the slide:

   1. Go to the “Design” tab

   2. Click “Format Background”

   3. To choose a solid color background:

      1. Select the “Solid Fill” option at the top of the box

      2. Change the color by selecting the paint bucket

      3. You can also change the transparency of the background color – either by manually inputting the percent of transparency or using the slider to change the transparency.

   4. To use your own image:

      1. Select “Picture or Texture Fill” from the top of the box

      2. Under “Picture Source” click “Insert” Then choose the desired image from your computer.

      3. You can adjust the transparency of the image either by manually inputting the percent of transparency or using the slider to change the transparency.

3. To add text to the slide, you will need to insert text boxes. To do this, go to the “Insert” menu and select “Text Box.”

   1. Note: With reference to font size and style, it is best to use your own judgment concerning what looks the best for the design and aesthetic of your poster. We recommend you do not use anything smaller than 12pt font, although even this is small for a poster.

   2. If you would like to add a solid background to your text box, right-click on the text box and choose “Format Shape.”

   3. You can also add transparency to the background fill of your text box by manually entering a specific percentage or using the slider along the transparency bar to reach the desired appearance.

   4. You can also achieve an ombre style background color fill by choosing the “Gradient” fill when in the “Format Shape” mode.

4. In order to add images to the slide, you will need to insert pictures. To input an image, save the file (we recommend using a PNG or JPEG file) to your computer.

   1. From the “Insert” menu, select “Pictures”

   2. Choose the desired file

   3. If you would like to include any logos for the University of Wisconsin-Madison you can visit the following link to find a range of choices of high-quality logos: umark.wisc.edu/brand/templates-and-downloads/print-logos.php (Unfortunately this does not include specific School or Departmental logos.)

5. Repeat the processes listed in Steps #3 and #4 to add more text boxes and images to your poster, as well as insert any desired graphs, tables, etc.

1. If you are going to have a background image, it is recommended to add that in first so you are then able to design the text and aesthetic of the poster accordingly.

2. To change the background of the slide, click “Background”

   1. To choose a solid color or gradient background:

      1. Click the circle drop-down next to “Color”

      2. For a solid color background, select a color from the “Solid” tab

      3. For a gradient background, select a color from the “Gradient” tab

   2. To choose an image as the background:

      1. Click “Choose image” next to “Image”

      2. Click “Browse”

      3. Select the image file, and click “Open”

3. To add text to the slide, you will need to insert text boxes. To do this, click the text box icon in the ribbon of the window, or click “Insert” then “Text Box”.

   1. Note: With reference to font size and style, it is best to use your own judgment concerning what looks the best for the design and aesthetic of your poster. We recommend you do not use anything smaller than 12pt font, although even this is small for a poster.

   2. If you would like to add a solid background to your text box, click the paint bucket icon in the ribbon

4. In order to add images to the slide, you will need to insert pictures. To input an image, save the file (we recommend using a PNG or JPEG file) to your computer.

   1. From the “Insert” menu, select “Image”

   2. Click “Upload from computer”

   3. Choose the desired file

   4. If you would like to include any logos for the University of Wisconsin-Madison you can visit the following link to find a range of choices of high-quality logos: http://umark.wisc.edu/brand/templates-and-downloads/print-logos.php (Unfortunately this does not include specific School or Departmental logos.)

5. Repeat the processes listed in Steps #3 and #4 to add more text boxes and images to your poster, as well as insert any desired graphs, tables, etc.

1. Click “File” in the upper left corner

2. Click “Save as Adobe PDF”

   1. If there is a pop-up asking you to allow PDF Maker to save the file and continue, click “Yes”

3. Change the file name to FirstNameLastName-OneWordDescription

4. Change the Save As Type to “PDF”

5. Open the PDF file you just created in Photoshop

6. In Photoshop, click “File” in the upper left-hand corner

7. Click “Save As”

8. If the pop-up says “Save to Creative Cloud,” click “On your Computer”

9. Change the Save As Type to TIFF (Recommended), or PNG.

10. Click “Save”

11. For TIFF Files:

    1. Under “Image Compression,” click “None”

    2. Under “Pixel Order,” click “Interleaved”

    3. Under “Byte Order,” click “IBM PC”

    4. Under “Layer Compression,” click “RLE”

    5. Click “OK”

    6. If there is another pop-up warning you that Including layers will increase file size, click “OK”

12. For PNG Files:

    1. Under “File Size,” click “Large File Size”

    2. Click “OK”

1. Click “File” in the upper left corner

2. Click “Save as”

   1. If you can see a button that says “On my Mac,” click it

3. Change the file name to FirstNameLastName-OneWordDescription

4. Change File Format to “PDF”

5. Open the PDF file you just created in Photoshop

6. In Photoshop, click “File” in the upper left-hand corner

7. Click “Save As”

8. If the pop-up says “Save to Creative Cloud,” click “On your Computer”

9. Change the Save As Type to TIFF (Recommended), or PNG.

10. Click “Save”

11. For TIFF Files:

    1. Under “Image Compression,” click “None”

    2. Under “Pixel Order,” click “Interleaved”

    3. Under “Byte Order,” click “IBM PC”

    4. Under “Layer Compression,” click “RLE”

    5. Click “OK”

    6. If there is another pop-up warning you that Including layers will increase file size, click “OK”

12. For PNG Files:

    1. Under “File Size,” click “Large File Size”

    2. Click “OK”

1. Click “File”

2. Click “Download”

3. Click “PDF”

4. Open the PDF file you just created in Photoshop

5. In Photoshop, click “File” in the upper left-hand corner

6. Click “Save As”

7. If the pop-up says “Save to Creative Cloud,” click “On your Computer”

8. Change the Save As Type to TIFF (Recommended), or PNG.

9. Click “Save”

10. For TIFF Files:

    1. Under “Image Compression,” click “None”

    2. Under “Pixel Order,” click “Interleaved”

    3. Under “Byte Order,” click “IBM PC”

    4. Under “Layer Compression,” click “RLE”

    5. Click “OK”

    6. If there is another pop-up warning you that Including layers will increase file size, click “OK”

11. For PNG Files:

    1. Under “File Size,” click “Large File Size”

    2. Click “OK”

1. In PowerPoint, click the “Design” tab

2. Click “Slide Size”

3. Click “Custom Slide Size”

4. Enter the desired poster size

5. Click “OK”

6. A pop-up box will ask if you want to “Maximize” or “Ensure Fit”. If you have no content on your slide, this choice will not matter, either is entirely acceptable. If you do have content on your slide already, please read through these descriptions before deciding:

   1. Maximize - Will scale the slide to fit the new width or height without going over the edges of the new slide size. Then you will need to fix the poster to fit the excess space on the slide. This option has the least amount of work to fix for printing, but the program may over-resize images, which may cause pixelation.

   2. Ensure Fit - Will keep everything on the poster the current size and just enlarge the slide around it. This option is more work because you will need to manually scale the items to fit the new poster size. However, there is more control over images to make sure they don’t become pixelated.

7. Ensure all content is still laid out as you want it to be, and there is no distortion of any of your images

8. Click “File” in the upper left corner

9. Click “Save as Adobe PDF”

   1. If there is a pop-up asking you to allow PDF Maker to save the file and continue, click “Yes”

10. Change the file name to FirstNameLastName-OneWordDescription

11. Change the Save As Type to “PDF”

12. Open the PDF file you just created in Photoshop

13. In Photoshop, click “File” in the upper left-hand corner

14. Click “Save As”

15. If the pop-up says “Save to Creative Cloud,” click “On your Computer”

16. Change the Save As Type to TIFF (Recommended), or PNG.

17. Click “Save”

18. For TIFF Files:

    1. Under “Image Compression,” click “None”

    2. Under “Pixel Order,” click “Interleaved”

    3. Under “Byte Order,” click “IBM PC”

    4. Under “Layer Compression,” click “RLE”

    5. Click “OK”

    6. If there is another pop-up warning you that Including layers will increase file size, click “OK”

19. For PNG Files:

    1. Under “File Size,” click “Large File Size”

    2. Click “OK”

20. Re-upload the file using the link in the email you received, and the instructions above under “Submitting a Poster Order”

    1. NOTE: You MUST Check the quality and size before resubmitting.

1. Click the “Design” tab

2. Click “Slide Size”

3. Click “Page Setup”

4. Enter the desired poster size

5. Click “OK”

6. A pop-up box will ask if you want to “Scale” or “Don’t Scale”. If you have no content on your slide, this choice will not matter, either is entirely acceptable. If you do have content on your slide already, please read through these descriptions before deciding:

   1. Scale - Will scale the slide to fit the new width or height without going over the edges of the new slide size. Then you will need to fix the poster to fit the excess space on the slide. This option has the least amount of work to fix for printing, but the program may over-resize images, which may cause pixelation.

   2. Don’t Scale - Will keep everything on the poster the current size and just enlarge the slide around it. This option is more work because you will need to manually scale the items to fit the new

7. Ensure all content is still laid out as you want it to be, and there is no distortion of any of your images

8. Click “File” in the upper left corner

9. Click “Save as”

   1. If there you can see a button that says “On my Mac,” Click it

10. Change the file name to FirstNameLastName-OneWordDescription

11. Change File Format to “PDF”

12. Open the PDF file you just created in Photoshop

13. In Photoshop, click “File” in the upper left-hand corner

14. Click “Save As”

15. If the pop-up says “Save to Creative Cloud,” click “On your Computer”

16. Change the Save As Type to TIFF (Recommended), or PNG.

17. Click “Save”

18. For TIFF Files:

    1. Under “Image Compression,” click “None”

    2. Under “Pixel Order,” click “Interleaved”

    3. Under “Byte Order,” click “IBM PC”

    4. Under “Layer Compression,” click “RLE”

    5. Click “OK”

    6. If there is another pop-up warning you that Including layers will increase file size, click “OK”

19. For PNG Files:

    1. Under “File Size,” click “Large File Size”

    2. Click “OK”

20. Re-upload the file using the link in the email you received, and the instructions above under “Submitting a Poster Order”

    1. NOTE: You MUST Check the quality and size before resubmitting.

1. Click the “File” menu

2. Click “Page Setup”

3. From the drop-down menu, select “Custom”

4. Enter the desired poster size

5. Click “Apply”

6. Ensure all content is still laid out as you want it to be, and there is no distortion of any of your images

7. Click “File”

8. Click “Download”

9. Click “PDF”

10. Open the PDF file you just created in Photoshop

11. In Photoshop, click “File” in the upper left-hand corner

12. Click “Save As”

13. If the pop-up says “Save to Creative Cloud,” click “On your Computer”

14. Change the Save As Type to TIFF (Recommended), or PNG.

15. Click “Save”

16. For TIFF Files:

    1. Under “Image Compression,” click “None”

    2. Under “Pixel Order,” click “Interleaved”

    3. Under “Byte Order,” click “IBM PC”

    4. Under “Layer Compression,” click “RLE”

    5. Click “OK”

    6. If there is another pop-up warning you that Including layers will increase file size, click “OK”

17. For PNG Files:

    1. Under “File Size,” click “Large File Size”

    2. Click “OK”

18. Re-upload the file using the link in the email you received, and the instructions above under “Submitting a Poster Order”

    1. NOTE: You MUST Check the quality and size before resubmitting.

Some image file types are better than others for maintaining quality. For more information on how to change the file type, see the instructions under “Exporting your Poster to a Printable Format”. Here is the DesignLab’s recommendation for image file formats:

1. Highest Quality: TIFF – the acronym “Tagged Image File Format,” is used for storing raster graphics images. This format is popular among graphic artists, publishing, and photographers and is commonly used for print media. TIFF files can have multiple layers within the file and TIFF files retain transparencies when printed.

2. Middle Quality: PNG – acronym “Portable Network Graphic,” is commonly used to store web graphics and digital photographs. PNG files have a lossless compression (similar to .GIF) for smaller file sizes. PNG files have a flattened (non-layered) image but PNG files retain transparencies when printed.

3. Lowest Quality: JPEG – acronym “Joint Photographic Experts Group,” is a standard image format for containing lossy and compressed image data, leading to the smallest file size, but the lowest quality image. JPEG files have a flattened (non-layered) image and do not support transparencies, which are converted to the closest color or white.

If the whole poster is blurry, including all images and text, there may have been a degradation in quality in exporting the file to an image format.

When exporting from .PPT to any image file type, the user is asked to provide the pixels for width and height. The default will make a very small image file.

To avoid this issue, we recommend that you do the following:

PowerPoint for Windows

PowerPoint for Mac

Google Slides

There isn't a way to make the images look any better if they are not high quality, to begin with. But that doesn't mean there isn't something patrons can do to fix it.

You may be using raster image types or image files that are made up of a tiny grid of pixels (small squares of color). Raster image file types are often .jpeg/.jpg, .gif, and .png. Raster images have a fixed number of pixels in the image, so they cannot be enlarged beyond their original size without image quality loss. You should never enlarge a raster image beyond its original size because that will lead to pixelization.

For things like logos, it is best to look for vector images, which are made up of crisp lines drawn between points. Most vector images are logos, icons, and text. Vector image file types are often .svg (which stands for “scalable vector graphic”), .eps, and .ai. Vector images are scalable, meaning that one can make them larger or smaller without compromising the quality of the image because they're not made of a fixed number of pixels.

The best way to fix a logo issue is to contact the organization directly and ask for a high-quality or large-size logo. If you need a UW logo, go to https://brand.wisc.edu. 

For other logos, always try the organization’s website:

1. Go to the organization’s website
2. Find their logo somewhere on the website
3. Right-click the logo and select "Open in a New Tab"
4. See if the image is large enough to be used (if the image is small in the new tab, it probably won’t work…)

How to find better quality logos from Google Image search:

1. Go to Google Image search and type in "[organization x] logo" (with organization X being the logo the patron need to replace)
2. Then either:
   1. Look for .svg or .eps file types
   2. Go to "Tools" > "Size" > "Large" and see what images are available

If your charts/graphs/data visualizations are blurry, resize the image from the original file first, then reinsert them into the poster. This usually will fix the problem.

If it is a chart/graph from a publication that you did not write, you should try to contact the publisher to get a higher-quality version if possible. You may also have to re-create the graph or chart if you cannot get a higher-resolution version.