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 WMU 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: GSA Annual Meeting, Designing Conference Posters.