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18th Annual Undergraduate Scholars in Action Days

Printing Your Poster/Presentation Materials

Springfield College Print Shop

Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Phone: (413) 748-3286
printshop@springfield.edu

 

Additionally, your school or department may offer poster printing services. Contact them for details.

Poster Presentation Guidelines

Fonts
The specific font type and size used in each section of the template is provided in red letters. Feel free to change the font type, but remember that the letters should be readable from 6' away. Here are some suggestions for font type and sizes:

  • Title: consider using a font size between 72-120 points.
  • Subtitles (authors' names, school name, etc.): use the same font as your title but make the font size smaller than the title.  A font size between 48-80 points usually works best.
  • Section titles (Introduction, Results, etc.): use the same font as your title and subtitle.  Make the font size approximately 50% larger than the body text, between 36-72 points.  Make sure that all section headers are the same font size.
  • Content text: choose a serif type that is very readable, like Garamond, Book Antiqua or Bookman Old Style.  Make the font size between 24-48 points. Make sure that the body text is the same font throughout the entire posters.
  • DON'T USE ALL CAPS for any portion of your poster. It is harder to read and it looks like you are shouting!
  • Use sans serif fonts for large headings and serif fonts for the main text of your poster.

Font Sizes
According to most studies, sans serif fonts are more difficult to read. For this reason, they are used most often for short text components such as headlines or captions, while "serif” fonts, such as Palatino or Times New Roman, are used for context text .

Images
To insert a picture into your poster, select Insert > Picture > From File... Beware of the image's resolution: for better print quality, an image should have a resolution of at least 200 dpi. You can reduce the size of an image without affecting the quality, but if you try to enlarge an image it will become pixelated. It's always better to start with a large image and then reduce the size as necessary.

When re-sizing an image, be sure to drag from the corner handle to keep the shape proportional.

Printing
Although the PowerPoint template is designed to print at a very large scale, you may want to print your poster on a letter-sized piece of paper to proofread, check layout issues, and share drafts with others. You may do this by making sure the Scale to Fit Paper option is checked within the Print window.

When your poster is complete, you can email the PowerPoint file or PDF to the Print Shop (printshop@springfield.edu). It costs $4 per square foot to print a poster, which is approximately $21 for a small poster (22.5"x34") and $56 for a large poster (56"x36"). Please call the Print Shop (x3286) with any questions about size, cost, or format.

Presentation Materials

Files are not required for participation in the event. However, you are free to submit poster files, supplemental PDFs, or video recordings for inclusion on the website for others to enjoy who are unable to attend the event days.

You may upload your presentation materials as PDF or provide a link to your materials hosted via an outside service (YouTube, Google Drive, etc.). Brightspace does not qualify as a public service as it is only visible to your class.

If your presentation materials are not yet complete, you may return to the registration form and add them at a later time. All materials/URLs must be entered by the April 7th deadline for inclusion in the final program. Once you're ready to submit your materials, simply return to the registration form to edit your response.

File Submissions

File Submissions

You may upload up to three PDFs in the registration form. 

Your files must be less than 20MB in size. We recommend uploading a URL hosted on Google Drive for any PDF files that exceed the 20MB limit.

You can also submit one pre-recorded video hosted on YouTube.

File Conversions to PDF

Most documents can be easily converted into PDF format, including:

  • Documents (.docx, .pages)
  • Slide decks (.ppt, .key)
  • Google Drive files

For images that need to be converted to PDF, we suggest adding them to a blank document and then saving that file as PDF.