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PhD poster HOWTO
Below are some experiences I've made when creating PhD posters.
Poster content
- Try to come up with a good and descriptive heading.
- Be concise: Try to answer:
- What is the problem? What is the context?
- Why is it a problem?
- How can it be solved?
- How have you solved it? What methodology did you use?
- What was your findings/data?
- Why is your solution better? (or worse?)
If you've just started, try to answer at least the three first questions. Some points can be saved for discussion/interaction with viewers.
- Be short: It is not a paper, it's a poster. Use keyword and short sentences. People seldom read what's on your poster anyway, they merely glance at it - unless its right up their topic (and then they probably know you already).
- Use graphs/illustrations/figures/tables where you can. Graphic makes your poster more interesting.
- List you supervisors: Don't forget that. Listing their names will probably give your poster more "weight" as well. It's more likely that people know your professor(s) than you.
- Include your references. Don't forget those. But don't list them all (if you have many), just the most important ones.
- Don't forget a link to your research web page. For those who are really interested.
Layout
- Use larg(er) font. Normal 12pt is too small.
- Avoid fonts with serifs in titles or headings (use sans-serif fonts).
- Use colors. It will probably make your poster more clearer and easier to read. But don't overdo it.
- Know your poster size: When attending a conference, you usually receive measurements for how big (wide) your poster can be. If you show up with a poster that's to big - I'm pretty sure that your poster neighbour won't allow your poster to overlap theirs.
- Use vector-based graphics: If you use bitmap pictures (jpg, gif, ..) these have a tendency to get "pixelized" when blown up on a large poster. Use vector-based graphics where you can (eps, svg).
- Don't print out a bunch of slides and call it a poster. Like this one.
- Don't print your paper and call it a poster. Like this one. Instead, have copies of your paper for viewers to take.
Programs
Since I primarily use Linux, here are my experiences with various Linux programs:
- The poster it self: OpenOffice Draw. Use Latex if you are an expert in that. Use Scribus if you are an expert in that. If you like Corel Draw or Illustrator - use those. I have used OpenOffice Draw and find it adequate to my needs. If handles vector-based graphics great, poster size can be changed and it export to PDF.
- Dia has a bunch of pre-made figures ranging from network devices to UML figures. Can export to EPS.
- Xfig is great for hand made illustrations. Can export to vectorized EPS.
- Color conversion: RGB are for screen, CMYK for print. Normal PDFs are in RGB unless converted. I don't know any Linux program that can convert a RGB PDF to CMYK - if you know one, drop me an email. I use Acrobat on Windows to convert. The printing office also might do this for you. The colors might look slightly different after conversion. Look at the different blue-color on these two:
- Example RGB-poster here.
- Same poster converted to CMYK here.
More tips
- When you're at your poster ("poster session"):
- Make sure you have your business card with you. Conferences are all about networking.
- Have a notepad ready. Some may have some good points/ideas you might want to write down or for taking name/addresses of people interested in your research.
- Print out copies of your paper for viewers to take.
- Printing the poster on PVC instead of paper makes the poster more resilient. At our printing office, it's even cheaper to print it on PVC than paper.
Useful links
Lars Strand < lars strand (at) nr no >
Last modified on $Date: 2008-10-10 13:43:27 +0200 (Fri, 10 Oct 2008) $.