Large format printing is available for college, research unit, and departmentally sanctioned activities only. Supplies for these printers are quite expensive - please do not submit trivial requests. For for more personal, non-research or non-engineering course related print-outs, please also be aware of the free services provided by OSU Media Hub, which include poster printing and laminating among others.
- A minimum of 24 hrs notice (Mon-Fri) is required for printing jobs. Your job maybe ready sooner, but you shouldn't expect it to be.
- Please size and layout your document appropriately, with an artboard or document dimensions that match the desired print dimensions.
- The COE printers use 42" or 36" wide paper, primarily glossy.
- Submit your poster as a PDF - we no longer accept any other file formats for printing. If you need help with PDF export/creation send email to coe.support@oregonstate.edu
- Do not submit posters with a solid color backgrounds. This wastes ink, and causes drying issues. If a poster is submitted with a solid background, we will ask you to remove the background and resubmit it.
Creating a poster in PowerPoint is similar to creating a single slide; just think of it as one very big slide. The only difference is that the page-set up must be set to a custom size. This should be done before the poster is actually created.
To set up a poster:
- Open PowerPoint.
- Select blank slide in New Slide window.
- Select OK.
- Select the Design bar at the top.
- Select Slide Size in the Customize section.
- Select Custom Slide Size in the drop down.
- Change width to 48" (or preferred size).
- Change height to 42" or 36" (or preferred size).
- Select OK.
NOTE: Because the poster is sized larger than a standard paper size, a page set-up error window may appear explaining that the current page size you selected exceeds the printable area of paper in the printer. Select OK. Do Not Select Fix - this will change your poster size to a standard paper size. Once the page set-up is complete, the poster can be created as though you are creating one large poster. Do not create separate slides! Following are a few tips and tricks for creating posters to avoid problems.
- We require 24 hour notice to print the poster. The sooner you send it in, the sooner we can have it done.
- Paper sizes of 42" and 36" are the maximum of the smaller side of the poster.
- Please do not create posters with a solid color background. This wastes ink, and causes drying issues. If a poster is submitted with a solid background, we will ask you to remove the background and resubmit it.
- Font size for poster titles usually range between 60-77 pt. Text usually ranges from 24-36 pt.
- When copying text from another program or file, be sure to copy the text into a text box. This will simplify the process of manipulating the text size and font once it is placed in the poster. Copying and pasting text directly into the poster (without a textbox) is similar to copying an image into a poster. You will be unable to change the font type and can only change the size by resizing the box.
- Avoid using small web images that are 72dpi in large posters. They will blow up to be very pixelated and wont look crisp.
- To keep an image in proportion when enlarging, hold down the shift key while dragging to enlarge.
- Do not use exotic fonts - they may not exist on the computer that will be doing the printing - if you must use a non-standard font be prepared to supply the font to support if necessary.
Submit your file for printing here
If you have any questions please contact coe.support@oregonstate.edu