Using PowerPoint for Poster Design Wayne Britcliffe E-Learning Development Team University of York, UK

To set up (or check) canvas size yourself: If you have been provided with a template then it will likely be set up appropriately Always check this before you start! To set up (or check) canvas size yourself: Click the ‘Design’ tab Click ‘Slide Size’ (may be called ‘Page Setup’) Select ‘Custom Slide Size’ Setting the Size Size Height (cm) Width (cm) A0 118.9 84.1 A1 59.4

Changing Layout Placeholders The default slide template is usually a title slide To choose a blank slide template: Right-click on the slide canvas Roll-over ‘Layout’ and select ‘Blank’ Changing Layout Placeholders

To make grids guides visible: Grid and Guides can make life easier for you when positioning poster elements To make grids guides visible: Right-click on the slide canvas Roll-over ‘Grid and Guides…’ and select ‘Guides’ and/or ‘Gridlines’ To change the grid spacing: Click on ‘Grid and Guides…’ Configure the ensuing panel to suit Check ‘snap’ on as preferred Grid and Guides

To add a background fill: Right-click on the slide canvas Select ‘Format Background…’ Background PPT 2010 PPT 2013

To add a text box: Click the ‘Insert’ tab Click ‘Text Box’ Click (or click and drag) on the slide canvas: Click and drag sets a text wrap at the right Clicking sets a box that auto-expands right Adding Text Rotate Text Box Control Scale Text Box anchors Select the Home Tab to access text formatting tools

To format a text box: Select the ‘Text Box’ on the slide canvas Click on the ‘Format’ tab that appears Select a predefined style or create your own Formatting Text Boxes Click here to view predefined styles Click the downward pointing arrows next to Shape Fill, Shape Outline and Shape Effects to custom style

Adjusting Line Spacing To adjust line spacing: Select the ‘Text Box’ on the slide canvas Make sure the ‘Home’ tab is selected Access the ‘Line Spacing’ drop-down Click the ‘Line Spacing’ drop-down and select ‘Line Spacing Options…’ Adjusting Line Spacing Change the drop-down from ‘single’ to ‘exactly’ for fine control Use ‘Before’ and ‘After’ to adjust basic line spacing at the currently selected line

IMPORTANT re Formatting Text and Text Boxes USE WordArt SPARINGLY If you do use it, use it consistently IMPORTANT re Formatting Text and Text Boxes Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!

To insert an image: Click the ‘Insert’ tab Click ‘Pictures’ Browse, select and insert an image(s) Inserting and Image

To crop an image: Select the image on the slide canvas Rotate image control To crop an image: Select the image on the slide canvas Click on the ‘Format’ tab that appears Select the ‘Crop’ tool Scale image anchors Manipulating Images Crop controls Parts of image being cropped out

Special note to Photoshop users: Uncheck resample when setting DPI https://www.pixelcalculator.com Ideal image resolution for print is 300dpi Images downloaded from the internet tend to be 72dpi Use PNG rather than JPG if possible Try and source high resolution images. 72dpi is not enough to print well even at 100%. https://www.pixelcalculator.com Is my image high enough resolution? At 72dpi, you want the unscaled image size to be 4 times larger than you intend it to print at Remember Special note to Photoshop users: Uncheck resample when setting DPI

Charts/Graphs from Excel If you have charts/graphs already in Excel: Copy the chart/graph directly from Excel onto your slide canvas or… Click ‘Insert’ then ‘Chart’, select a chart style and then paste/enter your data into the associated spreadsheet Charts/Graphs from Excel

Save as PDF for sending to printers To save as a PDF: Select the ‘File’ tab Click on the ‘Save as Adobe PDF’ option if it’s directly available, if not, click ‘Save As’ When using ‘Save As’ select ‘PDF’ from the ‘Save As Type’ drop- down on the ‘Save As’ dialogue The default ‘Options’ should be fine Saving For Printing