Step 1
Open PowerPoint by double clicking on the PowerPoint Icon (easiest method).

Step 2
Click on the New icon.

Step 3
From the dialog box, select the blank slide. Then OK.

Step 4
Don’t worry about your poster size now, it easier to set up the poster in a smaller size slide and then enlarge the size just before printing. In some ways it's easier to lay everything out and then add information once you've seen where everything is to go.

Step 5
Be sure your ruler is available so you can see where you are adding text boxes.  To see rulers click on View / Ruler.

Step 6
To give your document a background image, go to View / Master / Slide Master / Insert / Picture / From File.  Once you’ve selected the picture you would like to use as your background, double click on the picture, then right click Format Picture.  Then click on Color, choose Washout and hit OK.  Close out of Master View.

Step 7
Click on the text box. Insert the Title of your Presentation across the top of the slide. Add the author's names and affiliations. Your title should be quite large, not less than 12 points.  You want people to be able to see your presentation title from a distance. (Remember, everything will be blown up when you enlarge your poster.)

Step 8
Now add some color. Click on the Font Color icon. Select the down arrow, then More Font Colors. Select the color you like, remembering that you want the title to be seen from a distance.  Remember that some color combinations will not work together; e.g., dark color on dark color. Be sure there is good contrast between the background and the print font.

Step 9
Lay out the sections of your paper.  Use the Text Box in combination with the Line Style to create boxes. Key in the title of the section and use carriage returns to take you down to the bottom of the section. Put a line of xxxxxx to hold the bottom of the box in place.

Step 10
Once you have your boxes laid out you can start adding the real information to the text boxes. When you are all done, you can delete the line around the text boxes, add color to the headings and/or change the font size and type.

Step 11
Font sizes should be as follows:
      abstract - 5 point
      normal type - 8 font
      headings - 12 font

Again, remember when blown up to the correct full size, these fonts will be quite readable.

Obviously, you will have trouble reading a 5 point font. Please remember that you can use the zoom feature to blow up the slide to 200 percent of its original size. That's usually enough to read the elements on the slide quite easily.

Step 12
To add an image, go to the Insert menu. Insert Picture / From File and find the file, then, OK.

Or, you can use Copy and Paste (Select the graphic in the original document (you will see handles on the graphic), then Edit / Copy, click on the slide, then Edit | Paste.

Click on the image, hold the left mouse button down and drag the image where you want it to go. Then click on the image again, this time on one of the corners and either push in (to reduce the size of the image) or pull out, remembering to keep the left mouse button depressed.

Backgrounds can be inserted by using the Format / Background command. Minimize use of dark backgrounds as they use up a lot of ink and may overwhelm the viewer. Lines, boxes and arrows can be inserted using the Drawing Toolbar. If you don't see this Toolbar, use View / Toolbars / Drawing to make it available.

Step 13
To insert a table or graph from Excel, create the table or graph and highlight or select it in Excel. You can then click on Insert / Chart, or Insert / Object.   Insert | Object enables you to add a finished chart and be able to link to it so that you can continue to update Excel and then when you open PowerPoint to update your Excel file, you'll see that it is already updated.

Step 14
To view a printed version of the poster in 8.5" x 11 size, go to File, Print, Slides, and click the check box to Scale to fit paper then hit OK.

Step 15
If you want to see what the poster will look like in its final full scale format, set your laptop up to an LCD projector to view it on a wall.  Adjust the poster size by adjusting the distance between the projector and the wall until you've reached the dimensions you'd like to print your poster.

Mail comments to:  Laurie Callan at callan14@ag.osu.edu