Guide
How to design an academic poster
To design an academic poster, start from an A0 page, lead with your main finding in one line, lay the work out in three columns that read top to bottom, and keep body text at 24 pt or more so it reads from two metres away. MyCanvasDesign opens an A0 page (3179 × 4494 px) free in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark, and downloads a PDF at the full 841 × 1189 mm.
A conference poster is not a paper pinned to a wall. People give it a few seconds as they walk past, and only stop if the headline and the main figure tell them something worth knowing. This guide takes you from a blank page to a PDF the printer can use, with the sizes, layout and type settings that work for most conferences.
At a glance
- Size
- A0 poster, 3179 × 4494 px
- Time
- 2 to 4 hours, once your results are ready
- You'll need
- Your abstract, your best two or three figures as image files, and the logos you have to show.
Design an academic poster in eight steps
Read the conference's poster rules first
Before you open anything, find the size, the orientation and the deadline. Most conferences in the UK and Europe ask for A0 portrait (841 × 1189 mm); many in North America want 48 × 36 inches landscape. Some also want your abstract number, a QR code or the meeting logo in a set place.
- Landscape A0? Type 4494 × 3179 px as your own size on the dashboard.
- 36 × 48 inches is 3456 × 4608 px, and 48 × 36 inches is 4608 × 3456 px.
- Note the printing deadline: most print shops want the file three to five working days ahead.
Open an A0 page
Choose "Open an A0 poster page" on this page, or A0 poster when you make a new design. The page is 3179 × 4494 px, which is A0 at 96 pixels per inch, so the PDF you download later comes out at exactly 841 × 1189 mm. You can change the page size at any time, so starting at A0 costs you nothing if the rules change.
Write the headline finding before you design
Decide what one sentence a passer-by should leave with, and make that the biggest text on the poster: "Daily walks cut recovery time after knee surgery by a third" beats "A randomised trial of ambulation protocols". Put the formal title, the authors and their affiliations smaller underneath. Then cut the paper down to 300 to 800 words in total; shrink the words, never the type.
- Read your headline aloud to someone outside your field. If they can say it back, it works.
Set up three columns with rulers and guides
Turn on the rulers from the View menu and drag guides out of them: a margin of about 100 px (2.5 cm) all round, then three equal columns with gaps of about 60 px between them (four columns if your poster is landscape). Shapes, text and pictures snap to the guides, so every box lines up without measuring. Readers expect to go down the first column, then the next, like a newspaper.
- Number your sections (1 Background, 2 Methods …) if the order matters.
- Put a pale rectangle behind each section and lock it in the layers panel so it never moves by accident.
Set type sizes for reading at a distance
On an A0 page in MyCanvasDesign, text sizes are in pixels at 96 per inch, so 1 pt is about 1.33 px. Use roughly 110 to 160 px for the headline, 64 to 80 px for section headings, 32 to 44 px for body text and no less than 24 px for captions and references. Pick one clean sans serif such as Inter, Poppins or Montserrat for everything, left-align your paragraphs, and set the line height to about 1.4.
- Bold one key phrase per paragraph rather than underlining or using capitals.
- Find and replace fixes a misspelt term everywhere at once.
Let one figure carry the results
Make your most important figure the largest thing in the middle column, and give it a caption that says what it shows ("Recovery was 11 days faster with daily walks"), not just what it is. Upload charts as PNG or SVG files up to 15 MB; SVG stays sharp at any size. For simple bar, line, pie or donut charts, the chart tool draws them for you from up to 12 labels and 4 series.
- Export figures from your analysis software at their largest size; a chart copied from a slide looks blurry at A0.
- Label axes in words, with units, at 28 px or more.
Add the things people look for
Readers hunt for a few things on every poster: who made it (names and institution logos, as PNG files with see-through backgrounds or SVG), how to read more, and how to reach you. Add a QR code that links to the paper, the preprint or your lab page with the QR code tool, your email address, three to five key references in small type, and your funders if they ask to be credited.
- Test the QR code with your phone from a metre away before you send the file.
Check it small, then download a PDF
Zoom out until the whole poster fits in a quarter of your screen: if you can still read the headline and see the main figure, the hierarchy works. Proofread every name, number and unit, then choose PDF from the download menu. The PDF is exactly A0, with the page drawn at 192 dots per inch, which is plenty for a poster read from a metre or more away. Send that file to the printer.
- Keep at least 2 cm of plain margin: many printers cannot print right to the edge.
- A full A0 page is a big file to draw. Download it on a laptop or desktop computer: phones and tablets may not have the memory.
- Download a backup file of the design too, so you can edit it on another computer.
An academic poster layout that works almost every time
Most good research posters follow the same plan, because readers already know how to read it. Use this as a starting point and move things only when your work needs it.
- Top band
- The headline finding across the full width, with the formal title, authors, affiliations and logos underneath, in that order of size.
- Left column
- Why it matters (two or three sentences, not your whole introduction), the question you asked, and the method, shown as a simple diagram wherever you can draw one.
- Middle column
- The results: your strongest figure at its largest, then one or two supporting figures, each with a caption that states the finding.
- Right column
- Three bullet-point conclusions, what happens next, the QR code to the full paper, references, acknowledgements and your contact details.
Common academic poster mistakes
Judges and visitors forgive a plain poster; they walk past a crowded one. These are the problems that come up most often, and each is quick to fix.
- A wall of text
- If a section has more than about 100 words, turn some of it into a figure, a numbered list or a short table, or move it to the paper behind the QR code.
- Body text under 24 pt
- Small text means people have to step in close, and most won’t. On an A0 page in MyCanvasDesign, keep body text at 32 px or above.
- Too many colours
- Pick one or two colours (often your institution’s) plus a dark grey for text, and use them the same way everywhere: one for headings, one to highlight.
- Blurry figures and logos
- Screenshots and images copied out of slides fall apart when printed large. Use the original image files, or SVG wherever you have it.
- Centred paragraphs
- Centre the headline if you like, but left-align everything people have to read line by line.
Printing your A0 poster
Send your print shop the PDF from MyCanvasDesign: it is already A0, so they can print it at 100% without scaling. Ask for matte paper if you can, since gloss reflects the bright lights of conference halls; fabric posters cost a little more but fold into a suitcase and survive the journey without a tube.
If the conference asks for A1 instead, the same PDF prints cleanly at A1, because every A size has the same shape. Everything shrinks to about 71%, though, so make body text 44 px or more before you download. Order a few days early, and check the printer’s proof at full size on screen before you approve it.
Questions about designing an academic poster
What size is an academic poster?
Most often A0, 841 × 1189 mm, in portrait, especially in the UK and Europe. Conferences in North America often use 48 × 36 inches in landscape. Always follow the conference’s own instructions. In MyCanvasDesign, A0 is 3179 × 4494 px and 48 × 36 inches is 4608 × 3456 px.
How many words should a research poster have?
Between 300 and 800 words is a good range for an A0 poster, including captions and references. If you have more to say, put the full paper behind a QR code and keep the poster for the headline, the main figure and the conclusions.
What font size should I use on a scientific poster?
At least 24 pt for body text, 48 to 60 pt for section headings and 80 pt or more for the headline. On an A0 page in MyCanvasDesign that is 32 px or more for body text, 64 to 80 px for headings and 110 px or more for the headline.
Do I need PowerPoint to make a conference poster?
No. MyCanvasDesign opens an A0 page free in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark, saves your work in your browser as you go, and downloads a PDF at full A0 size. Download a backup file if you want to carry on working on another computer.