Step by Step Instructions on How to Make a Poster Using PowerPoint

(adapted from http://faculty.washington.edu/robinet/poster.html)

1. Start PowerPoint: Make a New presentation – a blank one. When asked for a Layout, choose a blank one – one without anything – even a title.
2. Choose the size of your poster using page setup: Select a poster (slide) 36" wide x 36" high.
3. In order to add text, the text needs a "container" – a Text Box. Two ways to make a text box:
   • Click on the Text Box tool or selecting Text Box under the Insert menu. (PowerPoint is very flexible in how its tools are arranged. The down side of that is that your tools may be in a different place than they are described here. The Text Box tool is often found near the bottom center – it looks like a mini page with an "A" in the upper-left part of it.)
   • Click or click-and-drag where you want the text to be. After this second step, you should see the rectangular shape of the Text Box. You can re-size it at any time by dragging one of the little square "handles". The box will also grow automatically as you type (if it needs to).
     You should make a separate Text Box for each separate piece of text. "Separate text" means a portion of text that you want to be able to move independently from the others.
4. As in many programs, you can change the font and size by highlighting the text to be changed and then making the changes. If you don't see the font size you want in the selection list, enter it in by hand.
5. To move a Text Box, position your pointer over a part of the edge of the box that is not a handle until the pointer becomes shaped like a plus sign with arrows. Click and drag the Text Box..
6. You can change many text features using the Format menu/Text Box.
7. Adding images: The two ways to add images are:
   • Insert/Picture: This is the most common way of adding graphics to a PowerPoint document. If you have a file that is in one of several standard graphic formats (like JPEG, GIF, PICT, etc.), use the Insert menu/Picture/From-file and select your file. The image will appear on your document with handles. Use one of the corner handles to re-size it. (The corner handles will keep the same aspect ratio; the side handles will not.) Click and drag in the middle of the graphic to move it. You can do many other things to an image (including cropping, changing brightness or resolution, and resetting it to how it was originally brought in) under Format/Picture.
   • Copy and Paste: Use this if you have something like an Excel graph you want to add to your document. Generally avoid this method if you can – Copy and Paste will often only give you a low-resolution copy of a graphic.
8. Background: You can select a background under the Format menu/Background. If you want a picture background, just use Insert/Picture and place it behind everything else. Be careful of using too big of an image – large files can become cumbersome to work with.
9. Lines, Boxes, Arrows: There are many other things that PowerPoint can do. Next to the Text Box tool are tools to make ovals, boxes, lines, arrows, etc. When you have made one of these, you can change it (when it is selected) with the Format menu/Colors and Lines.
10. Zoom: You can control the zoom amount by clicking on the zoom choice box (if visible), or using the View menu/Zoom.
11. Printing: Before printing a full size draft, you can print a small version by selecting “fit to paper” under printing options (choose Microsoft Powerpoint options).