This handout will guide you through setting up a poster in PowerPoint, inserting text and images, and preparing the poster for printing.
Creating your document
A poster created in PowerPoint usually consists of a single slide.
Launch Microsoft PowerPoint. PowerPoint will automatically open a blank presentation.
To resize the slide, select Page Setup from the File menu.
In the dialog box that pops up, select Custom under Slides sized for:
Then enter the width and height of your poster, in inches. PowerPoint will automatically set portrait or landscape orientation based on the measurements you enter.

The maximum size PowerPoint will allow for a slide is 56”. If you want your poster to be
bigger than 56”, create it at half size and then print it at 200% scale. In this example, the
desired poster size is 96” wide by 36” high, so it is designed at 48” by 18”.
Inserting poster elements
Insert text and graphics as you normally would in PowerPoint.
Remember that if you are designing your poster at half the printed size, everything on your poster will also be half the printed size. So, if you want your title to be 1.5” high (108 pt), and you are designing your poster at half size, set the font to 54 pt.
Inserting a PowerPoint slide
You can insert a PowerPoint slide into your poster by saving it as an image.
1. In PowerPoint, select the slide you would like to place.
2. Select Save as from the File menu.

Download pdf Creating a Poster in Microsoft PowerPoint