◆ Posters & conferences
Scientific poster: templates, examples and print-ready files
Where to find scientific poster templates (PowerPoint, Canva, LaTeX), what separates a good example from a mediocre one, and how to prepare the file so the print comes out right.
GUUG · July 2026
◆ In short
Ready-made templates are a starting point, not a finish line: most are designed to fill space, while a good poster leaves it. PowerPoint works fine and everyone knows it, Canva is convenient but needs careful export, LaTeX with beamerposter is the standard in maths and computer science. Whichever you pick, the difference between a good print and a reprint comes down to four things: the right document size from the start, images at 150 dots per inch at final size, fonts embedded in the PDF and 2 cm of clear margin.
What separates a good poster from a mediocre one
Looking at examples only helps if you know what to look for, otherwise you copy the flaws too. These are the traits that recur in posters that actually stop people at a conference, whatever the discipline.
The title states the finding
In mediocre posters the title announces the topic; in good ones it announces the finding. The first can be ignored, the second makes a passer-by curious.
One chart dominates
There is one figure clearly larger than the rest, telling the main result on its own. Posters with six equally sized charts get none of them looked at.
Methods are compressed
In good posters the methods block is the shortest on the page. Whoever wants details will ask, and that is exactly the conversation you want to start.
There is air between blocks
Wide margins and space between sections. A poster filled to the edge signals content anxiety and pushes readers away before they even start.
A single accent colour
One colour that highlights the number that matters and nothing else. When everything is highlighted, nothing is.
Conclusions stand alone
Two or three bullets that make sense even if read first, without the rest. It is the block people read straight after the title.
What to build it with: templates and tools
There is no absolutely right tool: there is the one you already know, because time spent learning new software is time taken from the content. These are the three realistic paths, with the limits of each.
PowerPoint or Google Slides
- ✓Everyone knows it: no learning time
- ✓Plenty of scientific poster templates available, many provided by universities themselves
- ✓PDF export keeps fonts if you enable the option
- ✓Comfortable for several people to work on the same file
- –It caps slide size: for A0 you must set exactly half
- –Typographic control is coarse compared with a layout program
- –Pasted images keep the original resolution, often low
Best for
The right choice for the vast majority of posters, especially your first.
Canva
- ✓Visually polished, ready-to-use templates
- ✓You can set the real size with no format cap
- ✓Convenient if you are not comfortable with layout tools
- –Export as PDF for print, not as an image, or the text loses sharpness
- –Templates tend to be busy: they need emptying, not filling
- –Some graphic elements are low-resolution and show at A0
Best for
Anyone who wants a tidy result quickly, with no disciplinary format constraints.
LaTeX with beamerposter
- ✓Flawless formulas and automatic bibliography handling
- ✓The file stays light and the PDF is natively print-ready
- ✓Perfect typographic consistency across the whole poster
- –Steep learning curve if you do not already use it
- –Every layout change requires recompiling
- –Awkward to review with a non-technical colleague
Best for
Maths, physics, computer science and anyone with a lot of formulas.
Preparing the file so the print comes out right
This is the part no template explains and the one that decides whether the poster arrives right or has to be redone. Four checks, ten minutes in total.
Document size. Set it to the final size before you start laying out, not after. If your program cannot reach A0, use exactly half (42 × 59.4 cm) and tell the print shop to double it: the result is identical, as long as the scale is exact and not approximate.
Image resolution. You need 150 dots per inch at final size. In practice: an image that will be 20 cm wide on the poster must be at least 1,200 pixels wide. Charts are always better exported as vectors (PDF or EPS) straight from your analysis software: they stay sharp at any size and weigh less.
Fonts. Export to PDF with font embedding enabled, then re-open the PDF on a different computer. If the typefaces changed, they were not embedded. This is the single check that saves the most reprints.
Margins. At least 2 cm clear on every side, no text or logos, for trimming and panel mounting.
One last test that costs a sheet of paper: print the final PDF on A4 and look at it from one metre. Whatever you cannot read from there will not be readable from three metres on the real poster. If you are in Rome, we can check the file for you before printing: the service page is the one on scientific poster printing.
Frequently asked questions
- Where can I find a scientific poster template?
- Three reliable sources: templates published by your university or by the conference's scientific society, which often already enforce the right format and logos; PowerPoint template collections; and Canva templates. Whichever you pick, remember they need emptying: they are built to look full, and a full poster does not get read.
- Can I use PowerPoint for an A0 poster?
- Yes, it is the most used tool for scientific posters. Set the slide size via Design → Slide Size → Custom: if PowerPoint refuses 84.1 × 118.9 cm, set exactly half (42 × 59.4 cm) and ask for printing at 200%. What matters is that the scale is exact.
- What resolution do the images need?
- 150 dots per inch at final size. An image 20 cm wide on the poster needs at least 1,200 pixels of width. Charts are best exported as vectors (PDF or EPS) from your analysis software: they stay sharp at any size. A chart copied from a slide or taken from a website is almost always 72 dots per inch, and it shows at A0.
- Which file format should I supply?
- PDF, with fonts embedded and at real size (or at an exact scale, stated). Avoid supplying a JPG or PNG of the whole poster: they compress the text and lose its sharpness. If you work in PowerPoint or Canva, export to PDF for print, not as an image.
- Why do printed colours differ from the screen?
- Because a screen emits light and paper reflects it: highly saturated cyans and greens on a monitor have no print equivalent and get rendered with the closest available ink. It is not a defect, it is a physical limit. The practical consequence: if a chart tells two groups apart only by a shade, add a pattern or a different marker shape too.
- Can you check the file before printing?
- Yes, and it is why many researchers come to the shop instead of ordering online: we check resolution, fonts, margins and size before printing, and if something is wrong we say so while there is still time to fix it. Details and formats on the scientific poster printing page.
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