USING POWERPOINT 2003 TO PRODUCE POSTERS

Transcription

1 USING POWERPOINT 2003 TO PRODUCE POSTERS Introduction This document provides advice and guidance for those wishing to use PowerPoint to create large-scale posters, particularly those for use at academic conferences. The techniques herein may be applied to PowerPoint presentations, but you are encouraged to see document 5.131, an Introduction to PowerPoint, for more on presentations. Prerequisites The exercises below assume that you are familiar with the use of a computer keyboard and mouse and have a working knowledge of Microsoft Windows and PowerPoint. Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Canvas Size 4 3. Set a Background 5 4. Use WordArt to Produce Titles 6 5. Add Text 8 6. Create Graphics using Drawing Tools Align and Order Objects Use the Birkbeck Logo Use Clipart Import Objects Scan Files Screengrabs with Print Screen Screengrabs with Paint Shop Pro Save the Final Copy Checklist Further resources 21

2 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters About this Document Words in bold Small capitals e.g. ALT Press KEY1 + KEY2 Press KEY1, KEY2 Will need to be typed or chosen from a menu or window Indicate keys that you press Press both keys together Press each key consecutively Bulleted lists Are guidelines on how to perform a task Choose Insert - Picture Show menu commands in this case, choose the option Picture from the Insert menu at the top of the screen 2

3 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 1. Introduction 1.1 Items needed Text A checklist of items needed to produce a poster Can be contained within a Word or other word processor document. Graphics Charts, logos, diagrams, pictures. PowerPoint can import graphics in a variety of formats, and so long as an image exists on screen you may always take a screenshot even if exporting is not possible. Paper copies of images may be scanned in. Guidelines from the conference Any limits on size, recommended layout (portrait or landscape) and any other criteria you need to fulfil. A printer That is, either an actual printer capable of printing at the necessary size, or someone who can print for you. If the latter, you should check with them that they will accept PowerPoint files you may need to convert your poster into a pdf, which is straightforward but requires the full Adobe Acrobat software. The printer can inform you of their particular requirements. Our aim in producing a poster is to show people, rather than tell them; use graphics where possible, whether diagrams or just arrows to guide the reader between items of text. 1.2 Working area PowerPoint 2003 automatically displays the outline (on the left) and notes (at the bottom). Neither is needed in producing a poster click and drag the grey lines to minimise both areas. Figure 1-1 Important note: You will see in the next exercise that PowerPoint does not set margins around the page. All printers have an area around the edge of the paper on which they cannot print. To be safe, avoid placing any objects within ½ of the poster s edge. 3

4 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters 2. Canvas Size Method To set the size of the page within PowerPoint Use the Page Setup dialogue box 2.1 Page Setup Start PowerPoint - on ITS workstations, you will find it under Start Programs Microsoft Office Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 PowerPoint will automatically insert the first slide. For our purposes this may be all that is needed, but you may click the button if you need a new page (slide) to work on. You may make this page any size you like up to 137x137cm (54 ) for posters, you should go up to A1 size (59.4x84.1cm). Choose File Page Setup Figure 2-1 To change width and height, you may use the arrows, but it is quicker to type in the new measurements Click into the width box, delete the contents and type in a new number Press the TAB key to move to the height box and type in a new number Change to Portrait layout if necessary Click OK The slide still fits into the screen, so it may appear that your new size has not taken effect. However, PowerPoint has scaled the page down to fit Use this drop down, or hold CTRL and roll the mouse wheel, to zoom in and out If you click into one of the text boxes on the page, you will see that it has also scaled the font size upwards 4

5 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 Note that any new slides added will be the same size as this one Remember the maximum size is 137x137cm (54 ) see page 21 for A4, A3 etc page sizes 3. Set a Background Add a background colour or fill to the poster 3.1 Format Background Background fills should be used with care, as it is all too easy to render your text difficult to read if used, they should be a light colour. To open the Background dialogue box, as in Figure 3-1, choose Format Background Figure 3-1 Click on the drop-down menu next to the current background colour (which should be white at the moment) You may choose a colour from those listed, or click on More Colors for a greater selection The Fill Effects option gives greater flexibility Select Fill Effects from the drop-down Select the Gradient tab Click on One Color Use the drop down menu, as in Figure 3-2, to select a colour Figure 3-2 Note the bar below the colour that allows you to select between Dark (black) and Light (white). White is best for posters, creating a fill from the colour you choose to white. Click OK Click Apply If you want a gradient fill on only part of the poster, you may do so by adding a shape first (see section 11) and applying a fill to that. 5

6 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters 4. Use WordArt to Produce Titles To produce eye-catching titles with WordArt 4.1 WordArt WordArt provides a straightforward way to create large titles but with a little more impact than ordinary text. Their main drawback is that you cannot use sub or superscript. WordArt is found on the drawing toolbar, which may already appear at the bottom of the Word window Figure 4-1 If it is not there, switch it on by choosing View Toolbars Drawing The WordArt icon is the large blue A - - click on that to bring up the WordArt dialogue box Click to select a style Click OK Figure 4-2 As prompted, enter your title Choose a font size. Note that 96 is the largest size you can enter here consider 54 as the minimum usable size in any case but you can resize the title for larger text once it is inserted Click OK Figure 4-3 With your title inserted, click on it to select it and use the white roundels at the 6

7 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 corners to resize. Hold down the SHIFT key whilst resizing to preserve vertical/horizontal proportions Although the WordArt dialogue box (as in Figure 4-2) offers a broad selection, you may want to make changes. You may apply a different pattern or fill to the examples shown. Right-click on your title and choose Format Wordart Figure 4-4 Using the drop-down menu next to colour, select fill effects. Click on the icon (before the previous step) to jump straight to this dialogue box Figure 4-5 Using the different tabs you may apply a different background texture, colour or picture to your title. Click on Other Texture or Select Picture (from the relevant tab) to select a file to apply Click OK when finished Note that some of the WordArt styles with gradient or texture fills will not allow you to select a single colour fill you may need to experiment, or use one of the plainer styles, to get the desired effect. 7

8 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters 5. Add Text Method To add text to the poster Insert a text box to hold the text 5.1 Text boxes PowerPoint uses text boxes to hold each piece of text. It is possible to create one large text box and apportion text using that, but much better to add a new text box for each block of text; you may then position the text box as necessary. There are already two text boxes in place on the poster, which can be resized. Click into the top text box ( Click to add title ) Figure 5-1 The border shading changes, and circles appear at the corners Use the white circles to resize the box Click and drag (anywhere) in the shaded areas to move the box By default, this text box has large text, centre aligned use the toolbar icons to change font size and alignment Figure 5-2 It is recommended that you use text no smaller than 24pt. 30something is a good size for body text. To see your text at its actual size, use the zoom menu on the toolbar Figure Copy and Paste You may copy and paste text from Word or other programmes but some experimentation may be needed, as the formatting may be muddled in the transition. If so, try Paste first into Notepad (Start Programs Accessories), copy again from 8

9 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 there and then paste into PowerPoint Change the text in the text box you are about to paste into to a very small size (<10pt) 5.3 Text box options The text boxes already in place on your poster have an internal margin which prevents you from typing right at the top of the box. You may wish to remove it to more easily visualise where text will appear within a text box. Double-click on the border of a text box for options (you may find it easiest to click into the text box first, as that changes the borders from a thin dotted line to a thick shaded one, easier to click on) The relevant options are on the Text Box tab Figure 5-4 Change the text anchor point to Top, using the drop-down menu shown in Figure 5-4 You may also change the margins here it is best to leave them for now, as we will add more text boxes which may have different margins, and we should make them the same to enable us to align text in different boxes. 5.4 Add a new text box You may add a new text box anywhere you like on the page. It is best to position it approximately at first and line it up later. To add a text box, click on the icon on the drawing toolbar Figure 5-5 Note that the similar icon next to this one allows you to enter a text box with vertical text Click into the document to insert the text box 9

10 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters PowerPoint does not immediately allow you to draw the text box at the required size you may set the width, but not the height. For this reason it is best to add some text immediately otherwise you may not be able to find the text box again. Type some text into the text box You may change the height of the text box either by pressing RETURN a few times, or by opening the text box options (Format Text Box or double click its border) and changing the height on the size tab. Once you have a text box setup as you want it, you may copy and paste it to add several more with the same margins etc Figure 5-6 Add several text boxes with titles such as Topic One (feel free to be more creative!) Figure

11 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 6. Create Graphics using Drawing Tools To explore the range of drawing tools on offer 6.1 Drawing Toolbar The drawing toolbar should still be visible near the bottom of the screen. If it is not, choose View Toolbars Drawing A variety of tools are available on this toolbar, under the Autoshapes button Figure 6-1 All are accessed by clicking once on the menu to select the relevant shape, and then clicking and dragging on the slide to draw it. Select a rectangle choose Autoshapes Basic Shapes - Click and drag onto your slide to draw the rectangle The shape will be drawn with the default colour fill To amend a shape, either double-click on it, or choose Format Autoshape Double-click on the rectangle you just inserted Change the fill colour, using the drop-down menu on the Colors and Lines tab Note that if you want all objects you insert in the future to have the same colour, you should tick the Default for new objects box Add another shape to your poster Figure Positioning shapes You may move shapes anywhere on the poster to position them, either by clicking and dragging with the mouse, or by selecting them and then using the arrow keys. You will notice that shapes jump a little when they are moved. That is because there is an invisible grid behind the poster, and shapes are jumping to the next line on that grid. 11

12 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters To stop shapes adhering to the grid; Hold down the ALT key whilst dragging Or Choose Draw Grid and Guides on the drawing toolbar Untick the Snap objects to grid box You may also change the spacing, and display the grid using this dialogue box Figure Text PowerPoint shapes are different from Word s, in that you may add text to any shape that you draw. Click on a shape to select it Type in text PowerPoint converts the shape into a text box the options covered in 5.3, above, may be used to align text and change the text box s internal margins. 6.4 Arrows and connectors Amongst the drawing tools are a selection of arrows and connectors. o Block Arrows allow you to draw large pointers to different areas of your poster o Connectors link different shapes together. They have the advantage of staying connected to shapes even if they are moved or resized, but may be a little too small to use in a poster Choose a style of arrow from the autoshapes on the drawing toolbar Click and drag to draw it onto the poster Use this dot to rotate the arrow Use this dot to change proportions Figure 6-4 Test the two special buttons. The green dot allows you to rotate the arrow and the yellow one to change the proportions; to make the arrow head bigger or the 12

13 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 body wider, as shown in Figure 6-4 Figure 6-5 The connectors will connect any two objects it can occasionally be difficult to avoid connecting a text box rather than the shape for which you are aiming (if, for instance, the two overlap each other). Select a connector from the autoshapes menu on the drawing toolbar Hover the mouse over the edge of a shape until you see blue dots appear there should be one in the middle of each edge. Click to start the connector from there Drag the mouse towards another shape. It should also have blue dots on the edges though beware of blue dots appearing nearby; they may belong to otherwise-invisible text boxes Click again on a different object s dot to draw the connector Connectors are very thin by default, but may be changed. Double-click on the connector you just added Figure 6-6 Change the weight of the line to increase its thickness if you make it too heavy it may spoil the look of connectors on a slant 6.5 Group objects All the objects added so far are independent move one and those around it will not move. PowerPoint allows you to group objects so as to keep them together. Hold down the SHIFT or CTRL keys whilst clicking to select (or deselect) objects Select Draw Group The selected objects are grouped together, and may be moved as such. This selection technique also allows you to make changes to several objects together colour, line etc. On the same menu is the command to Ungroup, should you need to amend individual objects. Connectors are grouped automatically, arrows are not 13

14 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters 7. Align and Order Objects Method To ensure different elements of the poster line up Use the Draw-Align or Distribute command 7.1 Align and Distribute As more objects are inserted, it becomes harder to line them all up. Using the snap to grid feature can help, but there is in fact no need to align objects by hand. Select two objects (which are not grouped if necessary, draw more objects, or ungroup a selection) Choose Draw Align or distribute Align left Objects are aligned to the edge furthest to the left Figure 7-1 The option at the bottom of the list, Relative to Slide, is a toggle with it selected, choosing Align Top will align the selected object(s) to the top of the slide Select Distribute to spread objects out evenly across the slide 7.2 Order Objects appear on the slide in the order in which they were entered. This will only matter should you want them to overlap. Move one of your shapes over another Select Draw Order and send it to the back Select Draw Order and bring it forward again Bring in front of all Send behind all Bring forward by one layer Send backwards by one layer Figure

15 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver 7 8. Use the Birkbeck Logo Method To incorporate the Birkbeck logo into the poster Download the logo from the web 8.1 External Relations website You may download the Birkbeck logo from the external relations website Open a web browser and go to Click on the link for Marketing On the left-hand side, click on Visual Identity Click on Logos Click on Colour logos for print publications Download the 50mm logo for your poster. Right-click on the logo you want (e.g. 50mmLogoColour.tif) and choose Save Target As or Save Link As to save a copy onto your working area 8.2 Insert an image PowerPoint allows you to add images of many different types using the Insert menu. Choose Insert Picture From File Browse to wherever you saved the image in the exercise above Double-click on the image to insert it The logo will be inserted. You will almost certainly want to resize it Click and drag one of the white circles at the corner of the image to enlarge it Figure

16 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters 9. Use Clipart To add clipart to your poster 9.1 Insert Clipart Office 2003 gives easy access to the ClipArt store online, making it a reasonable place to start if you are looking for a particular image to add colour to your poster Choose Insert Picture Clip Art Enter a term to search for and click Go Use the drop down under Results should be to specify the type of image Click on an image to insert it 10. Import Objects To import items from other programmes Figure Insert Object Office applications can insert items from a variety of other packages. You may need to experiment a little for best results, but the principle is the same for each. Choose Insert Object Choose Create from file (which allows you to select a previously-created file) Click Browse Double click on the relevant file to insert it Figure Unsupported packages If PowerPoint is not able to insert the object in this way, you have several options Copy the object from the source programme and paste it into PowerPoint (you may find that the Edit Paste Special command gives better results, especially if you paste the object as a picture) Save the file in a format PowerPoint can import; vector drawing programmes such as Chemdraw should be able to save as EPS, and these files may be expanded as needed (unlike Jpeg or gif files) Take a screenshot of the object whilst it is open in the original package (see sections 12 and 13 below) 16

17 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver Scan Files Some guidelines on scanning images for use within your poster 11.1 Scan There are scanners available for your use in ITS reception, room151, Malet Street main building. When scanning a picture you must decide on the trade-off between image size and image quality. To scan at higher quality, save the results with a higher dpi (dots per inch) value, but be warned that this may lead to large file sizes. Some guidelines Save at 150 dpi, not more than 300dpi unless the original is line art Save as tif for compatibility and better image quality than jpeg or gif 4 x6 1.5mb 12 x18 14mb Don t use jpegs they are designed for on screen show, so may look fine, but will often print badly. Graphics downloaded from the web have again usually been modified to look fine on the screen, but are not designed for printing and will thus be of the worst quality, and will give particularly poor results if you try to enlarge them. 12. Screengrabs with Print Screen 12.1 Screengrab So long as you can see an image on screen, you can copy it into your poster, even if you are using an application which PowerPoint cannot import. Note that images produced in this way may not be of the best quality. Bring up the application and screen you want to include Press the PRINT SCRN key (to the right of F12) Choose Edit Paste (or ctrl + v) to paste in the screenshot Once the screenshot is pasted in, you should see the Picture toolbar (if not, choose View Toolbars Picture) Figure 12-1 The crop tool allows you to cut out areas that are not needed Use the drop down to change the level of zoom if necessary 17

18 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters Click on the crop tool to select it Note the black lines that appear at the edge of your picture Click and drag from the edge any area you drag over will be removed Use Undo (CTRL + Z) if you make a mistake 12.2 Compress pictures PowerPoint does not delete cropped areas from a picture they may be reinstated by choosing Reset from the Format Picture dialogue box. It is a good idea to compress pictures if you are sure you do not need the cropped areas (this technique is also useful to reduce the size of PowerPoint presentations, which can safely have a lower image quality than that needed for posters) Double click on the screenshot you have inserted Note the Reset button, as in Figure 12-2 Figure 12-2 Click on Compress Figure 12-3 Change options as in figure You may prefer to switch off the option to Compress pictures (which will reduce their dpi if greater than 200) 18

19 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver Screengrabs with Paint Shop Pro 13.1 Paint Shop Pro Paint Shop pro is available in ITS workstation rooms, and allows you to grab either a whole screen or just an area of the screen you are looking at. Choose Start Programs Graphic Utilities Paint Shop Pro to start the programme Choose Capture Setup Figure 13-1 From the Capture Setup dialogue box, choose whether to capture an area or the full screen, and whether to begin the capture using a mouse click, hot key or timer. The hot key is recommended, as shown. Choose Capture Now The Paint Shop Pro window is minimised, and you may continue working as before. Once you have the screen to capture in front of you, press the hot key If you selected Full Screen capture, you will return to Paint Shop Pro with the screenshot displayed If you chose to capture an area, the cursor will change to cross hairs. Click once to begin the capture, drag to select an area and click again to finish and return to Paint Shop Pro 13.2 Crop Picture Once you have your image in Paint Shop Pro, you may crop it as necessary Select the crop tool from the left Click and drag to select the area to preserve you may adjust this by dragging the lines at the edge Click Crop Image on the Controls dialogue Save your file to insert into PowerPoint (in PowerPoint, choose Insert Picture From File) Figure 13-2 If you cannot see the tools and buttons mentioned above, choose View Toolbars Tick Tool palette for tools such as the crop tool Tick Control palette for the Crop Image button 19

20 Doc Ver 7 Powerpoint Posters 14. Save the Final Copy Method To save the poster such that it may be printed out without losing formatting Embed the fonts within the presentation 14.1 Saving the file You should save your file in the usual way (the shortcut is ctrl + s) as you progress. However, once you are finished, it is important to save the file in such a way that the final version is printed just as you have designed it. Not all computers have all the same fonts installed on them, and any used in a document that are not installed on a different computer will be displayed on that computer in the nearest, best-guess to the missing font, or not appear at all. To embed fonts with your presentation: Select File Save As On the right-hand side of the dialogue box, click on Tools Select Save options Figure 14-2 Save your document Tick the option Embed Truetype fonts Figure 14-1 Choose the option Embed all characters as shown Click OK If PowerPoint gives you an error message at this point, it means you are using a non-microsoft font, which cannot be embedded; possibly a special character in use in a figure (though not if that figure is an image). You should remove it (use an image instead if necessary) 20

21 Powerpoint Posters Doc Ver Checklist 15.1 Checklist Text size Use a minimum of 24 point for body text, 96 pt for titles PowerPoint s maximum size is 137 x 137cm if you need larger, size your PowerPoint slide proportionately and ask the printer to enlarge it accordingly (note that changing a slide after you have started designing will cause problems, as PowerPoint will scale everything to fit the new size if you need to change proportions, start a new presentation, size that to fit and copy and paste contents from the old poster). Up to A1 is the convention for academic posters. For capital letters an inch high, use 72 point For lower-case letters an inch high, use 108 point The flow of your poster should be from left to right but not back again, don t make readers move across a top row then back to the left for the bottom row if it is crowded, they won t be able to. Use arrows or numbers to guide readers through the poster 16. Further resources Other sources of information 16.1 Internet resources B0 1414mm x 1000mm 55.67" x 39.37" A0 841mm x 1189mm 33.11" x 46.81" A1 594mm x 841mm 23.39" x 33.11" A2 420mm x 594mm 16.54" x 23.39" A3 297mm x 420mm 11.69" x 16.54" A4 210mm x 297mm 8.27" x 11.69" A5 148mm x 210mm 5.83" x 8.27" 10 Steps to better PowerPoint posters from UCL A brief guide and a PowerPoint template Healthy cynicism over using PowerPoint duramecho.com/computerinformation/howtodopowerpointposters.html An internet search for PowerPoint Posters will bring up several other resources Document Version 7 May