Epson Stylus 9600 Plotter Documentation PC

Instructions for Creating Research Posters in PowerPoint

These instructions will guide you through creating a research poster in PowerPoint for printing on the Knapp Plotter.

Before beginning:

If you plan on including more than 4 layers of material Photoshop would be a more appropriate tool. An example of a 4 layered document that will print from PowerPoint is a rectangle border under an image under another rectangle under your text. Adding additional layers may cause your document to not print. PowerPoint can create very complex slides with many layers, but is unfortunately unable to print them properly. Photoshop will allow you to create complex and many-layered documents and then flatten them for printing.

As soon as you know you are going to use the plotter:

Call Knapp (Mac platform) at x2369 or the Science Library (PC platform) at x3083 to reserve time to print your poster. Reserve the plotter for 1 hour per poster. If there are no problems with your document, it will print in around 30 minutes. We add the extra time to the reservation in case there are problems with the file.

Create a new poster file:

1. Open a new document in PowerPoint.
2. Choose File > Page Setup
3. Choose Slide Sized For > Custom
4. Set Width to 46.5 and Height to 33
5. Choose the horizontal (landscape) orientation for the Slides.
6. Click OK.

Create your poster using the following tips:

1. Use generic fonts (it needs to be cross-platform!)
2. Concentrate on your main points. Too much text will make your text too small and hard to read.
3. Follow the rules of CRAP to make your poster easier to read

   C - color and contrast (make background colors and text in high contrast)
   R - repetition (use the same colors, fonts and font sizes throughout your document)
   A - alignment (choose a strong alignment with or without columns)
   P - proximity and placement (consider spacing and how elements are arranged)

When you arrive at the Science Library plotter (PC Platform):

Open your poster file in PowerPoint. Choose File > Print Choose Name Epson Stylus Pro 9600 - Large Format Plotter Printer Click Properties In the Main tab: Media Type: Select Premium Glossy Photo Paper (250) or Premium Luster Photo Paper (260) depending on what is displayed as the currently inserted paper on the top of the plotter. Ink: Color/B&W Photo Mode:  Automatic  Set arrow tab at the Quality end Select EPSON Standard (sRGB) in dropdown. Check Print Preview

In the Paper tab: Paper Source: Roll Paper Check Borderless AutoCut: Select Normal Cut Paper Size: Select SuperAO 914x1292mm Copies: 1 Orientation: Landscape Click OK In the Print menu, click OK A new window should popup EPSON Print Preview View the poster in the preview window to make sure it looks correct. Click Print at the top

The staff and students in the Science Library can help you with your questions and any problems that come up.

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Kara S. Hart Wellesley College Library Last Updated: July 2008