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Poster Design Process
Using PowerPoint to Create Posters
Using InDesign to Create Posters

 

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Designing Effective Posters

Using InDesign

Getting Started | Working With Text | Working with Graphics | Exporting to PDF

Note: In this section, software menu commands are highlighted in light blue.

Getting Started

Creating a new InDesign document

Choose File menu > New > Document.

new document menu

The New Document dialog box appears. Enter in values for the page size, margins, and number of columns. The following example shows values typical for a poster.

New Document dialog box

Moving around in the display

To zoom in on part of the document, use the zoom tool (zoom). Or choose Ctrl + to zoom in; Ctrl - to zoom out

While you are zoomed in, use the Hand tool (hand tool) to move around the image.

Press spacebar to access the hand tool when using another tool (except the text tool)

Working With Guides

Guides are useful for aligning the elements in your poster. Guides are lines that appear on the screen but do not print. To add guides, first make sure the rulers are visible (View menu > Show Rulers).  Then click in a ruler and drag to where you want to place the guide.

To hide or lock the guides, choose View menu > Hide Guides or Lock Guides.

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