Printing a poster

[VulpesZerda]

Hi all... I have a conference coming up in October and I need to print my poster. The first and only time I printed a poster, I was a visiting scholar at a department with a much better budget, so they paid for it and printed it. My school doesn't have a poster printer, believe it or not.

 

Now that I'm on my own, I don't know where the best place to print would be. Where do you all go? I would especially like recommendations for affordable places, since today I printed materials for my thesis and Staples got quite a bit more of $$ out of me than I would have liked.

[dr. t]

If you have a local copy shop, they're usually much cheaper and better than Staples. If your school has a geography department, if your library maintains maps, of if there's an architecture department, they should each have a machine capable of printing a poster.

[TakeruK]

I'm in a geology department and we have a geology map printer that is pretty cheap--charges $5 per linear foot, so a standard poster is about $20-$25. Maybe your school has something similar. Staples would normally charge $70-$100 for the same thing. Of course, the paper quality is not as good, but it's certainly friendlier on the wallet if you have to pay out of pocket!

 

Also, depending on how much time you have, you could try printing a fabric poster!! Here is more information: (short post: http://labhacks.tumblr.com/post/62420107780/the-25-scrunchable-scientific-poster; long post: http://www.ascb.org/ascbpost/index.php/compass-points/item/188-how-to-print-a-fabric-poster). The total price is about $25 or so. The main catch is that you would probably want about 2-3 weeks of lead time just in case there are delays!

[VulpesZerda]

Thanks to you both!

 

I might go for the fabric because that seems awesome TakeruK! My advisor might think it's weird, but oh well, it's cheap!

[TakeruK]

Thanks to you both!

 

I might go for the fabric because that seems awesome TakeruK! My advisor might think it's weird, but oh well, it's cheap!

 

Also, the best part is that there is no poster tube to carry around--just fold neatly in your suitcase, iron/steam it on the other side if necessary, and it's ready to go! Fabric posters are getting more common but they will still draw a lot of attention because of the different material, which can be nice too

[VulpesZerda]

Also, the best part is that there is no poster tube to carry around--just fold neatly in your suitcase, iron/steam it on the other side if necessary, and it's ready to go! Fabric posters are getting more common but they will still draw a lot of attention because of the different material, which can be nice too

It does sound awesome, have you done it? This was my advisor's reply (lol):

I'm not sure about printing on fabric - I've never seen that at a conference, I'm worried it might look a little too much like a flag...?

[Usmivka]

Just print a test swatch first. Some fabrics are coarser, some finer, and they all print differently. The plastic fabrics actually crease quite badly when folded. They can be mostly ironed out with care though, and print more crisply than natural fiber fabrics, which can blur and don't hold bright colors as well. I print paper posters at Kinkos, comes out better than the in house print shop at similar price (~$100). The Copytech services at the other campus are a lot cheaper, but use cheap paper and ink and it shows. For fabric, I've used our in house group, but I heard something about an online fabric printer where you send them the design and they print by the yard--it is meant for dresses and such, but I've seen a number of really beautiful posters made by them, and the cost is apparently low (~$30). I don't have the name on me though--the "Spoonflower" source T linked above looks really similar. The big downside of fabric is the lead time--a few days at least if you outsource it.

 

ps at the conferences I go to ~20% of posters are fabric. Mostly by the people who were clearly better at time management and could get it looking nice and ready with plenty of time to spare. It has really caught on in the last few years.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Usmivka

[TakeruK]

I'm starting to see maybe 5% to 10% of the posters at conferences are fabric. I've seen a Spoonflower (what I linked above) poster in person--my friend here made his poster with that and it looks great. The recommended fabric "performance knit" does not look like a flag at all. 

 

If the poster is far away, what you could do is just ask for a test swatch. Or even just order it early and if it's terrible, you can still do the standard paper poster. But I can personally vouch for Spoonflower's performance knit fabric as good for poster printing! I really wanted to print my last poster on this but I didn't get it finished 2-3 weeks in advance!

 

For these type of services, it's really meant for users to upload their own design to create clothes/drapes etc. but the pattern is just your poster! You can order just 1 yard, which is about the size of a conference poster Or, you can order several yards and make something out of your research!! (My goal one day!)

[VulpesZerda]

Thanks, guys! It's October 18, so I think I have time? My professor ended up saying she supports whatever choice I'll make, lol.

 

I want the poster to be 4 feet x 3 feet. I think I have to change the resolution that my powerpoint slides get exported at. I'm going to order very soon. Thanks again for the $$ saving idea!!

Edited October 1, 2014 by VulpesZerda

[radiomars]

I use www.makesigns.com, as do some of my colleagues. Very happy with the results. Super fast shipping is available. So are fabric posters (highly recommended!)

[VulpesZerda]

TakeruK, I just have to say once again thank you soo much for this suggestion. I presented today with the fabric and it was fantastic -- I'm never going back to paper!!  It was such a hit with everyone at the conference, and it saved me money and hastle. 

 

And, while I'm here, I also want to thank you for all of your helpful and polite answers, in general, across the forums -- you've helped quite a lot of people with your insight and advice

 

I'm in a geology department and we have a geology map printer that is pretty cheap--charges $5 per linear foot, so a standard poster is about $20-$25. Maybe your school has something similar. Staples would normally charge $70-$100 for the same thing. Of course, the paper quality is not as good, but it's certainly friendlier on the wallet if you have to pay out of pocket!

 

Also, depending on how much time you have, you could try printing a fabric poster!! Here is more information: (short post: http://labhacks.tumblr.com/post/62420107780/the-25-scrunchable-scientific-poster; long post: http://www.ascb.org/ascbpost/index.php/compass-points/item/188-how-to-print-a-fabric-poster). The total price is about $25 or so. The main catch is that you would probably want about 2-3 weeks of lead time just in case there are delays!

[TakeruK]

Yay! Glad that the fabric poster worked out awesomely  

[fuzzylogician]

VulpesZerda, how long did it take between submitting your order and receiving the finished product? Was it good quality? 

[VulpesZerda]

VulpesZerda, how long did it take between submitting your order and receiving the finished product? Was it good quality?

I used their rushed service, but not their *most* rushed. They have three shipping speeds; the normal speed was cutting it too close for my poster and the most rushed one was expensive and unnecessary for my needs. I ordered it on 10/3; it shipped on the 10th; I received it on the 14th. Had I planned this a little better and given it 3 full weeks to ship, I could have just used the normal $3 shipping. Even so, I saved money by doing this.

The quality was great! They don't accept a submission that doesn't meet their quality standards (150 dpi I believe).

[fuzzylogician]

Thanks! I guess that makes it doubtful that I would use this service, since I don't usually prepare my posters more than 2-3 days before the conference... but if I ever do get my act together, this sounds like a great experience.