PowerPoint, and other comparable software, is an application that many people have access to. It is easy to add text and visuals to a PowerPoint slide and manipulate their font, size, and/or color. When you have used PowerPoint in the past it was more than likely for a presentation. Like a research poster, presentations share a message with an audience. Instead of using a set of small slides to deliver that message, a poster uses one giant slide as its canvas.
Select the object you are adding a drop shadow to and open its Format Pane using the Shape Format tab in the top menu toolbar. Adding a drop shadow is a good way to call out text from qualitative results.
There are websites with free templates that can be adapted to fit your needs, but you will not have as much control over them and their quality varies. Here are some resources for finding templates:
If you can't find a suitable template, or have a specific vision for your poster (or requirements that must be met) contact Kristina Dorsett (kidorsett@widener.edu) for her online tutorial on customizing your own powerpoint poster.
Many researchers have made PowerPoint posters and spent half their time trying to align columns and rows in the file. PowerPoint has built in alignment tools that will save you this rite of passage.
Begin by selecting all of the objects you would like to align into a column or row. Hold down the shift key and click on the objects to select more than one object at once. This will reveal the "Shape Format" menu in your toolbar. The Align buttons are usually grouped with the Arrange buttons, these have orange squares that make them stand out. You can find the alignment buttons on other tabs in the PowerPoint interface, this is only one of many ways to find them.
When you have more than one object selected, the default setting is to "Align Selected Objects." The other option, and the only option when you have just one object selected, is "Align to Slide."
These buttons will push every selected object to the furthest point in the direction you chose to align them. Selecting "Align Right" will push everything to the right.
These two options, vertical and horizontal, will create even margins between 3 or more objects.