Johns Hopkins UniversityEST. 1876

America’s First Research University

Poster Printing Instructions

Poster printing is available at JHU’s Digital Media Center on the Homewood Campus or at Fed Ex. Both are located at 3003 N. Charles Street.

Requirements

  • All posters must be submitted for printing correctly sized and in a properly formatted PDF or PNG image file format.
    • Posters should be no printed no larger than 32×42
    • DPI must be set below 144
    • No Transparency
    • No Alpha Chanel
    • No Interlacing
    • No Anti-Aliasing

Notes

  • All Applications – Set document size in inches for the poster before editing. Failure to do so will result in pixelation and distortion.
    • For most applications this can be set under File – Page Setup or File – Document Setup.
  • All Applications – Do not use a transparent or dark background.
    • Posters with dark backgrounds will not be printed due to excessive ink usage and long drying times.
    • Posters with transparent backgrounds will not print correctly.
  • To save a PNG from Illustrator:
    • Click File and select Export then change the format to PNG
    • Set export PNG options to RGB, 150 ppi, Background White, no interlace and no Anti-Alias
  • To save a PNG from Photoshop:
    • Click File and select Save As
    • Set Format to PNG and click Save
    • Version Specific Options – If prompted set to RGB, Non-interlaced and no Anti-Aliasing
  • To save a PNG from PowerPoint – Mac:
    • Click File and select Save As
    • Change Format to PNG then click Options
    • Office 2008 and earlier – Set the DPI to 144 DPI and click OK, then Save
    • Office 2011:
      • Click File and select Save As
      • Set Format to PDF and Save
      • Open PDF in Preview
      • Click File and select Save As
      • Set Format to PNG and set the Resolution to 150, then click Save
  • To save a PNG from Inkscape (cross-platform open-source alternative to Illustrator):
    • Click File and select Document Properties and click on the box next to Background
    • Under the RGB tab set A to 255
    • Click File and select Export Bitmap
    • Select the Page tab, set the resolution to 150 dpi and click Export
  • To save a PNG from PowerPoint – Windows (NOT RECOMMENDED):
    • Office for Windows – Is limited to a maximum output of 72 or 96 DPI which results in pixelated posters; to avoid this you will need to use another program such as PDFCreator to produce the PNG.
    • View the Windows Office instructions using PDFCreator pdf