How to make a Digital Poster

A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to

a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual
and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly
graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-
catching and informative.

What Do You Need?

 A computer to layout
 Designing Softwares

STEPS
Step 1: Get the right size
Posters are large print documents designed to grab attention. A few standard poster sizes are 11” × 17”, 16” ×
20”, 18” × 24”, and 24” × 36”. You have flexibility in choosing the size of your poster, depending on whether it
will be on a corner lightpost, the break room, or a school bulletin board. All of the poster templates in
Lucidpress are set to 18” × 24”.

Step 2: Design your poster layout

Your audience needs to take in the message of your poster at a glance. Choose your alignment—left,
centered, right, or justified—and apply it to your headers, photos, text, and shapes. Unify the elements of your
poster by aligning objects and text. This will make the poster feel coherent. Text is often centered, creating a
sense of symmetry.

Step 3: Choose your graphics

Photographs and other graphics can visually communicate a message in ways that words can’t. Have a
balance between text and images that complement and relate to each other. With larger posters you will want
to make sure you have the highest-resolution version of the photo possible. Don’t upload low resolution files of
photos, otherwise your printed poster won’t look its best. Use photos which have been saved at a minimum of
300 pixels per inch at poster size for printing.

Step 4: Use color in your poster

Posters are designed to grab attention. A good eye for color can direct your audience to the core parts of your
message. Choose colors that complement your photographs and your message. For example, if you are
advertising a farmers’ market, the color green can evoke freshness and nature. A poster can make a big
impact even with a limited color palette—too many colors can distract from your message. Black and white
posters provide good legibility for simple posters. There are several tools online to help you choose a color
scheme, including Adobe’s Kuler. This tool lets you upload a photograph and select complementary colors to
use in your background or text.

Step 5: Include text into your poster

Keep your headers and titles simple. Use a larger font size for headers, which helps you determine the first
thing your audience sees. Grab your audience’s attention with contrasts in font sizes, style, and color. If using
multiple font faces, choose ones that are different enough to look deliberate. As a rule of thumb, don’t use
more than two font faces in a document. Use font weight (bold) to differentiate sections of text. The use of ALL
CAPS and italics also draw attention to particular points of a message. Keep text limited to your core message
so your audience knows What, Where, and When.