FAQs
1. What is your turnaround time?
We promise to ship your file the same day if we receive it by noon our time. We are on the East Coast! Of course, this assumes that we encounter no problems with your file. If we receive your file after noon, we will do our best to get it out that day if you need it. There is a 25% rush charge for that.
2. What's the best way to get you a file?
Enter your order online. Be sure to fill out the form completely. There's nothing worse than having an incomplete ship-to address for an order that we must ship in a hurry!
3. How big should my poster be?
The conference will tell you the maximum size your poster can be. Don't feel like your poster must be that big, and it usually looks better if you have some space around it. Many conferences give you a 48x96" space, and a 42x90" poster is better than something that hangs off the edge. We make plenty of 36x60" and 36x72" posters that are displayed on 48x96" boards. Our suggestion is to start with a larger poster, and if you have a lot of emply space, copy and paste everything into a smaller template. If the conference wants a poster of a particular size, you should do that.
4. To what size should I set up my file?
If you are designing from scratch, it's always best to set things up in actual size. If you have already set up your poster, we can print to any proportional size.
Since PowerPoint will not set things up larger than 56", use half size for posters larger than that. For instance, if you need a 36x96" poster, set it up as 18x48 and we will double it with our printer driver. Our templates are set up at half size for everything larger than 48x48".
5. What if my poster needs to be free standing?
We can create a tri-fold poster mounted on foamcore board, or you can attach a 36x48" laminated poster to a tri-fold cardboard display. Tri-Fold information
6. How big do my bitmaps (pictures) need to be?
We like to see them between 72 and 100 dpi in their final size. 100 dpi translates to about 4 megabytes of uncompressed tif per square foot of final image size. We find you can live with 72 dpi, which is about 2mb per sq ft.
A good thing to do is to look at your pictures at 100% (200% if we will print them at 200%). If they are pixellated (you see noticeable squares of color) on your screen, they will be that way when we print them too. You will want to get higher resolution photos.
| Scanning Table for 100dpi Output | |||
| Size on poster | |||
| Original Size | 6" x 9" | 16" x 24" | 24" x 36" |
| 2" x 3" | scan at 300 dpi. | scan at 800 dpi. | scan at 1200 dpi |
| 4" x 6" | scan at 150 dpi. | scan at 400 dpi. | scan at 600 dpi. |
| Scanning Table for 72dpi Output | |||
| Size on poster | |||
| Original Size | 6" x 9" | 16" x 24" | 24" x 36" |
| 2" x 3" | scan at 216 dpi. | scan at 576 dpi. | scan at 864 dpi |
| 4" x 6" | scan at 108 dpi. | scan at 288 dpi. | scan at 432 dpi. |
7. What file format should I use for pictures?
PowerPoint® works best with tif or jpg images. PICT and EPS images from a Mac brought into a PC are a definite problem!
8. How do I bring charts, tables, and pictures into PowerPoint?
It works best to do insert-picture-from file for your photos. Charts can be copy-pasted in from Excel®, but you must be very careful that it looks OK on the screen. Sometimes it will work better to paste special as a Microsoft Office Excel Chart Object. Tables that come in funny, or look bad when you try to resize them, can often be fixed by re-pasting them using paste special and choosing enhanced metafile. Many programs other than Excel do not copy and paste cleanly into PowerPoint. If that happens, export as a tif, jpg, or wmf and then insert into PowerPoint using insert-picture-from file.
If you are using Prism®, it is important to save your charts and graphs as a high resolution jpg, and then do insert-picture-from file. PowerPoint does not do well with imported png files.
9. Must I use the template as it is?
Not at all! We simply provide them as a starting point for you. Put in all the charts and pictures you want, change the headings, color scheme, anything!
10. Can I have my poster sent to me at the conference?
Sure. Usually we send to you as a guest at your hotel. We'll need the ship-to address and phone number of the hotel. Fedex priority will get it there by 10:30 usually, and sometimes it takes a while for the hotel to get it into their system. The front desk will be able to help you.
11. How do I arrange for payment?
We prefer to charge a credit card. We can take a PO from most institutions, but many do not like to issue a PO for a small amount, and it can be a hassle. Many researchers put the charges on their credit card and are re-imbursed, or charge to a departmental purchasing card. We will send you a receipt with your poster, and we can email one to you. If you pay by PO, we need a copy of the PO faxed to us at 603-536-1411.
12. How will I know you received my file?
During our normal working hours (Mon-Fri 8:00 AM-8:00 PM Eastern Time) you will get a verification email from us within ten minutes of receipt of your file. If you don't get your verification email, please call us and we will figure out what is going on. If your order comes in after working hours, we will send your email when we come in the next morning.
It will generally take us a few hours to then get your file into production. If we have problems with your file, or need information, we will email or call you. If everything goes fine, you will see an email notification of shipment from Fedex.
13. What size type do I need to use?
We find that 24 point type is as small as you should use in text boxes. If we are going to print the poster at 200%, then use 12 point type and it will become 24 point when we print it.
Larger type should be used for the title and category headings. 96 point type is 1" high.
14. Can I use a program other than PowerPoint®?
Yes! We support most of the common PC and Mac design programs, including QuarkXpress®, Adobe Illustrator®, CorelDraw®, InDesign®, Pagemaker®, Photoshop®, and Freehand®. You can send us a pdf generated by almost any program.
Question? Contact us at sales@megaprint.com or call us!
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