To better understand the needs of poster makers, I have started a poll that will run through summer. You can see the poll over on the right side of the screen. The question is simple: What software do you prefer to use to make conference posters?
Please take a second to vote – assuming, of course, that you actually make posters! (I can’t image why you’re reading if you don’t, but what you do on your side of the phosphor dots is your business.)
Additional: If your preferred tool isn’t listed, please vote “Something else” and leave a note in the comments, or email me.
Update: The poll is now closed, and the results are here
Photo by secretlondon123 on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Posts
14 comments:
I don't like posters, but when I have to, I use PowerPoint
Illustrator is my favorite, but I've also used PhotoShop and PowerPoint.
Grad student here. I've been using PowerPoint for poster-making the last few years. But prior to grad school, I have used Microsoft Publisher and CorelDraw.
Pages, from iWork.
Missing the Pages/Keynote option to vote for
Thanks to all who voted and commented so far!
Aurelio: Keynote or Pages would fall under the “Something else” category. ;)
Sorry for the oversight. Trying to figure out what tools I don’t know about is why I started the poll in the first place.
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that I can't change the poll now people have voted on it. I'd like to leave it as is so I can get consistent data.
I don't do posters, but answered for my wife, who swears by PowerPoint. I'd probably use pages or illustrator.
Scribus! Free, OS-independent, vektor-based!
I'd also like to put in a plug for Scribus. I think it may be just about the best program for posters. For starters, it's a real layout program. This means that it has support for advanced typography, conversion to CMYK, and outputs proper press-ready PDF files. Second, it integrates really well with other open source technologies like Inkscape and LaTeX (being able to typeset mathematics with LaTeX in Scribus is simply awesome). Finally, it's easy to use, which means there is a pretty low barrier to entry. If you (or your students) are going to be doing a lot of posters, it is well worth checking out.
I'm a fan of Illustrator. It's convenient since I use a lot of vector graphics and it makes great print-ready PDFs.
I always use latex, which works just great for posters!
I used to use Quark XPress for any kind of layout job, including posters, and given the choice I'd use it again. Corel Draw seems to work ok, although its paragraph text handling isn't great.
I second for LaTeX- it feeds my OCD better the Powerpoint could ever....
I've found that Adobe Indesign is a very nice piece of software for making posters - I tend to use it in combination with Photoshop. It's quite easy to use and has a lot of flexibility for layout and design options. Price is probably the only drawback but I think there are educational / student discounts available?
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