Illustrae website review

Illustrae is software for creating scientific illustrations. Let me hit what might be the most relevant feature of this product for many readers right at the top:

There’s no free version to try.

For that reason, I cannot review the software. I am not able to throw down money for a subscription to try this product right now, not even a temporary subscription. But I wanted to write a post pointing to this product, because it is relevant to this blog’s mission.

The main poster-related feature is the promise of turning an abstract into a poster. 

 

This feature, as far as I can tell, is a generative AI tool. And the rest of the website seems to support this idea, because the illustrations look very much like most other generative AI figures, like the ones that you see all over LinkedIn and other sites. The graphics on the site uniformly feel like generic slop created by generic generative AI tools. So many images against a faded, yellow-ish background. 

I cannot say how good a job this does, but if I were testing it, I would be very interested in:

1. How similar the results were from different abstracts.
2. Whether the results follow the best practices they list on their own site (see below). 
3. How much tweaking and checking typically needs to be done. 

Other features don’t appear to be generative AI, but it is hard to tell. Several screens show libraries elements that remind me of BioRender tools and icons, but the aesthetic is very different to BioRender. BioRender tends towards minimalist icons, but Illustrae images are more visually complex. I wonder if generative AI was used to create those common stock elements?

The site contains two blog posts specifically about posters. One is a guide about the overall design of the poster. This is a decent short summary. 

The other is about creating the figures within the poster. This one has some points that are not as well explained. For example, in discussing figure resolution:

As cited, “High-quality figures should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi to ensure clarity and readability.”

It is not clear which of their sources are being cited here. It’s true that 300 dpi is more than enough, but the post doesn't mention that the 300 dpi measure has to factor in the final printed size of the poster, not just what it is on a screen.

Another bit of strangeness in the post comes when it says:

If the text is too small, attendees won’t be able to read your labels or legends from a reasonable distance. Remember, “The title of a poster should be at least 100 pt font size to be readable from a distance.”

But this post is about the individual figures? Why is the poster title being brought up here? I worry that someone will read this and think each individual figure needs a 100 point title, which would not leave much room for anything else.

Both posts do have some useful links out to other resources. 

I noted a couple of other things on the website that don’t sit right with me. A bunch of blog posts with have 2025 dates but claim to be “2026 guides.” I’m guessing the title was updated while leaving the content the same search engine optimization.

And let us not forget that to the degree that this is a generative AI tool, there could potentially be issues around intellectual property. The company FAQ notes:

By using the app, you grant us a limited license to store, display, and process your content in order to provide and improve the service. We do not claim ownership of your work, though we reserve the right to feature your images in marketing or educational materials.

I don’t know if “improve our service” might mean, “We use your stuff to train our model.” Other people have found that material uploaded to generative AI services is often not secure, and generative AI can spit that content back. And the company being allowed to feature your images, apparently without your consent, could result in work being released before the researcher wanted it released.

I would also like to see an “About us” section on the website. With all the hype around generative AI, showing the team would generate some good will and trust.

 If you have used Illustrae, I would love to hear from you. Email me at BetterPosters at gmail! 

External links

Illustrae

What To Include In Conference Poster Figures: Essential Elements and Common Pitfalls 

How To Make A Conference Poster For Your Research: 2026 Guide  

Upcoming talk for Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2026 conference

If, by chance, you are planning to go to Bordeaux this year to attend the Organization for Human Brain Mapping meeting, the organizers have created this great prep session. Warning: Contains me.

Notwithstanding my own pleasure at being asked to participate, I think this is a fantastic service from the organizers. Too many conference organizers put up very minimal guidelines for presentations, and that’s it. 

A chance for presentations focused on best practices, and a point of view, and a chance to ask questions far enough in advance for people to make corrections is incredibly valuable.

I hope more organizers pick up this practice! 

External links

OHBM 2026 Annual Meeting

 

Prime blogiversary: Seventeen years of Better Posters

One of the wild things as you get older is that you find yourself thinking, “Hey, when did that movie /song / TV show come out? Must be, like, five years ago now.” And you look it up and it’s over twenty years ago...

We’re not quite at that point yet, but it’s a little surprising that this is the seventeenth blogiversary for Better Posters!

The blog is certainly in its cranky teenage years, and is admittedly  not as communicative as I would like it to be. But it is still very much an ongoing project that I intend to keep going as best I can.

This blog is creeping towards a big milestone: five million views! This is, I think, an incredibly good number for a niche academic blog, and I can only say, “Thank you” to all of you visitors and readers who have contributed to that number.

I hope this blog has helped you! 

Photo by Tom Adcock on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Upcoming free webinar with Reproducibility For Everyone

In one month (or less, depending on when you read this), I will be giving a free online talk, thanks to the kind invitation from the good people at Reproducibility 4 Everyone!

If you can’t scan the QR code in the image above, please use this link to register for this free webinar!

External links

Reproducibility for Everyone 

Your title is 75% of your communication effort – here’s the science

I’ve said in this blog that “Your title is 90% of your communication effort, because that’s all that most people will ever see.”

Well, I exaggerated.

Your poster title is probably about 75% of your communication effort. 

A couple of months ago, a paper came out that looked at “Sharing without clicking” on social media. We’ve all done it. It’s faster and easier to click that little “Repost” button than it is to read the article.

The authors got data from Facebook. They quickly found the 75% of URLs are shared without being clicked.  Note that just because someone clicked a link does not mean they read it. So the 75% value is probably an underestimate of how many people only read the title.

The bulk of the paper is trying to break down what people are more likely to share without clicking, focusing on political affiliation, which is less interesting for poster creators.

But the point remains that an enormous number of people are making decisions about what to engage with based purely on the title. It reinforces the importance of putting real effort into crafting your title.

Reference

Sundar SS, Snyder EC, Liao M, Yin J, Wang J, Chi G. 2025. Sharing without clicking on news in social media. Nature Human Behaviour 9: 156-168. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02067-4 

Related posts

Your title is 90% of your poster 

Link roundup for January 2026

A unique account of a non-traditional conference poster (pictured) with non-traditional goals.

 (T)he question of the purpose of the academic conference, and the AcademicConferenceMachine. 

Linares-Roake JB, Zawadzki JA, Zawadzki SJ. 2026. Plugging it in: This is really interesting, but what are you going to do with it. puntOorg International Journal 11(2): 219-236. https://doi.org/10.19245/25.05.pij.11.02.10
 

• • • • •

Conference organizers went out of their way to make their poster session better, and got the poster above (among others). Learn what they did:

Ecoff L, Reina Failla K, Loose D, Cassingham B. 2026. Improving the quality of dissemination efforts at a regional nursing leadership conference. Nursing Administration Quarterly 50(1): 20-24. https://journals.lww.com/naqjournal/fulltext/2026/01000/improving_the_quality_of_dissemination_efforts_at.6.aspx

• • • • • 

Nicola Rennie does a makeover of a simple line plot and ends up with what she calls a “spaghetti plot”: a small multiple of a line plot, each highlighting a different line. Here’s the before and after:

My question is whether the greyed-out “background” lines in the small multiple are at all helpful. Because they are all next to each other, you can compare the shapes of the four lines easily. Why not just make four line graphs? 

• • • • • 

Lewis and colleagues introduce a special issue of articles that debuted in poster sessions be encouraging people to take more opportunities from poster sessions:

1. Preview the Poster Sessions. 
2. Don’t Be Shy! ... It can feel awkward or intimidating to walk up to the presenter, but that only lasts for a few seconds.
3. Like and Follow! ... (M)any posters include a QR code with contact information and resources for the attendees. These additional resources provide additional information about the topic and are a great way to learn more(.)
4. Look for Themes! 

Lewis KD, Stephenson KG, Brown KL. The Editorial Word: Learning. Journal of Advanced Academics: In press. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1932202X251400554

• • • • •

Huda and colleagues show that first authors who give a poster at a conference are more likely to attend that conference again than authors who give an oral presentation.

Huda T, Miller B, Miller C, Velasquez K, Garcia C, Razeq Z, Ajmal H, Fegahli T, Khan S, Gutierrez A. 2025. Trends in first-author retention in ASH accepted works from 2019–2024. Blood 146: 8217. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2025-8217

• • • • • 

A very short article with advice for poster presentations. Much of the advice is more, “Think about this,” rather than, “Here specifically is how you make this better.”

Mermelstein AD. 2025. Guidelines and suggestions for effective poster presentations. MinneTESOL Journal 41(2): https://minnetesoljournal.org/guidelines-and-suggestions-for-effective-poster-presentations/

Lessons from sabre-toothed cats

 Look at this beautiful art by Yuefeng Song.

What’s lovely about this is not just the illustration, but that it is Figure 6 in technical paper in an academic journal. It’s not done just for press releases or social media or some other more media to promote the paper. It is in the version of record, and that’s wild. 

Academic journals are normally conservative and slightly staid. 

It a little subversive to have an illustration that unabashedly embraces a Chinese artistic tradition in a British journal.

A recurring problem with posters is the sameness many have. One of the goals of this blog is to showcase new graphic design possibilities for posters. I’ve tried to think about how other cultures might approach posters – with different forms of writing and design traditions. (I spent a long time looking for a conference poster in any language besides English.)

And an illustration like the one above reminds me of how limited my own view is. Because even when I think about trying to push the envelope, I usually am thinking about doing so in a context of Western culture.

There is no reason that conference posters couldn’t embrace other artistic traditions than “modern Western realism.” 

Well, I take that back. There are some reasons. People can be sensitive about using artistic styles when an artist or presenter does not belong to the culture that developed and uses that style. I suspect that people are more likely to complain about this when the imitation is done poorly and without respect than when it’s done with craft and care.

Hat tip to Natalia Jagielska. As Natalia notes, “‘Realism’ is a style. ... I do not understand the current aversion to different “styles” in scientific visual art.”

Reference

Qigao Jiangzuo et al. 2025. A new ecomorph of Nimravidae, and the early macrocarnivorous niche exploration in Carnivora. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292(2059): 20251686. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.1686