Technology Services can produce small quantity printing projects for faculty, staff, and students for instructional use on a cost-of-materials and labor basis.  We can help with designing and producing poster presentations for faculty and student research presentations or department and office events.  We can print small quantities, around 20 copies or less, if you need large quantities, please use the University Relations' Printing page to find the appropriate vendor.  Lamination is available for projects 24" wide or less and now in large format sizes. 

Any images, graphics, or logos used in printing projects must comply with our Copyright Practices.  Technology Services will not print any signs or posters that contain copyrighted materials without written permission from the copyright holder. 

Please fill out the Image Permissions Checklist for any project that includes images, graphics, or logos.  A special thanks to Julie Gard from the Writing and Library Science Department for sharing this form with us!

A PDF is the best format to print from, but we can work from any Microsoft Office Program file, Adobe Creative Suite Program files (Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator), and image files (Jpeg, Gif, Tiff).  You can send files by email (10MB or less) or by bringing the files to Swenson Hall 1061 on a Flash drive/CD in one of the above file formats. 

• Standard Project is a project that is not needed right away, it can be completed anytime after 48 hours and up to a week.  This type of project will have a $14.00 labor charge, with a minimum of 1 hour charged. 
• Rush Project is one that is needed within 48 hours of making the service request.  This project will have a $21.00 labor charge, with a minimum of 1 hour charged. 
• Student graphic and lamination projects are the only exceptions to the labor charge.

Technology Services uses the Graphics Price List to charge for the materials used in the projects we complete. 

We have two sizes for small signs or flyers - 8 1/2 x 11 and 11 x 17.  Pricing for small signs or flyers is $1.10 per print for 8 1/2 x 11 and $1.70 per print for 11 x 17.  Quantity is limited to 20 copies or less.

Two things factor into the price for large poster printing - size and ink use.

• Poster size: we have two paper roll sizes - 24 inches and 42 inches.  We are able to print anything up to 42 inches wide and however long you would like.
• Ink use or "white space" - we have three design types - light ink, heavy ink, and photo or full background.  Please see our ink use samples to determine what type your poster is.
• • Light Ink Use Sample = text document, limited color/color boxes, lots of white space.
    
  • Heavy Ink Use Sample = some graphics, more color/color boxes, not as much white space but no full size photos.
  • Photo or Background Ink Use Sample = full size photo or colored background, little to no white space.

Large Format Printing Pricing

*Small poster lamination is $1.05 a running foot.  If the full lamination project is under 3 ft long the cost is $2.65.

Pricing Examples:

• A laminated 24 x 60 banner using the Bright White paper and light ink use, it would roughly be $25.75 for the poster itself ($5.15 for paper/ink x 5 ft for poster length = $25.75) and about $6.30 for laminating.
• A 24 x 36 poster using the Bright White paper and photo ink use, it would roughly be $34.80 ($11.60 for paper/ink x 3 ft for poster length = $34.80) for the poster itself.  The reason it is $11.60 per foot is because it is photo ink use which is double the heavy price.
• A 42 x 36 poster using the Heavyweight Coated paper and photo ink use, it would roughly be $43.20 ($14.40 for paper/ink x 3 ft for poster length = $43.20) for the poster.  The reason it is $14.40 per foot is because it is photo ink use which is double the heavy price.
  

Note:  Whenever there is a full-size photo or large background, we would recommend using the better paper for this type poster to make sure the paper doesn't "buckle" under the weight of the ink.

If you do not have access to a graphic design program like Adobe Photoshop, we recommend using Microsoft PowerPoint to create your large format poster.  Most people have used PowerPoint before to create presentations and it will give you more control over the font placement and sizes.  You can change the slide size to your final print size without having a printer that will print that size yourselves.

Best Practices for Creating a Presentation Poster

For several years, the McNair Scholars have created large format posters for their student research presentation sessions.  You can find examples of the McNair Scholars Alumni posters on their website, click on one of the links from 2007 Alumni to the present and then on the "See the posters created by the 20xx McNair Scholars" link near the top of the page.  The posters are in a PowerPoint presentation, each slide has an image of a 36 x 48 poster on it.

Finding Images for Your Poster

We all want to create a poster that is eye-catching while still being professional but we need to make sure any images we use aren't someone else's copyrighted materials.  The Make Use Of website has an article called "7 Great Ways To Find Free Images Online" that can help with this.  The article explains what types of images are available, how to find ones that aren't copyrighted, and has links to several image websites.

If you are using images, graphics, or logos on your poster, please remember to fill out the Image Permissions Checklist.

Using the UW-Superior Signature logo on Your Poster

If you want to add the University's logo to your poster, make sure you use an image that will be crisp and clear when it's printed on your large format poster.  You can find a high quality image on the University Relations Signature Logo page.  Click on the "JPG" link under the image, this will bring you to a new page that you can right-click to save the image to your computer.