BIOL 395 Poster Printing Locations & Information
(Updated March 30, 2016)
Printing Locations
UNC Student Stores Print Stop & Copy Center
Located on the third floor of Student Stores, the Print Stop offers printing and copying services for students, faculty, staff, and departments. For more information call (919) 962-7016 phone or email If you lab has agreed to pay for your poster paper and printing, you will need to get the account number from your lab. Please give Student Stores this account number AND the name of the Biology faculty member you are working with.
FedEx Office Print & Ship Center (formerly known as Kinko's)
There is a FedEx Office Print & Ship Center (formerly known as Kinko's) on Franklin Street. Contact info: 114 W Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Phone: 919-967-0790
PhD Posters
Submit your poster online to this reasonably priced printing service run out of Duke, and have it mailed to your location or pick it up here on campus at the Health Sciences Library. A popular option among Health Affairs students.
On campus pickup at Health Sciences Library:
Main website:
Lineberger Cancer Center Digital Imaging Facility
Lineberger Cancer Center Digital Imaging Facility prints posters for Lineberger members and UNC faculty, staff, and students.
Due to the large amount of printing requests already scheduled, the Biology Graphics Department will NOT be able to print any BIOL 395 research posters. They have the names of the BIOL 395 poster presenters each semester and you will not be allowed to have your poster printed there. And don’t waste your time sending a grad student to get your poster printed for you. Sorry – noexceptions!
Tips and Hints
Be prepared to pay to have your poster printed and to buy the adhesive strips to hang your poster if your lab will not pay for this!
Check beforehand to find out how long in advance you'll need to submit your poster to the poster printing service of your choice. Ask how much it will cost and what forms of payment theyaccept. Then, check with your lab to see if they will cover the cost. If you can pay using a university account, be sure to take the lab account number and also list the faculty member who you are working with. If your lab won’t pay to have your poster printed, you will need to pay for this yourself.
Proofread your poster multiple times before printing out the final version. Try printing out a small copy of your poster on a standard printer, and get a colleague or friend to critique it. Nothing is worse than getting a 5 foot poster printed and then noticing a typo or an issue with a graphic!
Leave at least 1/2 inch of blank space around the perimeter of your poster. Not only will it look better to your audience, but sometimes text or graphics too close to the edge of your document can get cut off when printed.
The poster should be 32 inches wide x 48 inches tall. This is known asPORTRAIT orientation. Please note that thismay be different than the scientific posters in your laboratory and/orthose that you may have presented in the past.
The Title should be BIG and BOLD
The text that you include in each section should be large enough to read from approximately 2 feet away and the same font and style throughout the poster.
Keep your poster visual! Images and graphs say more than words – USE THEM!
Use color to attract attention but go easy on the eyes - pick a few colors, stick to them, and avoid a busy background.
Don’t forget to buy Command Products Damage Free Hanging strips to hang your poster. Any of the Command brand, damage-free products will work. We suggest “Picture Hanging Strips for Picture & Frame Hanging – 4 sets of Large Strips (holds up to 16 lb)”. Product Number 17206 on the back of the box. We tested several sizes and this works best. If you use smaller strips, you’ll spend a lot of time attaching them all to your poster. Remember – your poster will be up for the entire week. You must use a damage free adhesive so you don’t damage the wall or your poster.
More details will be sent out regarding exactly when you need to have your poster up in the Genome Sciences Building lower lobby, when you need to be at your poster to answer questions about your research (one hour), and when you need to take your poster down. Typically the time that you need to be at your poster and when the graders will be there is on Friday. Plan on putting up your poster early on the first day of poster session week and removing it by Noon on Monday after the poster session ends.
1