To see how your poster looks on paper, you can actually scale it to fit
on a standard 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper. I recommend that you do this,
because ...
it makes a great handout.
To scale to 8.5x11, go to File / Print ...
PC: Make sure your regular printer is selected. At the bottom of
the dialog box is a checkbox that says Scale to fit paper -- check
it and go.
Mac: In the dialog box, you will
see a pulldown menu on the left hand side, a line or two down. It probably
says General. Click on that and select the pulldown item that says
Microsoft PowerPoint. Look for the box that says Scale to fit paper
and check the box. Then continue with your printing.
Printing the Big One
Note: These instructions are for my NC State students -- other
facilities will have different procedures.
To print the actual poster, you will have to go to the GIS lab on the 5th floor of
Jordan Hall -- it's on the west side of the building in the center of the floor -- room 5111B.
I'll show you the computer to use, the plotter location, and the login during lab.
You should bring your poster on a zip disk or a CD. If you have problems printing,
look for Beth Eastman in 5108 Jordan (north side of building).
Once you log in, open your file and give it one last look-over.
- Select File / Print
- In the dialog box, there is a pulldown menu for the Name: of the printer.
Click on it and select plotter.
- Press the Properties... button, which will put you into another dialog box.
- Set the orientation to landscape or portrait, as appropriate.
- Make sure the Paper Source is 36 inch roll.
- Press More sizes... which will put you into yet a third dialog box.
- On the right hand side of the dialog box, enter your hieght and width -- it should
match what you did in the Page Setup when you started your poster.
- Make sure Units is set to inches.
- Press OK to get out of the More sizes... dialog box.
- Back in the Properties ... dialog box, make sure No scaling is selected
- Press OK to get out of the Properties ... dialog box.
- Press OK to print.
Now you can go and see it plot. If you can see that there is a problem right away,
press and hold the cancel button on the plotter until it confirms the job is being
cancelled -- this will avoid wasting paper.
Before you leave, log off the computer.