While many people use Google Slides for presentations, it can also be used to replace graphic design apps with minimalist designs suitable for making content for invitations, brochures, and posters. In fact, you can even make a poster presentation with Google Slides. By making subtle adjustments to the default slide layout of a Google Slides deck, you can create posters that can be printed or shared online. In a previous post we showed you how to make a poster in PowerPoint. This time, we will show you how to make a poster on Google Slides.
How to Make a Poster using Google Slides
If you’re wondering how to start a presentation deck to create a poster, you can start with a blank presentation, use Google Slides templates, or you can upload PowerPoint templates to Google Slides.
Pick a Poster Size
Before designing a poster, you should pick a poster size. Determine the printable size you want for the poster or the size you prefer to share the poster online. To change the default Google Slides page size, go to File -> Page Setup.
In the Page Setup dialog box either select the Standard 4:3, Widescreen 16:9, Widescreen 16:10 size or go to Custom to select another size for the post.
If you opt for a custom size, you can decide to define the size in inches, centimeters, points, or pixels. In this example, we will use 18×24 inches for our poster. The left number means width and the right number means height.
Add Image to the Poster
Go to Insert -> Image and add the core image you want to showcase in your poster presentation.
Add Shapes to the Poster
Now we need to add shapes to structure the poster, as well as to fit text in placeholder areas. Click on the Shapes tool and insert a rectangle shape.
Stretch the shape as required and select the shape color.
Finally, add a second shape to serve as the background and text container.
Add Text to the Poster
In the next step, add text to the poster. In most cases, the default text boxes on a standard slide might be sufficient. However, if you want to add additional text, go to Insert -> Text Box. The Google Slides toolbar provides various options to change the font, text color, shape color, and alignment options to align your text.
Add the poster’s title in the designated shape area, making sure to use caps to maximize the readability.
Write the secondary text for this poster, listing all required information.
Adding a Logo to the Poster
To give a professional touch to your poster slide, be sure to include a PNG format logo. The advantage of the PNG format lies in its transparency, meaning that if you select another color than white for the text placeholder background, the logo won’t look off.
Use Colors and Gradients
You can change the colors of the placeholders and text by using Color Fill and Text Color. To change the color of placeholders, you can use solid colors, custom colors, or gradients for shape colors.
The text color options enable using colors from the given palette or the Pick a Custom Color option to select a specific color not available in the given palette.
Format Poster Appearance
By going to Format Options, you can use various handy features to format your text and design elements in Google Slides.
The Format Options menu provides options to adjust the position and size of slide elements, rotate them, adjust text fitting, add drop shadow and reflection, and an Alt text to make your content easier for screen readers to read.
How to Share Google Slides Poster Online
Share Poster via Direct Link or Publish it Online
To share your poster, you can either publish it online or share it via a direct link. These options can be found via File -> Share.
Publishing Your Poster Online
One method for publishing your poster slide online is to provide a link to end users that they can use to view it as an online presentation slideshow. This can be useful when you want to share multiple poster slides or need to present a poster presentation. In such a case, you might need to ponder over how to make a presentation using posters and how to end a presentation using them.
Embedding Your Poster Online
Another method is to use an embed code to embed your poster on a website, like a presentation.
Inviting Collaborators or Viewers Online
To share your poster for online collaboration or viewing, simply share it via direct link by either copying a link with relevant settings (e.g., view-only privileges) or sending an invitation via email.
How to Print Google Slides Poster
Preview the Print Settings
Many people designing a poster would likely want to print it and share it manually with people. To print the poster, go to File -> Print Preview.
In the next step, you can select whether you want to print the poster or include any notes added to your slides and the number of slides to print per page. In this case, the most relevant option will likely be Print to proceed to the next step. You can skip the preview page by directly going to print settings via CTRL/Command+P.
Select the Correct Poster Size
When previewing the print settings, you might notice that the preview isn’t showing the complete poster, and some areas might be omitted from the current settings. If so, open the Paper Size menu and select the appropriate paper size.
Scale Poster to Printable Area
You might also want to ensure that your poster is scaled properly to fit the printable area in case of any overlaps. The Scale menu allows you to do this and even defines a custom scale for the printable area.
Select Copies, Color, and Quality
Other settings worth considering are the number of copies, printer color, and quality. Usually, print quality at 300 DPI is sufficient for a basic poster. The printing quality can increase for more detailed patterns, such as 600 DPI. Once you are satisfied with the settings, click Print. You might want to start with one copy to test out the print settings before giving a command to print multiple copies.
How to Download Posters Offline
You can download the poster offline in various file formats via File -> Download. The available download options include PowerPoint (PPTX), Open Document Presentation (ODP), Portable Document Format (PDF), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).
Downloading the poster as a PDF file (as shown below) can also be helpful for further sharing and printing the document with ease.
You can also convert a poster created in Google Slides to PowerPoint (PPTX) format to edit, share, collaborate on, or print it.
FAQs
You can use Google Slides to create posters using customizable slide dimensions, design tools, shapes, and images.
To set the dimensions for your poster, go to File -> Page Setup. You can use the Standard or Widescreen dimensions or select Custom to add your own dimensions.
The layout you choose will depend on your poster’s purpose. For a vertical poster, you can use a portrait orientation; for a horizontal design, you can use a widescreen landscape orientation. Posters can have different sizes, such as A4, A3, A2, etc. Depending on your needs, you can also define custom sizes in inches, pixels, centimeters, and points.
You can add images to your poster from offline or online sources via Insert -> Image.
You can preview and print your poster via File -> Print Preview or use the print hotkey (CTRL+P for Windows and Command+P for Mac).
You can go to sharing options to share your poster using direct link or publish it online via File -> Share?
You can download your Google Slides poster offline via File -> Download.
You can download a Google Slides folder as a PowerPoint (PPTX) file, as a PDF or ODP document, or in various image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and SVG.
Final Words
Google Slides can be used as more than just a presentation app; you can easily create basic to complex designs using it. One example is to use Google Slides as a tool for designing posters for sharing online, downloading them offline, or printing posters for manual distribution. Presentations about events can also include posters or poster-style slides to create engaging presentations.
Designing posters in Google Slides does not require the use of complex graphic design apps, and anyone with basic computer skills can make a poster. Once a poster is designed, you can print it directly using Google Slides or convert it to a print-friendly format like PDF. Exporting the poster in PowerPoint, PDF, and image formats also adds scalability to edit further and repurpose the poster using various apps. You can also seek help by sharing the poster for online collaboration and presenting it as a poster presentation using any internet-connected device.
