Using Keynote to produce a scientific poster

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Level 1

6 points

Using Keynote to produce a scientific poster

I would really love to use Keynote to make a scientific poster for an imminent conference. Back in my PC life I used to use powerpoint, and would simply make the poster fit on one slide, by increasing the slide size to the size of the eventual poster (A0 or 118.9 cm x 841 cm). I can't seem to do this on Keynote - even converting the size in cm to pixels. Is there a maximum slide size limit? Does anyone know how I can get round this? (I really don't want to go back to Powerpoint!)

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Apr 11, 2008 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

jerryross2

Level 1

5 points

Apr 15, 2008 1:27 PM in response to susylong

I'm also looking to make a large poster 4'x3' = 3456 x 2592 pixels @ 72 pixels per inch. I'm not sure whether I should use Keynote or Pages. If I use Pages, can I get Keynote backgrounds imported? If I use Keynote how do I scale the slide beyond 1024x768 ? Recommendations?

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Answer 2

Kyn Drake

Level 7

21,591 points

May 3, 2008 9:09 AM in response to loquat149

Ahhh, THAT'S what a research poster is! 🙂 I've seen those before at http://www.apple.com/science/poster/WWDCPosterTemplates.zip (no, I'm not that clever, that's the URL from the video loquat149 linked to) but didn't know these WWDC Posters could do double duty.

Message was edited by: Kyn Drake

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Answer 3

AKAZ10

Level 1

0 points

Apr 13, 2008 9:32 AM in response to susylong

I made a scientific poster in Keynote a couple weeks ago. I imported a Power Point template for a poster into Keynote. The slide size was 3456 X 2595 pixels. I reduced the slide size to 1024 X 768 pixels and created my poster. Then, I increased the slide size again to 3456 X 2595 and had my poster.

Because the printer I was then going to use did not recognize Keynote, I exported to PDF and printed my poster. I could have also exported to Power Point as the computer that ran the printer I was using had the Power Point application.

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Answer 4

AKAZ10

Level 1

0 points

Apr 15, 2008 5:33 PM in response to jerryross2

To change the size of a Keynote slide for a poster, go to Inspector > Document Inspector and look at the bottom of the Inspector window and choose Slide Size > Custom Slide Size.

I see that Pages was suggested for making a poster. I don't know Pages as well as I know Keynote so I can't offer a suggestion.

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Answer 5

twrojas

Level 1

0 points

Apr 27, 2008 5:17 PM in response to AKAZ10

Hi AKAZ10, quick question regarding your Keynote scientific poster.

Why did you reduce the custom slide size (3456 x 2595) to 1024 x 768 first, and then increased it again?

In other words, do you recommend doing this, or would working with whatever original slide size obtained from PowerPoint work in Keynote?

Another question, for anyone out there that may know:

I have to create a scientific poster to fit into an easel with quite interesting dimensions (interesting b/c I am used to horizontal layouts, but this one will have to be vertical/portrait):

36 (Height) x 30 (Width)

What pixel size should I use so that my Keynote poster fits this easel size?

Thanks!!!

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Answer 6

May 12, 2008 7:38 AM in response to susylong

I've almost finished making a portrait poster 1 m x 1.5 m in Pages. I started it in Keynote because i saw the video on using Keynote in the Science section on the Apple website. However, I think it was easier in Pages. After all, that's the kind of thing Pages is made for! My only (and biggest) gripe about all of this is that as a scientist i still can't display error bars in the graphs!! It's SO frustrating that Apple is touting Pages and Keynote use to us scientists and then doesn't give us the tools that we need. I will still use Pages for finishing the poster because it looks great, however i do wish Apple would respond to the basic needs of scientists...

Grant.

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Answer 7

May 12, 2008 6:51 PM in response to Grant Abt1

I've seen this gripe before and, as a scientist, don't understand why Pages or Keynote should be expected to generate scientific plots. Why don't you just use Matlab, R, or whatever statistical package you use for your analysis to create the plots you need then import them into Keynote or Pages via PDF, PNG, etc? I made some pretty cool plots a few months ago in Matlab, exported them as PDF's to Illustrator, removed the bounding box and background, and imported them into Keynote. When I added a drop shadow in Keynote the axes, plot symbols, etc. all cast their own shadows. Subtle yet effective.

Dave

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Answer 8

Tulse

Level 5

5,812 points

Jun 17, 2008 11:47 AM in response to hightower302

Again, if your output will be print, Pages is a much better application than Keynote to do it in. If you really need text wrapped in Keynote, one workaround is to do the layout first in Pages (using text boxes and whatever figures you need), then select all the objects and copy them to the clipboard. Next, open Preview, and in the File menu choose New from Clipboard. Save the resulting image as a PDF, and you can insert this into your Keynote slide. The text will no longer be editable in Keynote, but because it is a PDF it will be easily resizable without losing quality.

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Answer 9

Jun 17, 2008 3:52 PM in response to Kyn Drake

I'm a physician scientist and generate several posters a year. I'd suggest Pages over Keynote over Powerpoint. But I'd suggest InDesign over all of these. Pricey yes, but wonderful control over every aspect of the printed page.

Whichever one you choose, make sure you save/export your poster as a PDF file. Almost all print services understand PDF files, and you can preview your file (using Preview, of course) to make sure it's right before submission. PDF files preserve your fonts, etc., and that's what you want.

For scientific graphics (e.g., error bars, etc) a previous commenter is right: you need a scientific graphics program. Pick your favorite and use it. You can import the graphic as a PDF, TIFF, or EPS file, depending on the program you use. My needs are straightforward, and Deltagraph works well for me.

A final suggestion: don't start your poster the night before it's due 🙂

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Answer 10

Tulse

Level 5

5,812 points

Jun 17, 2008 4:37 PM in response to ahostmadsen

As far as I can see, there is absolutely no reason to use Keynote over Pages -- Pages has much better type control (such as text wrapping), and the graphics tools are pretty much identical.

As for the recommendation of InDesign, in my experience, Pages is sufficient for 95% of my professional work, is much easier to use, and is an order of magnitude cheaper.

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Answer 11

Kyn Drake

Level 7

21,591 points

Jun 17, 2008 8:50 PM in response to ahostmadsen

I think they're in Keynote because they're specifically for WWDC and thus for people expected to give Keynote presentations (ie, targeted for a known set of presenters and audience).

Message was edited by: Kyn Drake

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Answer 12

Tulse

Level 5

5,812 points

Apr 11, 2008 9:08 AM in response to susylong

Welcome to the forums!

Is there a reason you're not using Pages? It's designed for doing print work, and Page Setup will let you specify whatever custom page size you want.