Poster Printing

Notice of Service Interruption

Please note that this service is temporarily unavailable.

About the Service

This service is open to clients outside of the Biomedical Engineering department. It is not a commercial service and is maintained by a part-time staff. As such, we kindly ask that you respect our operating procedures.

About the Posters

Posters are printed on paper using fade-resistant, water-based inks. The ink runs when the poster comes in contact with water (e.g., rain). A poster is delivered as a roll typically without any protective tube or bag. Consider bringing a carry tube with you when you come to pick-up your poster.

Poster Printing Contact Information

  • Email: posters.bme [at] mcgill.ca
  • Phone: (438) 877-5736 (Please leave only one message.)

Time to Print

Typically 24 hours, but faster turnaround is often possible. (Please make arrangements with Poster Printing service staff.)

Poster Cost

  • Matte paper: $75tx
  • Glossy (photo) paper: $100tx
  • Canvas paper: $125tx

Payment Options

McGill FOAPAL

For compliance reasons the fund holder must email us a confirmation of the fund and total printing charge before picking up the poster.


Credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express)

Please make credit card payments only after receiving an email from the BME Poster Printing staff confirming printing of your poster. Once a payment is made it cannot be refunded. 

We recommend credit card payment be made prior to submitting your file(s) to the BME Poster Printing Service:

  • Visit the credit card payment website External link.
  • Fill out the form and select the poster type and quantity, accept our no refund policy and press check out.
  • Enter your credit card information and press Process Transaction. Take note of the Order ID.
  • An electronic receipt will be sent to your email.
  • Email your poster file to the Poster Printing Service together with the following information:
    • First and last names of the person submitted the credit card payment
    • Total amount paid and poster type and quantity
    • Order ID

  • Certified cheque
  • Cheque from an institution
  • Money order

Cash or personal cheques are not accepted.

Hours of Operation

Monday to Friday: 10AM to 5PM. Closed on University holidays.

Poster Size

The paper roll is 42 inches (106.68 cm) wide and is printable to 41 inches (104.14 cm.); the remaining dimension is unrestricted (within reason) for Matte and Glossy paper and is restricted to 60 inches (152.4 cm) for Canvas paper. If you require to print a Canvas poster that is larger than 42 inches x 60 inches you will be charged by two posters. These dimensions limit the size of your poster, depending on its orientation. Note: Even if you do not add a margin to your artwork, posters will have margins on all sides.

If your publishing software limits the poster size that can be defined and you require a larger poster, create a smaller version. The poster will be stretched during printing while maintaining the aspect ratio. If your poster contains bitmap images give consideration to the fact that the resolution of the bitmaps decreases when the poster is stretched.

Printer Quality

The printer has a resolution of 1200 dpi x 600 dpi (or reversed depending on the size/orientation of your poster). The printer prints using an RGB colour scheme.

File Format

We usually print Microsoft PowerPoint files and Adobe PDF files. If you have another file format, posters.bme [at] mcgill.ca (email) to see if the program is available here. Otherwise your best bet is to convert the files to a different format (usually PDF).

  • PowerPoint 2007 users: Please save your file as pptx and not as ppt compatibility format.
  • Mac users: Occasionally images in Microsoft PowerPoint files do not show up, depending on the image source. If you are using a Mac and PowerPoint, please convert it to a PDF. If you don’t have a PDF file creator, many free versions exist online, and you can find them quite easily.
  • To ensure that your file was correctly received by us, containing all colors, figures or shapes as originally prepared, we encourage you to send a screenshot or image of your poster design along with the PowerPoint or PDF file.

Backgrounds

The paper tends to curl when large quantities of ink is deposited, such as when a very dark background is printed. This makes the poster look bad. If possible, avoid using large areas of dark colour; lighter backgrounds tend to show up better anyway.

Logos

Consult this page for the policy on the use of the Wordmark and Insignia of McGill university logos External link.
The BME logo is available on our site.

Submitting Files

File Name: Please name your poster using the following scheme, YourName__Matte/Glossy__Width_x_Height__ShortTitle__Date.xxx
This will help your poster from getting lost amongst all the other posters with similar filenames.

  • Files up to 20MB may be submitted via posters.bme [at] mcgill.ca (email).
  • Files larger than 20MB should be copied onto either, a CD, DVD or USB flash drive, then dropped off at the office. Please follow the procedure for poster pickup.
  • Alternatively you may put the file on a web site/ftp site and posters.bme [at] mcgill.ca (email) a link to the file.

Files submitted after 4PM may be considered as a next-day submission.

What Happens After Submission

You will receive a email confirmation that your submission has been received along with time slots in which you may pick up your poster. Please make credit card payments only upon receipt of our confirmation email. You will be asked to confirm whether the pickup times are suitable for you. After your confirmation, your print request will be queued and processed. We do not start printing until we receive the confirmation. You may bypass the confirmation step by indicating with your submission that you do not have pickup time restrictions. In which case your print request will be queued immediately for processing.

Location

Duff Medical Bldg., 3775 University St., Room 314A, at the northeast corner of University and Pine (Ave. des Pins). (See map to the right.) Take the elevator to the 3rd floor. The department is by the elevator.

Poster Pickup

Posters may be picked up only during the pickup time slots. Come to the department and call (438) 877-5736 to announce your presence. (There is a telephone on the premises, if needed.) A service representative will come to greet you by the elevator. It is recommended that you bring a carry tube with you when you come to pickup your poster.

Campus map


Fine print: The poster service is a non-profit service. The pricing scheme is designed to (i) cover the costs of the person processing the posters and (ii) to set funds aside to cover printer maintenance and eventual equipment replacement.

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