Poster & Large Format Printing

Poster pre-order available here

Find Poster & Large Format Printing

Tabloid, poster, and other large format printing are available at select Campus Computing locations (also known as Sites). To find a location that offers these services:

Two Ways to Print Posters

Campus Computing now offers a free pre-order service for printing posters in advance, which can be picked up at the Angell Hall Computing Site ("Fishbowl") or the GroundWorks Computer Lab (paused until further notice) in the Duderstadt Building. You can also print posters yourself at the Fishbowl, where consultants are available to help you if you need support.

1. Pre-Order & Pick Up

Posters can be pre-ordered for pick-up from both the Fishbowl at Angell Hall and the Groundworks lab (paused until further notice) at the Duderstadt Center. The pre-order process can only be completed on an on-campus network (primarily MWireless for most students, staff, and faculty). Initiating the process off campus will fail, and you won’t be able to load the site for submitting your pre-order.

All Pre-Orders must allow 24 hours for processing, assuming that there are no problems with the file or billing information; if there are file or billing errors, the order will require additional processing time. Time-sensitive orders must be submitted as early as possible to ensure timely processing, and we recommend pre-ordering to Fishbowl or visiting Fishbowl as there is less chance of delay. You will receive an email from the Tech Help team when your poster is ready for pick up at the Fishbowl or GroundWorks (paused until further notice). Once you receive this email, your poster will be available for 14 days before being recycled. Please follow the Poster Printing Tips below when you submit your poster. Please note that the only accepted file format is PDF.

Pre-Order Options

Fishbowl @ Angell Hall

  • Allow 24 hours for processing
  • You will get an email notifying you when it is ready for pick-up
  • Preferred pick-up location if poster is needed within 48 hours of submission
Groundworks @ Duderstadt (Paused until further notice)
  • Allow up to 48 hours for processing and transportation
  • Delivered daily, Monday through Friday

    • No delivery on Saturday or Sunday; posters ordered after the deadline for Friday delivery will be delivered on Monday.

  • Will get an email notifying you when it is ready for pick-up
  • If you need your poster urgently, we recommend selecting Fishbowl pick-up. If there are issues with funding or the file being printed, these can slow down the print and transfer process.

Advantages of pre-ordering your poster include:

  • Experienced professionals will review your order to minimize printing mistakes
  • No waiting in line for the printer or for the print job to complete
  • Poster will be cut-to-size (with some white space remaining) and packed in a clear plastic sleeve

Need help submitting? Follow these step-by-step instructions for filling out the submission form.

2. Print Yourself

Print to “Poster Follow Me” from a Sites Windows Computer, such as the computers found in the Fishbowl.

Visit the Poster Release Page. From here you can delete or preview your print job(s), review the total cost, size dimensions, and view a print preview of the desired output.

Once you are ready to release the poster, you can select “Release” from the preview screen and choose your desired Poster Printer.

If you are having trouble and/or would like assistance, please talk to Tech Help staff, located in the central hub at the Angell Hall "Fishbowl" Computing Site. They would be happy to walk you through the process and are always available during business hours at the Fishbowl or Tech Shop location.

Poster Printing Tips

It takes time to set up files correctly for poster printing, so make sure you reserve extra time to print.

  • Printing at Fishbowl? See a Tech Help consultant for help to ensure your poster is printed correctly.
  • It is strongly recommended to use a Sites Windows PC for the poster printing process; Macintosh can cause print issues with posters and doesn’t have our recommended software installed.
  • The poster printer can print the entire 40" width of the paper. Please include a margin in your poster design if a margin is desired. Make sure you know what dimensions you are looking for when printing your poster to appropriately size the document.
  • Avoid using transparent colors.
  • Use images and graphs that are saved as TIF, PNG, or EPS and have a minimum of 150 ppi (pixels per inch) to avoid pixelated appearance.
  • Save or convert files to CMYK color model before printing. The RGB color model is the default on most software and is optimized for digital screens, not printing. Use Photoshop, available on Campus Computing Sites computers, to change the color model (Image menu and select Mode > CMYK).
  • It is strongly recommended to save your poster in the PDF format before printing in order to guarantee the best possible experience. This can easily be done by choosing "Print to PDF" if your file is in a different format.
  • If using the Poster Pre-Order option, the file must be in PDF format.

Looking to scan a large poster or document?

Poster Printer 1 at the Angell Hall “Fishbowl” Computing Site can scan posters up to 40” wide. Get support for scanning large documents.

Purchasing Additional Print Credits

Using Shortcodes for Posters

  • If you need to use a Shortcode for printing posters, please visit MPrint Accounts.
  • If your request is approved, the new account will be provisioned by MPrint. It will appear in the order menu when you print or pre-order a poster as an available account to be charged.