how to print a fabric poster
I use this fabric printing service to print posters. I will spare you my pitch but it is super convenient to have a foldable, light poster to take to conferences. Once it is out of date, please let me sew it into a pencil pouch / tote bag / etc for you!
https://www.spoonflower.com/presentation-posters
Poster dimensions:
Fabric, unlike paper, is made in a preset width, so it is important to be aware of this beforehand when creating the poster. You may also want to leave around 1 inch of border for a margin. Occasionally conferences will say they have a certain size of poster space available, but then your neighbor prints a giant poster… For my poster, I selected Petal Signature Cotton 1 yards (42" x 36"), “basic repeat 400 dpi”. I was pleased to find that the poster fit exactly into the space given by Botany in 2023 but check the conference website. Once you get to the conference you will need an iron or clothes steamer to remove wrinkles from the poster, but these are typically available at any hotel or AirBnB.
Making the poster:
I use Keynote (built in Mac software) to design my posters. It is a bit easier for me than PowerPoint but the approach is essentially the same. You can even import PowerPoint poster templates. You'll have to export this file to .jpeg to get it to upload, so try to get the highest dpi you can while not crashing the website. If I find my notes on the max file size I'll put it here.
Cost:
I paid $59.59 for my poster in 2023, and I left 7 business days between ordering and leaving for the conference. I got the poster about 5 days after my order. The rush shipping cost $37, and the poster + taxes cost $22.51.