ePoster File Requirements for Conferences
ePoster file requirements for conferences are the rules an organizer publishes before presenters build slides. They cover file type, slide size, file names, embedded media, review, and how the finished file arrives. A useful set is short, written for the display or platform you actually booked, and easy to change if that setup changes.
There is no single spec that fits every meeting. One society may want one landscape slide. Another may want a short deck or a portrait PDF. Publish the rules that match your session, then have the display or platform team check them before you email presenters.
What ePoster File Requirements for Conferences Should Cover
Organizers usually write these rules too late. Presenters then guess, and the help desk spends the first morning fixing files that could have been right. A complete brief answers six questions. What file types will you accept? What page size and orientation? How should the file be named? Which media is allowed? Who reviews the file, and by when? How does the file get to the session?
Keep the brief separate from design advice. Tell presenters the container. Do not try to teach them how to write a methods section in the same document. Point them to your formatting notes for layout help, and keep this page as the intake rules.
Write each rule as a decision, not a wish. "PowerPoint is preferred" still leaves PDF, Keynote, and Prezi in play. "Submit one PPTX file" does not. If you allow a backup format, say when it is allowed and who converts it.
Also say what the rules do not cover. Abstract word counts, judge scores, and sponsor ads belong in other instructions. Mixing them into the file brief makes the technical rules harder to find.
Choose the File Format Before You Announce the Session
Pick the format from the software that will open the file on site or in the browser. If technicians will load presentations in PowerPoint on the displays, PPTX is the safest primary format. If the session is a static gallery, a one-page PDF can be cleaner. If both will happen, say which file is the master and which is a copy.
Society instructions already show how far these choices drift. The IASGCON 2025 e-poster guidelines ask for one slide saved as PowerPoint or PDF, with a 100 MB cap and no password. IPNA 2025 asks for one portrait PDF, also with a 200 MB cap. An older ISMRM electronic-poster guide accepted only PowerPoint, up to 200 MB, because its conversion software did not take native PDF or Keynote. Those are examples of event choices, not a standard you should copy.
On an ePosterBoards session, presenters can upload ahead for a compatibility check or bring a file for on-site loading. The managed poster-session service also includes formatting help, and the level of that help depends on the package. Do not promise that every odd file will open. State the preferred format, name any format you will convert, and name any format you will refuse.
A practical default, pending that technical review, looks like this:
- One PPTX file per presentation, built from the event template.
- PDF only when the session is a static, non-interactive display.
- No Keynote, Prezi, or Google Slides as the file you load, unless the team has agreed to convert them.
- No passwords, encryption, or files that need the author's laptop to open.
If a presenter must show proprietary software or very dense images from their own computer, that is a different setup from a preloaded file. Call it out in the brief so the floor plan and staffing can account for it. Do not hide it inside a footnote about fonts.
Set Slide Size and Orientation for the Display You Booked
Page size is the rule presenters get wrong most often, because their own monitor hides the problem. PowerPoint scales a slide to the screen in front of the author. A file that looks fine on a laptop can crop or letterbox on a conference display.
Publish one size, one orientation, and the aspect ratio in plain numbers. IASGCON 2025 used a 52 by 29 inch landscape slide on a 55-inch monitor. The American Statistical Association's QDET2 tips use 36.5 by 20.5 inches, or a 16:9 on-screen show. They also give different minimum font sizes for a single slide versus a short deck. IPNA 2025 used a portrait A0 PDF, 84.1 by 118.9 cm. None of those sizes is a universal ePoster size.
ePosterBoards templates are built for the displays used on its sessions. The poster templates are PowerPoint files set to 40.97 by 23.04 inches. The templates page also notes that a computer monitor with a different size or ratio can distort the preview. Tell presenters to trust the slide size in the file, not the preview on their laptop.
Setup pages describe 49-inch displays, while a note on the templates page mentions 47 inches. Do not print a single inch size in your call for posters until the booked hardware is confirmed. Ask for the slide size that matches the template you will hand out, and say whether the session is landscape or portrait.
Also cap the structure, not just the inches:
- State whether you want one slide or a short deck. If it is a deck, give a maximum slide count.
- Ask for a slide footer such as "Slide 2 of 5" when the file will loop without the author standing there.
- Say whether animations may play on their own or only on a click.
- Require embedded fonts, or limit authors to fonts the display computers already have.
Publish Naming, Media, and Deadline Rules Together
A correct slide in a file named "final-final2" still fails at scale. Technicians sort files onto numbered boards. Reviewers search by presenter. A second session may reuse the same displays. The name is part of the requirement.
Give one pattern and one example. IASGCON 2025 asked for "Eposter" plus the presenter's name, as in Eposter_Suresh. You can use session, board, and last name instead. Whatever you choose, ban spaces-only names, version words such as "new," and duplicate names inside one session.
| Rule | What to publish | Why it matters on site |
|---|---|---|
| File name | Session code, board number, last name, and version. Example: S3_B12_Patel_v1.pptx | Staff can match the file to the board list without opening it. |
| Version | The last file received before the freeze is the file that loads. Later files need a named contact. | Two "final" files cause the wrong poster to go up. |
| Media | List allowed types, such as MP4 using H.264, and ban audio if the room has no headphones. | Linked video from a laptop path breaks when the file moves. |
| Size cap | Set a cap the upload tool and the on-site computers can both handle. | A huge file can miss the preload window. |
| Deadline | One preload date, plus a shorter window for on-site fixes. | Authors know which changes are still possible. |
Media rules need the same clarity. Embed videos and images in the file. Do not leave them as links to the author's desktop. ISMRM's guide recommended MPEG-4 in an .mp4 file, or Windows Media Video. It also told authors to remove internet links and audio because the poster computers had no speakers. ESICM's e-poster guidelines accept AVI, WMV, MP4, and MOV, and ask authors to avoid TIFF images. Use those as a menu of questions, then keep only the formats your team will test.
For a typical scientific session, a clear media block is short. Images should be PNG or JPG at a size that stays sharp on the display. Video, if you allow it, should be MP4, set to play on a click or automatically, and silent unless you have planned sound. Hyperlinks should be removed or replaced with a QR code only if the venue network can support the extra traffic. Say so either way.
Deadlines belong next to the format, not in a separate email. A preload deadline lets staff review files. A freeze time stops silent swaps. An on-site window, if you offer one, should say what can still change. A new video on the morning of the session is not the same as a typo in a caption.
Decide How Files Are Reviewed and Delivered
Review is a workflow, not a favor. Someone has to open the file on a machine that resembles the show computer, check the size and name, play any media, and send a simple pass or fix note. If nobody owns that step, the first real test happens in the poster hall.
ePosterBoards describes two delivery paths. Presenters can upload before the event so the team can review and format the files. They can also bring the file on a device for on-site upload, including last-minute edits. Staff then sort files by assigned board. Read the poster content workflow before you promise either path in your author email. Your brief should say which path is required and which is only a backup.
Use a short review checklist:
- The file opens without a password in the accepted program.
- Slide size and orientation match the template.
- The file name matches the board list.
- Fonts are embedded or already installed.
- Videos and images play from inside the file, with no desktop links.
- Audio is absent unless the session plan allows it.
- The author received a pass note, or a numbered list of fixes and a new deadline.
Put the same list in the author instructions, in plain language. Tell presenters what you will check and what you will send back. A review that only says "file rejected" creates a second round of guessing.
If you also collect abstracts, keep that portal's rules aligned with this brief. The abstract submission service can carry file-format, slide-size, naming, and deadline guidance, and it can move accepted files toward the session. Do not run a second, conflicting spec in the abstract system. One rule set should feed both.
Delivery instructions should name the place, the last good time, and the backup. "Upload on the presenter site by the date in your acceptance note" is clear. Emailing the file to a shared inbox is a last resort. Large attachments fail, and versions fork.
If on-site delivery is allowed, name the help desk hours and the media you will accept, such as a USB drive. Also say whether the author must stay until the file is opened.
Bookings inside about six weeks can add schedule pressure, and may include a rush charge that is quoted rather than posted. The more useful planning window is about two months. That is enough time to test one sample file from each session type before hundreds of authors start building.
Send the Draft Rules for a Scoped Technical Review
Write the brief in your own words first. Then send it to the people who will open the files. Ask them to mark each line as confirmed, changed, or not offered on this event. A scoped review is a check of this meeting's displays, software, upload path, and staffing. It is not a promise that the same file will work on every platform.
Hand the reviewer five things: the draft rules, the template you plan to distribute, one sample file, the session count, and the date presenters will be notified. Ask specifically about format, slide size, media, the size cap, and how late a replacement file can be loaded. Formatting tutorials can help presenters use the template, but they do not replace this check.
Change the author email if the review changes a rule. Presenters remember the first number they see. If the first email says PDF and the later email says PPTX, you will receive both. Date the brief, and keep one current copy in the place your staff actually uses.
Do not claim the file will look identical everywhere. A template can match a known display and still look different on the author's monitor. Interactive files, portrait boards, and a virtual gallery can each need a different export. Say which of those you are running. If you are not running one, leave it out.
When the rules are stable, send them with the template and the deadline. Offer one contact for file problems. Then stop editing the spec in side threads. New exceptions belong in the written brief, or they are not exceptions your help desk can support.
Request an RFP for a scoped review of your file rules before you notify presenters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What file type should an ePoster use?
Use the type your display software will open. For many staffed sessions that is one PPTX file. A static gallery may ask for one PDF instead. Publish the choice, and name any other formats you will convert or refuse.
Is there one correct ePoster slide size?
No. Size follows the display or platform. Publish the width, height, orientation, and template for your event. Do not copy a size from another conference, and do not assume a laptop preview matches the show screen.
Should videos be allowed in the file?
Allow them only if someone has played a sample on the show setup. Require a common format such as MP4, embed the file, and say whether sound is possible. If the room is an open poster hall, silent media is often the workable choice.
When should presenters send the final file?
Set a preload date early enough for review and a freeze time after which swaps need a named contact. If you allow on-site fixes, state the hours and what kinds of edits are still realistic.
Can the same rules cover a virtual poster hall?
Only if the virtual platform accepts that same file. A live display, a kiosk menu, and a hosted gallery can need different exports. Confirm each path before you reuse the in-person brief.