Information for E-Poster Presenters

Thank you for agreeing to present an e-poster at CCSA’s Issues of Substance 2025 conference! Please find below details to help you prepare and present your poster.

Download a PDF of this information here.

Please note that all posters will be presented electronically at this year’s conference.

E-Poster Viewing Times

You will be assigned one 30-minute slot in which you will present your poster and discuss the findings with delegates. Your poster will also be available for viewing at all times on the conference app.

The viewing schedule with the times will be shared and made available of the Issues of Substance website.

Preparing Your E-Poster

General Specifications

To ensure a consistent and high-quality presentation experience, all e-posters must follow these specifications:

Format: PDF (single-page, landscape orientation)
Size: Set the slide size to 43.6 inches wide by 24.5 inches high, which should be a 16:9 aspect ratio
File Size Limit: Maximum 50 MB
Language: English or French (bilingual encouraged if possible)
Accessibility: Use large fonts (minimum 32 points), high contrast and alt text for images where possible

Neither sound nor internet access will be available.

Before saving your PDF file, please make sure the view is not enlarged (i.e., the view is actual size, or the zoom magnification is 100% or less). When saving your PDF, please do not use symbols or special characters (e.g., +/@/ü) in the file name.

Design and Layout

Required Sections:

Title — bold and prominent
Author(s) — full names and affiliations
Please indicate whether your poster is research, program, intervention or project oriented; or based on personal experience.
Please specify whether you are a student.
Background / Context
Objectives / Purpose
Methods / Approach
Results / Findings
Conclusions / Implications
Acknowledgments / Disclosures

Visual Design Tips:

Keep text concise and readable.
AVOID USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Otherwise, the text will be too difficult to read.
Use visuals (graphs, charts, images) to summarize data. Images and tables: at least 200 dpi. Good picture quality is essential.
Avoid clutter — use white space strategically.
Avoid overlapping objects and layers. Only the final view/status will be visible.
Use a consistent and professional font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Verdana).
Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs.
Ensure colour contrast for readability.
Avoid abbreviations and acronyms without giving their full form.
PowerPoint-specific features such as animations, page transitions, hyperlinks, or “embedded” content video or audio are not permitted.

Best Practices:

Review your content for spelling and grammar.
Ensure all graphs and visuals are labelled.
Confirm all co-authors are listed correctly.
Test your poster on various devices for readability.
Include alt text or brief descriptions for key images to increase accessibility.
Self critique: One of the best ways to assess the effectiveness of your poster is to assemble it at your office and critique it yourself as if you were a meeting attendee seeing the material for the first time.
View the presentation on a monitor or TV that is 1920×1080 pixels (1080p). Even if the screen size is different, you’ll see how large things are in relation to each other. Keep in mind that a smaller screen with the same resolution will have a higher pixel density than a large screen, so lines and images may not look quite as smooth on our monitors.
Please ensure you have permission to use any images in the e-poster. This includes licences for copyrighted materials and consent forms from patients recognizable in photographs or images. Presentations at the conference must not be used to promote a commercial product.
To make your e-poster more engaging, you may include QR codes that link to a full paper, video or website (ensure it works and leads to safe content).

Poster Contest

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction is offering two $500 cash prizes for the best posters, one in the research category and one in the program, intervention or project category. There will also be two $500 cash prizes for the best student posters in each of these categories.

Posters will be judged based on the quality and potential impact of the work, quality of the poster, and the consideration of sex, gender and equity

We look forward to your poster at CCSA’s Issues of Substance 2025!