Poster templates for tables and statistics

What these designs are for

Take one of these boards when a reader should leave knowing a number. They lead with a results table, a strip of headline statistics, a before and after comparison or a numbered method rail, and they keep the discussion in ordinary section text underneath rather than competing with the evidence. The cards carry the gallery's sample study, so every figure, table row and confidence interval inside them is placeholder content.

What these layouts have in common

All nine carry a logo, a title, an author block, section slots, a figure block and a reference block, so nothing here drops the citation furniture a reviewer expects. Eight carry a key finding callout and eight a protocol block, seven a list slot with its own row icons, and six carry a stat block. Two carry a CONSORT flow for participant accounting, two a meter block, one a full width table and one a process chain. None carries a QR code: no poster layout has a QR slot, so print the link to your data or paper as a short URL in the reference block. Written sections run from three to five per board, which leaves the figures, table and statistics the larger share of the space.

Which one to pick

Sort by what the evidence actually is. A results table takes the table led board, which gives the table the full width and keeps a figure below it. Four comparable headline numbers take the stat strip, where they sit directly under the title. A study comparing current practice with a proposed method takes the before and after board. A trial that has to show recruitment and exclusions takes one of the two boards with a CONSORT flow. A protocol in stages takes the method flow board, with the caveat that its process chain silently drops a sixth step, so keep the procedure to five.

Setting numbers so they read across a room

A data board is judged from a few metres away before anyone steps closer, so the numbers have to survive that distance. Give each headline statistic its unit and its comparison in the same block: 42% on its own says little, while 42% fewer readmissions against usual care says the finding. Round to the precision the study supports, and keep decimal places consistent down a column so the eye can compare values without reading them. In a results table, cut rows until each one earns its place, move secondary outcomes into the section text, and name columns in plain words rather than variable codes. Where a trial reports enrolment and exclusions, the CONSORT statement sets out what the participant flow should show at each stage: assessed, randomised, allocated, followed up and analysed. The two boards with a CONSORT flow have a box for each of those stages, so fill every box with a count rather than leaving one as placeholder text.

What conferences usually require

Poster printers publish their size lists openly, and A0 and A1 sit beside the American 36 by 48 inch board and metric options such as 70 by 100 centimetres. A0 is 841 by 1189 millimetres. University guides are firmer about content than size: they ask for roughly 300 to 800 words on the whole board and for the important lines to be readable from about three metres. A data board makes that easier, because a number set in display type carries further than a paragraph. Check your own conference instructions for the panel size and whether portrait boards are accepted, since a few venues take landscape only.

Known limits worth planning around

Three things in the poster runtime are worth knowing before you lay out a data board. The process chain drops a sixth step without warning. A chart figure's x axis labels can collide with its series legend when the labels are long, so keep category names short. A table caption can be clipped by its block, so put anything essential in the table itself rather than in the caption. None of these stops a board working, but each is easier to design around than to fix afterwards.

Finished examples

• Epidemiology poster

Questions people ask