Scientific Poster Color Suggestions

Color Suggestions

If you are creating images on the computer, note that colors may appear different on your screen due to differences in monitors and the printing process. Blue text on a black background and vice versa is particularly hard to read. Even though there may seem to be enough contrast on screen, it does not print well. Try using a light grey instead of black, or lighter blue in the place of navy.

Screen vs. Print

Blues especially don't represent true to color on screen and tend to print purple. On screen your PowerPoint file may appear to have a blue background similar to that in the image on the left, but print more similar to the image on the right. In order to avoid this issue, change the RGB value of the blue color in question to contain less red (R) and more blue (B).

Some good blue values:
Navy: (0, 30, 102)
Cobalt Blue: (0, 51, 153)
True Blue: (0, 0, 255)

High Contrast

The background and text should have a high contrast. For example, use a light color for the background with a dark colored text or a darker background with light text. Whatever colors you use, the background should not distract from the content itself. Where possible, let the most important item have the most important color and the greatest contrast with its background. If you are not a designer and this is your first scientific poster, we suggest sticking to light colored backgrounds. This offers more combinations and flexibility when designing your poster. You could use one of our research poster templates or colors from our templates if you are unsure of safe color choices.

Consider people who have problems differentiating colors. One of the most common is an inability to tell green from red.