Designing a scientific poster in BioRender helps you communicate your research clearly and professionally. Customize your layout with sections, titles, text, images, and captions, while controlling spacing and formatting to create a polished, easy-to-read poster ready for presentations or conferences.
Table of contents
- Adding content to your poster
- Managing titles in your poster
- Organizing your poster with sections
- Customizing text boxes in your poster
- Incorporating images into your poster
- Adding and managing captions for images
- Adjusting padding for content spacing
- Utilizing headers in your poster sections
Adding content to your poster
You can add content to your poster by dragging and dropping elements from the Insert Content panel on the left. Structure your poster with titles and sections, and enhance it by adding images, headers, spacers, and captions.
Managing titles in your poster
Every poster includes a title by default.
- If a title spans the full width or height of the poster, its background fill color will extend to the poster edge.
- Titles can be moved anywhere on the poster. If you move a title, all content within it will move along.
- If a title is accidentally deleted, you can add it back by dragging and dropping from the Insert Content panel.
- To add logos to a title, add an image block from the Insert Content panel, then upload or select a logo from your uploads.
Font size recommendations (for a 48” x 36” poster):
- Title: 96pt or above
- Section headers: 48pt or above
- Body text: 28-36pt
- Figure captions: 18-28pt
- References & less important text: 18-22pt
✨ Pro tip: Preparing your poster for a conference presentation? With BioRender Slides (available on Premium plans), you can quickly turn your poster sections into beautifully designed presentation slides — right inside BioRender. Learn about BioRender Slides ↗
Organizing your poster with sections
Sections group together text, images, and headers. Common sections include Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion, and Acknowledgements.
- Sections can be moved anywhere on the poster. When moved, all content within the section moves with it.
- Sections automatically resize to accommodate movement—ensuring your content never extends beyond the canvas.
- To add a new section, drag and drop from the Insert Content panel.
Customizing text boxes in your poster
- Select a text box to edit its appearance settings.
- Text box sizes do not change based on the amount of text. To resize a text box, hover over its edges and drag the blue lines.
Font size recommendations (for a 48” x 36” poster):
- Title: 96pt or above
- Section headers: 48pt or above
- Body text: 28-36pt
- Figure captions: 18-28pt
- References & less important text: 18-22pt
Incorporating images into your poster
You can add BioRender illustrations or image files (including logos) from your computer.
Supported file formats: PNG, JPG, and SVG
To add an image:
- Drag an image block from the Insert Content panel into a section on the poster.
- Click on "Add Image" and select an illustration from your Gallery or upload an image from your computer.
To resize an image:
- Select the image.
- Click the "crop icon" and adjust as needed.
- When finished, select "Done".
Editing section border width and color
You can customize the appearance of poster sections by adjusting their border width and color.
To edit a section’s border:
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Click on any section of your poster to select it.
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In the left-side formatting panel, the "Border" settings will appear.
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Use the "Width" slider or input box to increase or decrease the border thickness.
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Click the color box next to "Border Color" to choose a new color using the color picker or enter a HEX/RGB value.
Adding and managing captions for images
Captions are automatically added beneath images.
- Captions are attached to images and move with them.
- If a caption is deleted, you can add it back via the Insert Content panel.
Font size recommendations (for a 48” x 36” poster):
- Title: 96pt or above
- Section headers: 48pt or above
- Body text: 28-36pt
- Figure captions: 18-28pt
- References & less important text: 18-22pt
Adjusting padding for content spacing
Use padding to add extra spacing around content, creating more white space and emphasizing specific sections.
Utilizing headers in your poster sections
Headers can be added to the top of any section to provide clear section labels.
- Only one header can be added per section.
Font size recommendations (for a 48” x 36” poster):
- Title: 96pt or above
- Section headers: 48pt or above
- Body text: 28-36pt
- Figure captions: 18-28pt
- References & less important text: 18-22pt
The poster watermark
All posters created using the BioRender Poster Builder will include a “Created with BioRender Poster Builder” watermark upon export. This is expected behavior for all subscriptions types.
Related articles
- Creating a new poster
- Resizing and rearranging content in posters
- Editing the appearance of posters
- Exporting posters
What's next
🎥 Watch: Webinar – Design Tips for Posters.
Learn practical layout tips you can apply to your poster. Watch now on Learning Hub ↗
🖼️ Explore: BioRender Templates. Publication-Ready Figures. Browse real examples of figures used in published research across various scientific fields. Explore templates ↗
Need help?
- Email: support@biorender.com
- Live Chat: Available by clicking on the "Help" bubble in the app on the bottom right-hand corner.