As a scientist you may have discovered how much less swearing occurs when writing articles in latex rather than MS Word or other What You See Isn't Quite What You Wanted packages (WYSIQWYW -- I guess this is an acronym that won't be taking off anytime soon). The next step is to move from using powerpoint to make posters and presentations, to using latex.
It's never elegant to post the entire code in blog form, but what to do when you can't upload simple files?
The poster style is based on a theme by Rob J Hyndman and is an adapation of i6dv by David Vilar and edited by me.
Here's beamerthemeMyTheme.sty which you should put in the same folder as your post tex file:
\ProvidesPackage{beamerthemeMyTheme} % this style was created by Rob J Hyndman and is an adapation of i6dv by David Vilar. Edited by Someone Else
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%\selectcolormodel{cmyk}
\selectcolormodel{rgb}
\mode<presentation>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% custom colors
%\definecolor{i6blue}{cmyk}{1,0.305,0,0.06}
\definecolor{i6bluedark}{rgb}{0.0156,0.2578,0.5625}
\definecolor{i6colorscheme1}{HTML}{333333} %333333 e.g. for block title
\definecolor{i6colorblockbg}{HTML}{555555}
\definecolor{i6colorblockfg}{HTML}{FFFFFF} %block title white
\definecolor{i6colorscheme2}{HTML}{000000} % e.g. title in headline
\definecolor{i6colorscheme3}{HTML}{F0F0F0} % e.g. for poster background
\definecolor{i6colorscheme4}{HTML}{000000}
\definecolor{i6colorschemeHeadline}{HTML}{000000} % for headline bg
\definecolor{i6colorschemeFootline}{HTML}{101010} % for headline bg
% headline colors and fonts
\setbeamercolor{headline}{fg=yellow,bg=i6colorschemeHeadline}
\setbeamercolor{title in headline}{fg=yellow}
\setbeamercolor{author in headline}{fg=white}
\setbeamercolor{institute in headline}{fg=lightgray}
\setbeamercolor{separation line}{bg=i6colorscheme1}
% footline colors and fonts
\setbeamercolor{footline}{fg=white,bg=i6colorschemeHeadline}
\setbeamerfont{footline}{fg=white, size=\normalsize}
% body colors and fonts
\setbeamercolor*{normal text}{fg=black,bg=i6colorscheme3}
% block environment
\setbeamercolor*{block body}{bg=white,fg=black}
\setbeamercolor*{block title}{fg=i6colorblockfg,bg=i6colorblockbg}
\setbeamerfont{block title}{size=\large,series=\bf}
% example environment
\setbeamercolor*{example title}{fg=white,bg=i6colorscheme1}
\setbeamerfont{example title}{size=\large,series=\bf,bg=i6colorscheme1,fg=white}
\setbeamercolor{alerted text}{fg=i6colorscheme1}
\setbeamertemplate{itemize items}[triangle]
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{} % no navigation on a poster
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\setbeamertemplate{block begin}{
\vskip0.5ex %space between boxes
\begin{beamercolorbox}[rounded=true,shadow=true,leftskip=1ex,colsep*=0.5ex]{block title}%colsep - height block title, leftskip - title text indent
\usebeamerfont*{block title}{\Large \insertblocktitle}
\end{beamercolorbox}%
{\ifbeamercolorempty[bg]{block body}{}{\nointerlineskip\vskip-0.5pt}}%space between head and block
\usebeamerfont{block body}%
% \begin{beamercolorbox}[rounded=true,shadow=true,colsep*=0.5ex,sep=0.5ex,vmode]{block body}%colsep, sep - vert margin top and bottom
\begin{beamercolorbox}[rounded=true,shadow=true,colsep*=0.5ex,sep=0.5ex,vmode]{block body}%colsep, sep - vert margin top and bottom
\ifbeamercolorempty[bg]{block body}{\vskip-.25ex}{\vskip-.5ex}\vbox{}%
}
\setbeamertemplate{block end}{
\end{beamercolorbox}
}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\setbeamertemplate{headline}{
\leavevmode
\begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=\paperwidth]{headline}
\centering
\vskip4ex % height above text
\usebeamercolor{title in headline}{\color{fg}\textbf{\LARGE{\inserttitle}}\\[1ex]}
\usebeamercolor{author in headline}{\color{fg}\large{\insertauthor}\\[1ex]}
\usebeamercolor{institute in headline}{\color{fg}\large{\insertinstitute}\\[1ex]}
\end{beamercolorbox}
\begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=\paperwidth]{lower separation line head}
\rule{0pt}{2pt}
\end{beamercolorbox}
}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\setbeamertemplate{footline}{
\begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=\paperwidth]{upper separation line foot}
\rule{0pt}{2pt}
\end{beamercolorbox}
\begin{beamercolorbox}[ht=5ex,leftskip=1cm,rightskip=1cm]{footline}% ht - thickness
\hfill \raisebox{0.4cm}{\insertfooter} %raisebox - placement of text
\vskip1ex
\end{beamercolorbox}
\begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=\paperwidth]{lower separation line foot}
\rule{0pt}{0pt}
\end{beamercolorbox}
}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\mode<all>
\def\footer#1{\def\insertfooter{#1}}
and here's the poster.tex file:
\documentclass[final]{beamer}
\usetheme{MyTheme}
\usepackage[orientation=portrait,size=a1,scale=1.14,grid,debug]{beamerposter}
\usepackage[absolute,overlay]{textpos}
\setlength{\TPHorizModule}{1.0cm}
\setlength{\TPVertModule}{1.0cm}
\usepackage{ragged2e}
\usepackage{mhchem}
\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup{labelformat=empty,labelsep=none}
\title{A hypothetical LaTeX poster}
\author{I Am Me\inst{*} \quad She S Someoneelsei\inst{\dag} \quad A. Third Party\inst{\dag}$^{,}$\inst{\ddag}}
\institute[School of Somethingorother]{
\inst{*}%
School of Somethingorother, My University \quad
\inst{\dag}%
Department of Haxx0r
\inst{\ddag}%
Department of 1337, UC Other
}
\footer{url: http://http://www.blogger.com/ \quad email: me@blogger.com}
\date{}
\begin{document}
\begin{textblock}{6}(0.6,0.6)
\includegraphics[height=4.0cm]{mylogo_light.eps}
\end{textblock}
\begin{textblock}{6}(54.9,0.6)
\includegraphics[height=4.0cm]{ucother_logo.eps}
\end{textblock}
\begin{frame}{}
\begin{textblock}{28.5}(0.6,6.3)
\begin{block}{Introduction}
\justifying
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum gravida nisi eget lectus commodo luctus. Pellentesque vitae velit ligula. Nullam diam enim.[1,2]
\end{minipage}\end{center}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=23.9cm]{screenshot.eps}
\caption{A caption for \ce{[Fe4(H2O)8L9]^{-}}}
\end{figure}
\end{center}
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Integer nec felis massa, ac tincidunt tellus. Phasellus ornare urna nec erat eleifend eu egestas arcu sodales. Cras interdum, lectus vitae ultricies rutrum, orci sapien bibendum orci, ut facilisis lectus velit at risus. Maecenas ut nisi mi. Praesent in nunc vitae justo ullamcorper placerat nec id lectus. \ce{[[Fe4(H2O)8L9]^{-}} cluster[3]ante ipsum primis {\sc nmr}.[4]\\
\tiny{
\begin{enumerate}
\item G. Romanum, J. Eunt, G. Ite, F. Sum, \emph{A. Journal. Int. Ed.} \textbf{2011}, \emph{8}, 1943--1946.\\
\item A. Graecum, D. Hispanum, F. Molybdenum, R. Verum, H. Ipsum, P. J. Consectetur, G. Lectus, R. Ligula, M. Diam, \emph{Science} \textbf{2011}, \emph{323}, 13--17.
\item A. Graecum, D. Hispanum, F. Molybdenum, R. Verum, H. Ipsum, P. J. Consectetur, G. Lectus, R. Ligula, M. Diam, \emph{Science} \textbf{2011}, \emph{323}, 13--17.
\item A. Graecum, D. Hispanum, F. Molybdenum, R. Verum, H. Ipsum, P. J. Consectetur, G. Lectus, R. Ligula, M. Diam, \emph{Science} \textbf{2011}, \emph{323}, 13--17.
\end{enumerate} }
\end{minipage}\end{center}
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Experimental} \justifying
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=23.6cm]{screenshot.eps}
\caption{Another figure caption}
\end{figure}
\end{center}
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Integer nec felis massa, ac tincidunt tellus. In eget lectus a ante hendrerit gravida ut a massa. Nam euismod nisi vel nulla suscipit fermentum. Quisque vel nulla nibh, at bibendum quam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Nunc tempor pretium blandit. Nulla vulputate odio quis tortor porttitor rhoncus. Vestibulum euismod purus non dolor pharetra non tempus diam pharetra. Nulla nec mauris vitae risus dapibus eleifend eget et ipsum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Donec aliquam fringilla nulla, et ornare urna blandit id. In blandit lacinia massa quis tempus. Cras vel feugiat mi. Nullam risus nunc, aliquam non facilisis sit amet, condimentum id felis. \end{minipage}\end{center}
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Data massage} \justifying
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
In eget lectus a ante hendrerit gravida ut a massa. Nam euismod nisi vel nulla suscipit fermentum. Quisque vel nulla nibh, at bibendum quam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci. In eget lectus a ante hendrerit gravida ut a massa. Nam euismod nisi vel nulla suscipit fermentum. Quisque vel nulla nibh, at bibendum quam.
\end{minipage}\end{center}
\end{block}
\end{textblock}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\begin{textblock}{28.5}(30,6.3)
\begin{block}{Data reduction} \justifying
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Donec aliquam fringilla nulla, et ornare urna blandit id. In blandit lacinia massa quis tempus. Cras vel feugiat mi. Nullam risus nunc, aliquam non facilisis sit amet, condimentum id felis.\end{minipage}\end{center}
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c}
\begin{minipage}{14cm}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=10.0cm]{adobe.eps}
\caption{A caption}
\end{figure}
\end{center}
\end{minipage}
&
\begin{minipage}{14cm}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=10.0cm]{adobe.eps}
\caption{A caption.}
\end{figure}
\end{minipage}
\end{tabular} \end{table}
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Donec aliquam fringilla nulla, et ornare urna blandit id. In blandit lacinia massa quis tempus. Cras vel feugiat mi. Nullam risus nunc, aliquam non facilisis sit amet, condimentum id felis.\end{minipage}\end{center}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=12.6cm]{screenshot.eps}
\caption{Map of $\displaystyle \sum_{i}^{}(A(\lambda_{i})_{obs.}-A(\lambda_{i})_{calc.})^{2}$ as a function of pK$_{\textrm{a}}$s}
\end{figure}
\end{center}
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Fringilla nulla}
\justifying
Donec aliquam fringilla nulla, et ornare urna blandit id. In blandit lacinia massa quis tempus. Cras vel feugiat mi. Nullam risus nunc, aliquam non facilisis sit amet, condimentum id felis. $\displaystyle \frac{1}{T_{2r}}\approx\frac{C_{m}}{C_{aq}} \cdot k$:
\begin{eqnarray}
-\Delta H^{\ddag} \frac{1}{T} + \Delta S ^{\ddag}&=& R \cdot ln (\frac{\pi}{p_{m}}\frac{h}{k_{b}}\frac{1}{T}\Delta \nu) \nonumber
\end{eqnarray}
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c}
\begin{minipage}{14cm}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=12.6cm]{screenshot.eps}
\caption{Observed $\Delta$H$^{\ddag}$ as a function of pH.}
\end{figure}
\end{center}
\end{minipage}
&
\begin{minipage}{14cm}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=12.6cm]{screenshot.eps}
\caption{Observed $\Delta$S$^{\ddag}$ as a function of pH.}
\end{figure}
\end{center}
\end{minipage}
\end{tabular} \end{table}
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Ut ultrices ipsum vitae ipsum sagittis eget egestas dui interdum.
\end{minipage}\end{center}
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Summary}
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
\begin{itemize}
\item Ut ultrices ipsum vitae ipsum sagittis eget egestas dui interdum. Phasellus nec nisl quam.
\item Ut ultrices ipsum vitae ipsum sagittis eget egestas dui interdum. Phasellus nec nisl quam.
\end{itemize}
\end{minipage}\end{center}
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Acknowledgements} \justify
\begin{center}\begin{minipage}{28cm}
Ut ultrices ipsum vitae ipsum sagittis eget egestas dui interdum. \\
Phasellus nec nisl quam. \\
\end{minipage}\end{center}
\end{block}
\end{textblock}
\end{frame}
\end{document}
