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SciFor FAQ's

1. Do I want a "Full Service" or "Print Only" order?

2. What is the price of a poster?

3. What information do I need to provide to SciFor to order a poster?

4. Can you work with authors outside the US?

5. How fast can you make and ship my poster?

6. What are my poster shipment choices?

7. Can you laminate my poster?

8. Can I have my poster printed on glossy paper or other materials?

9. What resolution do I need for photographs and other images?

10. Can I use a logo I found on my institution's web page?

11. How much text should I supply?

12. My work is confidential. Is there any risk to confidentiality when using SciFor?

13. What are acceptable and unacceptable file formats?

1. Do I want a "Full Service" or "Print Only" order?
We offer you a choice of services to fit every researchers' needs.
  1. Our "Full Service" poster design, layout and print is for those authors who prefer to let our team of experienced graphic artists design and layout a poster for you. Full Service is simple! You just upload your files - including text, graphs, tables and figures - and your work is done. Once we've completed your custom layout, we send you an electronic copy of your poster (usually within 4 business days) for your review and comments. Then, with your approval, we'll print and ship your poster to your office, home or hotel - from start to finish, all within 9 business days of your order!

    Our Full Service includes:
  2. Professional layout and design of your poster by our team of experienced graphic artists.
  3. Three electronic proofs of your poster that enable you to review and revise.
  4. Color print of your poster on 35 lb. heavyweight coated paper.
  5. 600 X 600 DPI resolution.
  6. Storage tube and convenient carrying case, with shoulder strap for easy transport.
  7. Acrylic business card holder.
  8. Set of push pins for mounting on a poster board
    9.
    Glossy paper, lamination, vinyl, and upgrades to 600 X 1200 photo quality print are available, too! Need handouts? Order 11" X 17" reprints of your poster, in color or in black and white, to distribute during and after your presentation.

  9. Our "Print Only Service" (Including Technical File Review) is for those authors that already have designed their poster and want it professionally printed in large format on a single poster page. You may be considering taking your poster file to a commercial copy and print center that doesn't specialize in scientific poster design, file analysis and print - or, you can choose SciFor Inc. Our professional graphic designers will conduct a technical review of your file to get the best print results. If they find technical problems, they will contact you. Otherwise, we'll print and ship your poster to your home, office or hotel in 4 business days. It's that simple!

  10. Technical review of your file by our Graphic Experts
  11. Color print of your poster on 35 lb. heavyweight coated paper
  12. 600 X 600 DPI resolution
  13. Storage tube and convenient carrying case, with shoulder strap for easy transport
  14. Acrylic business card holder
  15. Set of push pins for mounting on a poster board
    16.
    Glossy paper, lamination, vinyl, and upgrades to 600 X 1200 quality print are available at additional costs.


2. What is the price of SciFor's poster services?
  1. "Full Service" poster design, layout and print service, click here for pricing.
  2. "Print Only Service", click here for pricing.
You will also be provided with pricing information on your specific poster order DURING the order process and BEFORE you are asked to input your billing information.

3. What information do I need to provide to SciFor to order a poster?
You should have the following information handy as you begin the order process:
  • All files to be used by us in preparing your poster. For Full Service have available your text, figures and, when applicable, your corporate or university logos. For Print Only Service just provide us with your single, poster file that you want us to print. Occasionally, we may ask you for the original, imbedded figure files for better print resolution quality. For fastest upload, it is best to have the files stored on your hard disk drive.
  • The text and figure "flow" of your poster (Full Service Only). Where will your graphs and images be placed? This is especially important if they will be interspersed throughout your text. Please be ready to specify the exact location in this case, by having your graphs and images labeled (e.g., "Figure 1") and clearly indicating the location of each figure within the text (e.g., "Place Figure 1 here."). If you are using your institution's logo, please specify its location as well.
  • The conference poster requirements. What size is the poster board you will present upon? What is the usable area of that board? Are there requirements concerning font size or type, readability or other constraints which may have an impact on the creation of your poster?
  • Your payment information. When paying by credit card, please have the card number and expiration date handy. If you will be using a corporate purchase order, you must have the purchase order number to complete your order. A copy of your purchase order must be faxed to SciFor at 914.428.4087 within 24 hours of your order placement for us to begin your work.
    •

    4. Can you work with authors outside the USA?
    Yes. a substantial part of our business is from non-US orders. If you have access to a standard Internet connection, you can complete the order process from your PC, including uploading your files. Delivery times for shipments outside of the continental USA will vary from location to location depending on local service frequencies and customs clearance times.

    5. How fast can you make and ship my poster?
    For Full Service, our standard time from order placement to shipment is 9 business days. We also offer a 4-business day Rush Service for an additional fee. Depending on our work queue, we may be able to create and produce your poster in one or two days. Call us and ask about our Priority Rush service for availability.

    For Print Only Service our standard time from order placement to shipment is 4 business days. We also offer a 2-business day Rush Service for an additional fee.

    6. What are my poster shipment choices?
    We offer two shipment methods for deliveries within the USA:
  • Express Service - Delivery by 3 pm of the next business day.
  • Priority Service - Delivery by 5 pm of the second business day.
    • We also regularly ship outside the US.

    Please Note Re: Lost or Late Deliveries - Very infrequently, a package delivery service will misplace packages that result in late deliveries or lost packages. While, we will work with our delivery services to track and locate any misplaced packages for you, SciFor cannot guarantee on time delivery of packages once picked up by our delivery services.

    7. Can you laminate my poster?
    Unfortunately, no. We have found that the lamination process, all too often, degrades the quality of the presentation. If you want lamination, you should seriously consider upgrading to vinyl output. Not only is vinyl a more elegant solution, it is also less costly.

    8. Can I have my poster printed on glossy paper or other materials?
    Yes. Any poster can be upgraded to glossy paper for an additional fee. The glossy finish we use gives your poster a more vibrant look than the 35lb. paper without glare being a problem. We also recommend our vinyl upgrade. Our heavy weight vinyl material offers excellent durability and vibrant color presentation for a real professional looking finish.

    9. What resolution do I need for photographs and other images?
    Our standard printing resolution of 600 x 600 dpi (dots per inch) provides excellent printed results with most images, including photographs. IMPORTANT NOTE: The key is usually based on the original SCANNED or SAVED image resolution of the image files themselves. For viewing distances of between 4' to 8', 150dpi is an acceptable minimum IMAGE resolution. Under no circumstances should your uploaded images exceed the maximum 300dpi image resolution. Note: For charts and graphs use the highest resolution available.

    10. Can I use a logo I found on my institution's web page?
    No. Web images are usually low resolution (72 dpi) and small in size. These limitations will prevent any enlargement necessary to make the image usable on a large-format presentation. If you'd like to use a logo, contact your institution's Media, Public Relations, Medical Illustration or Graphics Department for a high-resolution (200-300 dpi) version of the logo.

    11. How much text should I supply?
    Send us all the text you plan to include in your presentation. If for any reason it does not fit, we will let you know. As a general rule, we recommend about 1200 words maximum for a 90" by 42" poster, assuming 4-6 figures. Smaller poster sizes, more figures, less figures all have an impact on usable word count.

    12. My work is confidential. Is there any risk to confidentiality when using SciFor?
    No. SciFor will never share any portion of your work with another party.

    13. What are acceptable and unacceptable file formats for the different graphic images that will be used in my poster?


    Acceptable PC Files: TIFFs -- for continuous tone photographic images at resolutions between 150-300dpi (extension ".tif"); EPS -- Encapsulated Postscript for vector-based art, charts and graphs (extension ".eps"); BMPs -- Bitmap files for charts and graphs (extension ".bmp"); JPEGs -- for continuous tone photographic and non-photographic images saved at print optimized levels of 8 to 12 (extension ".jpg")

    Acceptable MAC Files: TIFFs -- for continuous tone photographic images at resolutions between 150-300dpi (add extension ".tif"); EPS -- Encapsulated Postscript for vector-based art, charts and graphs (extension ".eps"); PICTs -- pict files for charts and graphs (extension ".pct"); JPEGs -- for continuous tone photographic and non-photographic images saved at print optimized levels of 8 to 12 (extension ".jpg")

    Non-Acceptable MAC and PC Files: Any Web-based graphics such as GIF files (".gif"), PING files (".png") and low-resolution JPEG files.

    Call us if you are unsure of file formats needed on your poster.