Wide Format Poster Printing

The Wide Format Printer in the Library is here as a service to SDSU students, as an alternative to the high cost of printing posters commercially. We'll print posters daily from 8 am to 10 pm. You may contact us at 619-594-3446 with questions not covered on this page. 

SDSU Students submitting their S3 Poster to be printed should follow this FAQ to update their file. 

SDSU faculty and staff should contact Instructional Technology Services for information about poster design and printing.

Guests should contact the UPS Store adjacent to campus for poster printing services.

You are responsible to inspect your poster for any errors before you leave our office. There are no refunds once you leave.

Posters cost $40.00 per poster FROM 9 TO 25 SQ. FT for SDSU affiliates.

  • Prints smaller than 9 sq.ft. will be charged on a sliding scale. Please see price list at the 24/7 Printing Services Desk.
  • Posters over 25 sq.ft. will be charged $1.00 per sq. ft. for each additional sq.ft. for SDSU affiliates.
  • Public Patrons will be charged a flat rate of $5.00 per sq. ft.
  • We do not accept cash or credit cards at the Library 24/7 Study Area Service Desk.
  • Payment must be made from funds deposited onto a SDSU ID card.
  • Funds from a credit card or a debit card can be added through the GET web page or at the bookstore or market here on campus.
  • We will not charge you for your poster until it is printed and you have inspected it for errors.

Only one (1) obvious subject or topic per poster is allowed.

  • A PowerPoint File with multiple pages will be counted as one(1) poster per page.
  • We reserve the right to make the final determination on how many posters are in any individual file.

We have 24" - 36"- and 42" Heavyweight paper in Photo Gloss and Matte finishes.

  • PHOTO GLOSS PAPER PRINTS MUST BE KEEP DRY OR THEY WILL RUN.
  • Paper comes on 100' rolls.
  • We do not provide any mounting services.
  • A cardboard tube is included for the safe transport of your poster.

The only file format we accept is PDF.

  • We can access your file from a thumb drive or from your EMAIL.
  • We prefer that all files be brought to us as a PDF file.
  • We only have a PC's. in our area. If you create your poster on a MAC, please save it as a PDF file on a MAC computer before bringing the file to us in our office. This is to ensure that it opens correctly on our computers.

You must set up your poster to the size of the finished poster.

  • The printer will print only what you have created. It may look small on your computer screen but it will print out to the dimensions you set up. CONFIRM YOUR SETTINGS.
  • The most common poster sizes are 56"x 42" and 48"x 36".
  • We can print a poster longer than 56" but the other dimension must fit on either 24" 36" or 42" paper.
  • Any poster not fitting exactly to one of the paper sizes above will have a corresponding white border.We are unable to trim or cut any posters.
  • The maximum size poster that can be made using POWERPOINT is 56"x42".
  • Anything larger must be created with a different program.
  • Find the highest resolution logos you can. When enlarged on a poster low resolution logos may print pixilated.You can check for any pixilation on your poster by viewing it at 100%.
  • The printer by default puts a 1/4 inch border around each poster. You must account for this when filling in the area of your poster. Do not add any text or images in the outer 1/2 inch on all 4 sides of the poster.

Do not procrastinate, we print all posters in the order they come into our office.

  • We will request a contact phone number in case we need to contact you if we encounter a problem while printing your poster.
  • We will print poster immediately if the printer is not in use.
  • All posters are printed in color.
  • Please allow for one hour printing time for a typical sized poster.
  • It is our experience that anything that does not print out properly is due to a problem in the file , and very rarely due to a problem with the printer.The problem has to do with the type of image used or the way it was brought into the final poster.
  • You are responsible to correct any errors that occur. We will not charge you for a poster that does not print correctly if it initially appears correct on the computer screen. Subsequent printings with uncorrected errors may be subject to a charge.
  • We are not experts in how to create posters and import images into them. We have learned what many of the most common errors are and will try to help you fix them time permitting.
  • During the S3 season we have had over 30 posters in queue to print at one time.