After cussing out my friend, I started thinking. What would I do if I didn’t want to invest in a graphic design firm, or learn to use a fancy page layout tool like Adobe InDesign (or pay the monthly subscription price to use the software)? The answer is something that is already known by academic conferences everywhere, and that answer is PowerPoint.
Although PowerPoint is designed for slides, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t use it to lay out a regular page. Just change the size of your slide and have at it.
Be careful if using PowerPoint for printing: If you’re going to be creating files for commercial printing, make sure your method of converting the files to PDF works. Spoiler alert:” you probably will need to level up from PowerPoint and use a professional design program like Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. <We can help!
If you do use PowerPoint for printing, consult the printer before sending the file in, especially if you have graphics files that need to be printed in high resolution. It’s better to do this pre-flighting as early in the process as possible.
