Veterans of scientific conference poster sessions know that poster quality can vary considerably. Colorful, informative, and visually appealing posters mingle with last-minute efforts that consist merely of black-and-white pages pasted to a white board. But the days of ho-hum posters may be over thanks to a new poster design, layout, printing, and electronic archiving service offered by Brewster, NY-based SciFor. Scientists can now "have their poster professionally designed, laid out, and printed, without leaving their desk," says SciFor CEO Bob Russo. Researchers supply files and parameters electronically through SciFor's Web site, and SciFor's graphic designers do the rest, preparing high-quality posters for a fraction of what a similar service would cost at a copy center.
In addition to a hard copy of the poster (which is delivered directly to the customer's office or hotel room by express mail), SciFor produces an electronic version of the poster that is...