How To Make a Fabric Research Poster with Canva

Does the thought of lugging an oversized cardboard tube storing your poster for an upcoming presentation have your heart racing and palms sweating? If you know this stressful feeling all too well, today’s research poster hack will be your saving grace. Follow along as one of Spoonflower’s Customer Service Advocates, Jennifer, shares how to create a one yard poster on Sport Piqué using the free design program Canva. By the end of her tutorial you’ll be saying goodbye paper, hello piqué!

Substrate note: In April 2024, we changed the name of Performance Piqué to Sport Piqué. It’s the same fabric, but a different name! We’ve changed the name of the fabric in the post, but you’ll see the name Performance Piqué on some images in this post as it was written before the name change. When ordering your poster, please select Sport Piqué as your fabric.

Jennifer: Canva* is great to create professional presentation posters without having to download any software programs and something I love to recommend to our community when they’re looking for a free design resource. Before we get started, you might be asking yourself, “Why should I print my poster on fabric?”, but the real question you should be asking yourself is, “Why haven’t I been printing my poster on fabric?”! 

Spoonflower’s custom-printed fabric posters travel well, never crease or tear and can be easily stored in a backpack or carry-on… all for a fraction of the price of a traditional paper poster. Bonus: When you order your poster on our preferred poster fabric, Sport Piqué, no hemming is required–simply trim the edges and display your work!

*Please note, Canva should be used for posters that are no larger than 52″ in length or width.

Ready to see how it’s done?

Part 1: Design Your Poster on Canva

1. After creating a free Canva account, choose “use custom dimensions” in the top right corner.

2. Next, enter the dimensions you would like to use for your poster* and select the green “Design!” button. I want to create a 48 x 36″ poster so I entered 48 for the width and 36 for the length. Remember to switch to inches in the drop-down menu to the left of the green design button. 

3. Once on your design page, you can explore all of the options Canva has to offer. There are different font, text and template options. You even the ability to upload your own images. Once you’ve determined your poster layout, enter all of your information and research as needed. 

4. When moving photos or text around on your poster, guides will automatically appear to help with alignment.

Pro tip: If you need to include graphs and charts on your poster, save each one individually as a JPG or PNG prior to uploading to Canva.

How to Print a Poster on Fabric has been written in a black serif font on a blank page in Canva.

5. When you are ready to save your poster design, name your file and then choose the “PDF – PRINT” option under the download tab. Once your design has downloaded to your computer, you’ll need to adjust the file type prior to uploading to Spoonflower.

For Mac users, you can open your design file from your desktop. From top toolbar, choose “File > Export”. From that window, choose PNG as the file type. Make sure you keep the file at 150 for the DPI (resolution). This will ensure it will print to scale once uploaded to Spoonflower.

For Windows users, you can convert this PDF into a PNG using any software program you have (GIMP, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat) or you can use a photo converting website to change your PDF to PNG. Make sure you keep the file at 150 for the DPI (resolution).

Now, you’re ready to upload your file to Spoonflower!

---

Part 2: Upload Your Poster to Spoonflower

1. From the Spoonflower top navigation choose Design > Upload. From this page you can choose your PNG file from your computer and upload it to our site.

Pro tip: If your original poster size was 36 x 48″, rotate your design 90º before uploading to Spoonflower to ensure it fits on 1 yard of fabric.

2. Once uploaded, you will automatically see your poster on a design page. You can choose your fabric, yardage amount and repeat option. I chose 1 yard of Sport Piqué (Name change note! Performance Piqué is now Sport Piqué! It’s the exact same fabric, different same. So you’ll want to select Sport Piqué in the drop-down menu.)

You’ll also want to select the center repeat option so the poster prints directly in the center of the fabric. Text might appear blurry in the preview window, but as long as your image shows up sharp and clear when viewed at 100% in Canva, it will print out clearly with Spoonflower.

3. Once your poster is on the right fabric base and repeat, you’re ready to place your order and focus on perfecting your presentation!

Anatomy of a 1 Yard Research Poster

1. The preview window is the best way to predict how a design will print. The rulers along the edge of the preview are also a great way to estimate the finished size of a print.
2. The repeat options available for your poster. Choose the center repeat to ensure your poster prints once on a yard of fabric.
3. The dimensions (width x height) of the poster you uploaded to Spoonflower. If you are making a 48 x 36″ poster and these dimensions are smaller than 48 x 36″, double check your original file!
4. If you make a change to the repeat or scale of your poster, “lock in” your changes by selecting the Save This Layout button.
5. The type of fabric your poster will print on. The default is Basic Cotton Ultra. (Another name change note! Instead of Basic Cotton Ultra, we now offer Petal Signature Cotton®.) Therefore, be sure to adjust to the preferred fabric base for a poster, Sport Piqué, in the Choose a Fabric dropdown menu.
6. The amount of fabric your poster will print on. To ensure your poster prints in its entirety, make sure to choose the yard option in the Choose a Size dropdown menu.

The popularity of printing posters on fabric at Spoonflower has grown in popularity and I’ve noticed two common issues: ordering the wrong fabric base and choosing the wrong repeat.

Common Issue #1: Incorrect Fabric Base

Common Issue #2: Incorrect Repeat

Pro Tip: If you are working under a deadline, we do always recommend choosing Rush or Guaranteed Delivery from the shipping options available in the shopping cart screen. These options work on a fixed schedule, and will also display a delivery date.

Have you used Spoonflower for printing a research poster? We’ve love to know! Share your poster pictures on social media with #spoonflower or leave a comment below.