Quarto scientific poster template

This repository provides a reusable Quarto template for scientific conference posters. It is based on the official Quarto Typst poster extension and adds a simpler starting document, group-friendly documentation, example figure generation, and AI-use guidance.

The main goal is to let a user write a polished poster in Markdown/Quarto, render a print-ready PDF, and keep the source files version controlled.

Quick start

Create a new poster from this GitHub template

If this repository is published as a Quarto template, start a new poster project with:

quarto use template ahgroup/quarto-poster

Then edit the generated .qmd file and render it:

quarto render your-poster.qmd

Use this repository directly

To preview the template in this repository:

quarto render starter-poster.qmd

The rendered output is starter-poster.pdf.

What this template includes

• starter-poster.qmd: the single starter poster file, used both as an example and as the starting point for a real poster.
• _extensions/poster/: the official Quarto Typst poster extension vendored into the template so posters render without an extra setup step.
• figures/: the full-width header banner, placeholder logos/QR code, study-flow graphic, and example result figures used by the starter poster.
• code/make-example-figure.r: optional base-R script that regenerates the example SVG figure.
• usage.md: practical instructions for editing, rendering, and adapting posters.
• ai/: AI-use policy, reusable prompt templates, and AI-oriented project summary.
• agents.md: instructions for AI coding assistants maintaining this template.

Requirements

Install Quarto version 1.9.18 or newer. Quarto includes the Typst engine needed for PDF output.

Optional:

• R, if you want to run code/make-example-figure.r or add R code chunks to a poster.
• Positron, VS Code, RStudio, or another editor for editing Quarto files.
• A reference manager such as Zotero with Better BibTeX if you add citations.

Basic poster workflow

1. Edit the YAML at the top of the poster file: title, authors, affiliation, size, logos, footer text, and keywords.
2. Replace the example sections with your poster content.
3. Put static images, banner artwork, logos, and QR codes in figures/ or another documented folder.
4. Generate analysis figures from code when possible, then insert the resulting image files into the poster.
5. Render with quarto render.
6. Open the PDF and check physical size, fonts, figure resolution, spacing, and margins before printing.

Design guidance

A scientific poster should usually have one dominant message. Prefer:

• a short title and clear author block;
• one large takeaway or result box;
• fewer words than a paper or slide deck;
• large, readable figures;
• high contrast colors;
• vector graphics such as SVG or PDF when possible;
• a QR code or short URL for the paper, preprint, repository, or contact page.

License and provenance

This repository is MIT licensed; see license.md.

The included Quarto poster extension in _extensions/poster/ comes from the official Quarto Typst templates project, which publishes those formats under CC0/public-domain terms. See the upstream project: https://github.com/quarto-ext/typst-templates/tree/main/poster.