Digital Signage

Technology Services has embarked on a pilot project with a handful of departments on campus to provide digital signage, to help these departments communicate certain information to the Gustavus community in public spaces. The digital signs are wall-mounted televisions which display a looping series of image slides, and are moderated solely by the departments who have purchased them.

While technically anyone from the Gustavus community may submit a slide to be run on any of the digital signs on campus, the approval of such slides is left to the discretion of the department(s) who moderate each sign. Individuals should be aware that departments may generally prefer (or strictly require) that submitted slides relate directly to their department.

The slide you submit must be an image file saved as one of the following file formats:

• PNG Portable Network Graphics Format (*.png)
• JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)
• GIF Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif)

For best results, your image should be exactly 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high (a 16:9 aspect ratio).

Create using Microsoft PowerPoint

A variety of software can be used to create image files for slides, but Technology Services highly recommends using Microsoft PowerPoint. PowerPoint allows users to create short, informational slides for use in presentations, and has design goals which greatly overlap with digital sign slides.

Open a PowerPoint template

To reinforce Gustavus branding and avoid overly-distracting background images, Technology Services highly recommends you use one of the following PowerPoint templates as the basis for your slide:

Download one of these template files and and open it with PowerPoint.

If you create your own PowerPoint template, be sure to choose the 16:9 slide size option when opening PowerPoint.

Edit your slide

Add text and images to your slide. All text should be at least 26 points, to be readable at a distance. You should also try to keep your text concise and only include the most important details, since most passive viewers walking by will only see your slide for a few seconds.

Save your slide as an image

Windows

1. Select the proper image size (for PowerPoint 2007)
   1. On the menu bar, select "Design"
   2. Underneath the menu bar, on the far left, select "Page Setup"
   3. A screen will appear displaying two scroll menus. One labeled "Width" and the other labeled "Height"
   4. Change the width to 20 inches, and the height to 11.25 inches (this gives you an image size of the digital sign TV, 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels).
   5. Click the "OK" button.
2. Select the desired slide in the thumbnail view (the slides on the left hand side of the screen).
   • If the thumbnail view is not visible, select "view" on the menu bar at the top of the screen, and scroll to slide sorter.
3. 
   From here, select the Microsoft Office icon in the upper left-most corner of the screen (as shown to the right).
   • If you are using a version of Microsoft Office older than 2007, select "File" from the menu bar.
4. Click "Save As", and a screen should appear asking for the name and file type in which you want to save your slide.
5. Type in a name which you find relevant for the slide show, and then scroll down to one of the following file types:
   • PNG Portable Network Graphics Format (*.png)
   • JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)
   • GIF Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif)
6. After you click save, PowerPoint will display an option to export the entire slide show as individual images:
7. Select "Current Slide Only".

Macintosh

1. Select the desired slide in the thumbnail view (the slides on the left hand side of the screen).
   • If the thumbnail view is not visible, select "view" on the menu bar at the top of the screen, and scroll to slide sorter.
2. Select "File" from the menu bar.
3. Choose "Save As Image...", and a screen should appear asking for the name and file type in which you want to save your slide.
4. Type in a name which you find relevant for the slide show, and then scroll down to one of the following file types:
   • PNG Portable Network Graphics Format (*.png)
   • JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)
   • GIF Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif)
5. Click the button labeled "Options..." on the lower right of the Save box.
   1. Under "Save slides as graphics files," select the bubble next to "Size".
   2. Select the size 1920 (wide) x 1080 (high).
6. Save.
7. After you click save, PowerPoint will notify you that every slide from your presentation was saved as a picture in a folder with the name and location that you selected.

Submit your slide image

1. Proofread your slide. Really. After you submit your slide, the manager of a department won't have the ability to manually correct any mistakes in your image, so please make sure your slide is free of typos and that you've double-checked facts like dates and times, etc.
2. Visit https://gustavus.edu/signs/slide/submit and log in using your Gustavus username and password.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions for submitting your slide to a certain department.
4. A department manager will review your submission and approve or deny it.