Use italic or bold for emphasis. Avoid fancy fonts and underscore. Fancy fonts are OK for a relevant effect in a heading or graphic, but otherwise they are hard to read. If text is black on white, use colored pens, prints, or card to enhance graphics, titles and panel mounts. For best results, scan colored prints into a computer and edit them with a graphics package.
Color printing is superior to black and white, but use dark-colored text against pale backgrounds.
Ink-jet printers are as good as laser printers for posters. Add icons or images to focus attention. But make sure they are relevant. Download and try the accompanying PowerPoint templates. Use one PowerPoint 4 document for all panels in landscape orientation, and another document for portrait orientation.