Astro Photo Printing - Current Best Choices

[glend]

I am getting a couple of astro photo prints ready for Christmas presents to family. What is the best choice for good high resolution quality prints in say a size up to A3 if detail is supported? The files i want to print are TIFFs, can printers handle them? I would hate to have to go down to jpgs.

[sil]

you need to speak to the printer you intend to use, the print material and ink is most important.

[jenchris]

I used to print on A0 with tiffs.
I'm pretty sure you'll have no problem.
A drafting office can do some big prints .

[ZeroID]

TIFFS are good to go with printers, higher resolution the better.

[Andy01]

Talk to Darren about printing on Fuji flex at cpldigital.com.au.
That’s the lab & material I use for all my prophoto award entries. :thumbsup:

[glend]

Just to close this off, i had a conversation with Marie at Print2Metal and sent them three TIFFs to print on Chromalux (ultra white). They completed the job pretty quickly, i received them last Monday. They take 5-9 days at this time of the year. A couple of things i learned:
Check the price list before the order process because selecting items in the order process does not show you a running subtotal. For example, you can select frame type but will not know the total till the end of the order. The frame can cost as much as the print itself.
If you can live with a floating hanger type mount, that is the default and is no extra cost. A single 11x14 cost about $70 with a floating hanger.
I liked that their system provides suggested print sizes based on your file.

In terms of print quality, it is outstanding but most of your images may appear darker in print than what you might see on your PC screen, mainly because they are not actively lit. Over exposing slightly can brighten up a print. Objects like the Rosette Nebula will be great because of the brightness, but dimmer objects (like the Vela SNR) benefit from alot more data and over exposure in processing prior to print file creation.
One way of making the prints, even darker ones, pop, is to light them with a gallery light when you hang them. There are wireless battery powered LED gallery lights available on ebay, that do not requre AC.

Of course if you get a backlit print on say acrylic, the print can look much brighter but Print2Metal don't offer that i believe, and you would need a AC power source for any backlit print.