Printing astro photos

[codemonkey (Lee)]

I've had a few prints done now, and there's few I've been happy with. What mediums have you had success with?

So far I've tried:

• Aluminium prints
• Matt photo paper prints
• Canvas

The matte photo prints can look very good. I had a few small prints done at InkFX on different papers and then selected the best one and got a bigger print done. The result of this was probably the best astro print I've had done. The key here is I got it professionally framed and put behind low-reflection museum glass. In my experience this would be the way to go, but it's super expensive. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I think it was around $300 all up for a 12x18. I could always just get a couple of frames and rotate prints every so often.

The first lot of aluminium prints I got were also from InkFX. These prints are super glossy and don't suit astro work at all, unless you like looking at your reflection instead of the galaxy/nebula you had printed. I think they'd be amazing with high-key images, but it just doesn't suit astro work in my opinion. I'm sure it depends on the ambient lighting situation too.

After this I got a matte aluminium print from RedBubble. This was much better than InkFX with regard to the reflections, but I found the image looked a bit flat. Still, this was one of the better results I've had... cost vs appearance this might be the winner.

The one small canvas print I tried was from a low-end print shop. The canvas was highly textured and quite glossy... not as bad as the aluminium from InkFX, but bad enough that I wouldn't get one from there again and the texture detracted from the image.

I've seen some canvas prints (I have a big one from Ikea on my wall) that are very fine in terms of texture with little/no gloss, but I'm not sure what to look for when finding a print shop. I feel like this could be the best price/performance around if you can find the right stuff. Could just come down to trial and error with a bunch of different shops, but that'll get expensive.

So... have you had astro prints done that came out very well? What medium did you use? What print shop? What did you like about your prints?

[glend (Glen)]

I am very happy with the prints that I have had made by "Print to Metal" in Victoria.

https://www.print2metal.com/

I went with these guys because they had a good reputation when I queried metal printing. I have used them to produce astro print gifts for family and the work is excellent in my opinion. They can handle big files, no need to reduce size, or go to jpgs. Give them a call.

For just producing things to hang on the wall, i find that it really helps the end result to go with bright or contrast images. More discrete images that look good on your screen may not look as good when printed (without backlighting). I have a metal print of the Vela Remnant in narrowband, which is amazing on my big editing screen, but after printing on metal and hanging on the wall, it looked pretty drab. The solution was to use a gallery light, which changed it completely, it really pops off the wall now. So how you display it can make a big difference.

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Thanks Glen, they look like they have potential. Matt is an option and the prices are a bit cheaper than InkFX. Might have to give them a shot next time!

I just saw that they will send their sample image (within Australia) printed on the 5 different finishes they sell, for the cost of postage ($5.50) which reduces the risk associated with the purchase. Could get that to rule them in or out as a printing service.

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Yeah, definitely a good point about careful selection of subject matter. So far I haven't had a single galaxy image that I've liked printed, which is frustrating because they're my favourite targets. I'm starting to wonder whether I'd need a backlit print as you suggest, but I'd rather not.

I think I might try and get a print of my latest M83 at some point... I've pushed the contrast and saturation pretty hard on that one, so if that doesn't print well I'm not sure any of my galaxy shots ever will.

[Wavytone]

Have you investigated metallic prints, or prints on the back of acrylic ? These both have much more dynamic range than conventional prints on paper.

[Atmos (Colin)]

I’ve used Print2Metal and been crappy with the results.

I get a bit of printing done for competitions through Harvey Norman as long as you don’t go for same day printing.

Matt printing is better than Gloss for astro but you can print onto metallic paper which really helps with making them pop. The only galaxy I’ve had printed was the LMC but that took up a lot of the frame. I think what let’s galacies down is a lot of black around the main subject.

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

Acrylic, especially thick one is great but large prints are heavy. I actually like the two large prints I’ve got from print2metal - but definitely agree that saturation and brightness need to be increased for printing (non luminescent medium vs a bright screen) and it is vital to get lighting that properly illuminates the prints as they really come alive with proper illumination. I have also done 2 on canvas in different shops and I’m not particularly fond of texture that comes with printing on canvas.

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Originally Posted by Wavytone

Have you investigated metallic prints, or prints on the back of acrylic ? These both have much more dynamic range than conventional prints on paper.

At first I thought you meant metal prints, but I think you're talking about prints on metallic paper. I'd forgotten about those. I had some stuff printed on metallic paper before I was ever into astrophotography and it came out really well. I imagine you'd still need to put it behind glass to protect it though, which would lead me down the expensive museum-glass route again.

I haven't tried acrylic at all yet. I'll have a look into that.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Originally Posted by Atmos

I’ve used Print2Metal and been crappy with the results.

I get a bit of printing done for competitions through Harvey Norman as long as you don’t go for same day printing.

Matt printing is better than Gloss for astro but you can print onto metallic paper which really helps with making them pop. The only galaxy I’ve had printed was the LMC but that took up a lot of the frame. I think what let’s galacies down is a lot of black around the main subject.

Hmm, ok, thanks Colin... seems like there's mixed reviews with P2M then. As you say, galaxies can be difficult because the amount of black around them but also because it seems to be hard to retain the subtle shadow detail in prints.

Originally Posted by Slawomir

Acrylic, especially thick one is great but large prints are heavy. I actually like the two large prints I’ve got from print2metal - but definitely agree that saturation and brightness need to be increased for printing (non luminescent medium vs a bright screen) and it is vital to get lighting that properly illuminates the prints as they really come alive with proper illumination. I have also done 2 on canvas in different shops and I’m not particularly fond of texture that comes with printing on canvas.

Thanks Suavi. Yeah, I think you're right about lighting. I think most of these mediums would work well if you were displaying it in an environment designed to show them off, but it's a bit tricky to get that ideal situation in a living room with lights and windows everywhere, so my thoughts have been around trying to mitigate that with medium selection.

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

Just a thought about printing galaxy images - it might be worthwhile trying to lighten/brighten the background a fair bit to eliminate overwhelming deep black colour that can look a bit sad on a wall.

[glend (Glen)]

Gallery or picture lighting is a really big plus for displaying astrophotos in my opinion. Yes good ones, hard wired into AC do cost a bit, but there are battery powered LED ones, like these:

https://www.lampsplus.com/products/b...ht__88693.html

Some even have remote control for about the same price.

But if you have a hallway or entry way, or long wall they can look really good grouped together, justifying the expense of getting a AC cord run into the ceiling or dropped through a stud wall. Even Bunnings offers basic track light systems that can work just fine.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/verve-3-...light_p4371488

There are battery powered picture lights, and little stalk mounted LED ones. I have a stalk mounted LED one that I repurposed from a Bunnings clip on desk light, it works ok.

[codemonkey (Lee)]

Originally Posted by Slawomir

Just a thought about printing galaxy images - it might be worthwhile trying to lighten/brighten the background a fair bit to eliminate overwhelming deep black colour that can look a bit sad on a wall.

Yeah, good call. That's one good thing about paper prints is it's cheap to get a bunch of small prints done with varying things (like background colour) to get the best result. Not so with metal prints.

Originally Posted by glend

Gallery or picture lighting is a really big plus for displaying astrophotos in my opinion. Yes good ones, hard wired into AC do cost a bit, but there are battery powered LED ones, like these:

https://www.lampsplus.com/products/b...ht__88693.html

Some even have remote control for about the same price.

But if you have a hallway or entry way, or long wall they can look really good grouped together, justifying the expense of getting a AC cord run into the ceiling or dropped through a stud wall. Even Bunnings offers basic track light systems that can work just fine.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/verve-3-...light_p4371488

There are battery powered picture lights, and little stalk mounted LED ones. I have a stalk mounted LED one that I repurposed from a Bunnings clip on desk light, it works ok.

Hmm. I wonder if using lighting like that could counteract the reflections you get with glossy mediums. If the light from the picture light is brighter / closer than the other light sources maybe you wouldn't see the reflections?