High quality astronomy print recommendations

[Stephane]

Hi all,

I'm looking to print some of my images. Any recommendations?

As much as I appreciate the printing Officeworks does, I'm looking for something of higher quality.

Many thanks,
Stéphane

[Hoges]

I recently used Vistaprint for some calendars and a book and was very pleased with the quality.

[Atmos]

The Harvey Norman in Thomastown used to do their own printing in store and the woman running that did a very good job. That was pre-COVID though and I haven’t used them since then so I don’t know if things have changed.

Going to your local picture framer can be good as some of them do their printing themselves. There is a framer in Thomastown that I like their metallic printing.

Nulab/ The Edge is another one of recommend especially if you’re wanting to do black and white prints. There is another one in Adelaide that I cannot remember the name of that my mother uses a lot.

[Stephane]

Thanks guys, that’s really helpful. I might get one image printed in a few places and comment on comparisons.

Any further recommendations would be appreciated.

[Leo.G]

I've taken a few images to an industrial/corporate printer (in Bathurst (NSW)) and had posters of the Milky Way printed out in great quality for next to nothing in the past

Not exactly related to your inquiry but I'm fortunate enough to own a Kodak printing kiosk, courtesy of my local pharmacist who couldn't sell the unit with both of the printers not functioning.
It contained the large format Kodak 8800 and the smaller format 6850.
I bought the lot home including computer with amazing 21" touch screen and PC with genuine kiosk software with license and my son and I spent several nights completely stripping both printers, repairing the faults and rebuilding them.

One particular fault caught my eye, it was a broken fan deep in the guts of 1 machine incorporated by a Kodak technician who had pressed the fan in with his thumb (I'm assuming thumb), broken it then disconnected the wiring to the fan unit.

The purpose behind the sabotage is the unit would eventually burn out the power supply board and it would be traded in at a great loss for the original owner, refurbished and resold at a profit, all while selling the pharmacy a new printer.

This is not mere speculation (and I tore Kodak a new one over it with threats of legal action) because Kodak technicians were the only ones who had ever touched the machine from new and the damage to the fan was in a position where nothing could touch it and no one but someone with a lot of knowledge and time could even get to the unit right at the base of the machine with a considerable knowledge required to even get to it (though I'm more of a hack and hope kind of guy (no,not really)). To then disconnect the fan after the guts had been pushed in (impossible in the position of the fan) was the dead giveaway after a supposed service that cost a considerable amount of money.

The pharmacist wasn't informed of the damage to the power supply fan which would eventually lead to the machine board cooking itself.


The purpose of this reply isn't to boast (I bet everyone here owns nicer telescopes and cameras than I do), it's just a mention if you ever come across the ribbon sublimation dye printers which take the paper rolls instead of pre-cut sheets at a good price they really are amazing.


I now own two amazing quality sublimation dye printers and a couple of thousand dollars worth of paper and ribbons he gave me because he didn't want to throw them out.
I print the majority of my stuff at 12X8 because I have pathetic sight (and it's a natural full frame format)and rarely use the smaller 6850 which does standard 6x4 and maybe 8x6, some other 5"*x variation from memory (I can't remember, I rarely use it.)
The 6850 is an incredibly complex little machine. It still has a wonky worm gear I can't find anywhere other than used and very expensive but it works when I need it.


Best part, the genuine Kodak paper is waterproof.

I just wish it had had the 8810 in the kiosk because it can have the firmware updated to do panorama whereas the older 8800 can't.
I can do 12x8 and 10x8 prints in amazing quality with the 12" ribbon kits which came with it.

I believe many of the sublimation dye printers with printer ribbon are great value not so much the newer ink units. A friend with a technology shop was telling me he was going to buy one new until he realised it took half a tank of ink to prime the system and a complete 24 colour set of cartridges was over $1,000.

Then again my prints won't be so cheap when I have to eventually replace ribbons and paper at my own expense. Instead of giving away 12x8 prints as I currently do to friends (though I don't print anyone elses images, only my own) I should start selling them for a few bucks each to cover the cost of purchasing new consumables when I need them.


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kabanaos.gr%2F wp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F09%2F865 0.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=4c248ac06bf17ee8f5825226f9d8870 6e17dc3e9aac828187cbfc5b0d260036a&ipo=images
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2 Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.jWWbkMCC5U-amXk6RdyawgHaFW%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=63cef3a409302da0e2730da53483861 7c85a8542dd59f16bcfed714cd5d070ec&ipo=images