Print options

[Anthonyexmouth]

Not sure where to post this, what do people here use for printing options? Home printer or sent out to printers? 

What printers/paper combo works well? 

What services are worth considering?

 

[vlaiv]

Here where I am, probably best and cheapest option is to get digital print out - usually at a copy/print place (I don't even know the name for such "establishment" - a local "store" type business that you can copy/print documents at).

They will do what you would do at home but with higher quality gear and for less money. If you want to print your copies, you'll need either ink jet printer or laser color printer and some photo paper in wanted size. Ink jets are by far the cheapest - but that is because manufacturers earn on replacement cartridges - refills. In any case you'll need to by "in bulk" and print many copies for it to pay off compared to copy/print place.

[Anthonyexmouth]

I've got a half decent ink jet. Just wandered about paper type and longevity.

Also with the professional option wondering about canvas prints for anything really nice and whether astro prints work well on it. 

[JamesF]

Have a search of the forums for prints on aluminium.  I seem to recall a few people getting them done recently and being very happy with the results.

James

[vlaiv]

If you already have ink jet, and you are happy with format (A4 I suppose), then try getting some Glossy Photo paper - make sure it's fast/instant drying. It should not be expensive for small pack of up to 50 pieces.

[upahill]

I had moderate success with an Epson IX6550, A3 glossy photo paper.

The struggle was with black, that particular printer uses black pigment ink which is supposed to be better but it just never looked quite right, impressive, but not right.

For longevity you would need to use archival paper/ink I guess. The print on aluminium idea sounds great though. If you go down the print on canvas option the surface texture I think would throw off the prints. I did a lot of printing canvas on an old 54" roland printer and its ok for family shots etc but the resolution wasn't there to show off astro in my opinion. Somewhere that uses the newer canon/epson large format printers could probably do a better job though.