What should you 'do' with your astrophotography?

[@bakerfx4968]

I’ll print when I reach the high standards I’ve set for myself haha

[@daguito81]

Same for me, so I'm right on track to start printing... checks notes.... yeah, never

[@cdz9400]

Same here 😂

[@TheSwampsteve]

We are our worst critics 😅

[@joostvisser6508]

Of course your standards will get higher as you improve

[@Changitojuanito]

Same lol I feel like 1 more year and I’ll feel comfortable 🤔

[@laurag9306]

I love printing my work and seeing it up on a wall. It feels like an honor for some reason 🤗

[@alandyer910]

Great tips for a topic rarely covered in astrophotography. As the great Ansel Adams, who was also a musician, said, “The negative is the score, the print is the performance.” Yes, we have digital showcases now, but a print is really the ultimate end product of our craft. It might be the only medium where viewers can see the image in its full resolution and that encourages people to take the time to actually look at the image. So it has to be good! All the best in your show and opening.

[@martynh5410]

Thank you Nico. This is the first video I’ve seen on how to print good astro photos!

[@M31glow]

This is the best post ever on how to print!!!

[@ballashoes]

Perfect! I was looking on the best way to print

[@hillscp]

I do a lot of landscape and I have an Epson P900 17" printer. I haven't done much more than milky way astro. I print a lot of my work for myself and family. Thanks for the tips on printing astro. It gave me some inspiration to try printing some of my milky way shots taken in b2 skies near my home in Northern California (Lassen)

[@swagonman]

I usually print mine. I have an Epson 13” x 19” ecotank inkjet photo printer that is fantastic. It is a game-changer for ink costs. I built a solid maple frame that precisely fits the 13” x 19” paper without trimming. It also takes no glass on purpose to avoid reflections. I use my photo edit software to add a matte border around my image, and a small caption in the corner of the image. My latest image goes on display until I replace it with a new one. Currently, I don’t make more than one image a month, but I do plan to increase that. So I will make a second matching frame and display the latest two images. I do have to iteratively adjust my prints a little for printing because my system is not calibrated. It’s mostly just to get the shadow detail the right brightness. For that reason, I print 8.5x11” test prints first. I will try the technique you demonstrated, which looks good. I like Epson’s ultra premium luster photo paper and their metallic luster paper, but these are expensive for the 13x19” size. The new ecotank printers make the ink much more economical than previous models with tiny cartridges. After about one year, I’m still using the original ink that came with the printer. Hallelujah!!!

[@mikecmp]

Which model of these are you using, they look interesting. They make the model line up confusing with the all-in-ones and all that. The ink does seem more economical. I used to print with Costco b/c they were very inexpensive, but they stopped doing it in house and use shutterfly now which is pretty pricey.

[@swagonman]

@@mikecmp Epson ET-8550

[@mikecmp]

@@swagonman thanks, appreciate it

[@NatanielsArt]

Thanks for showing this method and congrats on the exhibit! I just printed my photos yesterday for this show season, there's always so much adjusting, I have 3 sets of files for different mediums too

[@stevefoulkes1416]

Thank you Nico. Fantastic video, the printing technique described is brilliant. My astro images have now printed really well following this video. Cheers Steve

[@pavelfoto4042]

😍Amazing video ever about how to PRINT! Thank you!

[@MentalWhiplash]

I've started printing my astrophotography on my Pixma Pro 100 that I use for large format phtography....you are correct. It's more finicky than printing regular photography. I invested in a decent screen calibrator and it made a huge difference. Great stuff!

[@newellbascomb4062]

Thanks Nico! Good luck with the exhibit. In this age of Hubble and Webb I actually thought this was going to be about what us amateur astronomers can do for art, science or beyond our pleasure of making our own masterpiece. I wonder what other viewers are interested in? Thanks again!!

[@smassky]

Awesome! I've been looking into printing, but I don't have much to print yet. This info will help when I do get more images to print though! 😃 I do have a panoramic image I made from several photos of the April Solar Eclipse that I want to print and offer to people, but I haven't had much luck finding something I like for doing this so I've got some research to do still. I don't think I'll do test prints at home though, since there's a lot of black behind the sun images it'd probably drain the black ink lol. I did think more a second of removing the background and printing on black construction paper, but that probably wouldn't work well either with how absorbant the paper is. I may just have to print one on one of "big box" quick print service and see how it turns out.

[@tvanpeer]

I’m in that 4% category. I have quite some experience in landscape printing, but was struggling to get my nebulae on paper. But this is such a great technique you are showing here! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

[@jerjaws]

I also recommend getting a paper sample pack from red river paper and do test prints and see what works best. Also use prop print profiles.

[@andrewj1132]

Thanks Nico, I hope the exhibition went well! Yours is the first video I’ve seen on printing Astro photos. I only print out my Astro images for my own pleasure, and have struggled to find any helpful information on line. Your technique of using compensating layers to make the printed image look more like the screen image is particularly interesting. I use Affinity Photo to print my images, not photoshop. So it’ll be interesting to experiment to see if I can reproduce a similar technique. Thanks again, Andrew.

[@ESPattenden]

My friends ask me the same thing ALL the time. I do need to print a few out! I'm my own worst critic though.

[@PilotPhteven]

Selling is a no-go .. beside it already being very hard to sell photography in general you can't beat NASA, simple as that - and NASA puts up their images for free anyway as it's a public domain.

[@kenfrank2730]

Ok, you answered my question.

[@BruceDAmbrosio]

Hmm. Composition? Interpretation? Framing? I can't disagree more. NASA images seem, to me, like the hyper-saturated cartoon trash produced by Dall-e.

[@laurentldoldi840]

I have recently ordered a print of one of my Milky ways 1.50 X 1 meter (5 X 3.3 feet!) on "carton plume", 48 Euros, it looks amazing.

[@rocketcityastro]

I bought an Epson 8550 eco tank it uses bottled ink i print a bunch of 8.5x11 and give them to people at local events and stuff. I print 13x19 on fine art paper for myself it has no reflection.

[@PortugalCarp]

Good luck with your expo Nico.

[@keithhanssen7413]

Congrats on your show!

[@omg1tsGriff]

I've not shot anything worth printing yet but I enjoy sharing the shots with friends & family and I also keep a folder of my processed shots to use as desktop wallpapers

[@ekalbkr]

Thanks Nico! I have been disappointed with what I have had printed commercially so far. Your PS hints could potentially help with that. We do have an excellent print lab locally that I can work with, but it is clear I need to come prepared. Your video has helped tremendously!

[@donweisbrod5042]

Thank you, Nico. That was an excellent video. My weak spot is knowing enough about Photoshop to do what you demonstrated. Do you have a recommendation for learning Photoshop for astrophotography that includes the basics?

[@cpinger]

Awesome video. What is the matt and frame you use? And where do you get it?

[@NebulaPhotos]

I used a 16x20” frame and matte. The matte opening is 11x14”. I got them both at craft stores like Michael’s / Hobby lobby, etc.

[@curlingdan]

I print my stuff on metal (aluminum) and hang it on one wall, trying to fill the wall. Seems the detail is good enough, someone looking at the variety of images is always impressed even if I am not. It's a process, the more you do the better you get. I've used Costco (till they quit that business) a local outfit called Nichols Photo Lab, Walmart (surprisingly good if you can figure out the website) and Walgreens (which has the best pricing). Metal is somewhat expensive, but I like the way it looks.

[@liquidl5380]

I have a surface pro for work and my shot of M42 really pops on it. Someday I'd really like to print out works for my family members for xmas

[@Yambolic]

I have mine printed on metal (it's thin aluminium sheet) and the results are fantastic. I just send the printers the file as a TIFF or PNG and I get them in about a week. It's not very expensive. My only problem is that I'd like larger prints`than they can currently provide and I've been talking to the printers about that (no joy yet though).

[@NebulaPhotos]

Which printer? I’m interested in an inexpensive metal print option. BayPhoto, who I’ve used for my metal prints, does up to 48”x96” (4x8 feet), but they I find all their metal prints to be expensive.

[@Yambolic]

I can't answer your question Nico - well I can but it probably won't be much use to you as I live in Turkey and the printers are Turkish. 😮‍💨 There might be something on Cloudy Nights forum regarding printers in the US. Maybe the reason I can only get 8" x 8" prints is because the bigger ones will be too expensive for the local market. Sorry mate. ☹

[@ycanerol]

@@Yambolic Hey! Do you mind sharing the name of the printer? I am interested in the metal prints as a Turkish astrophotographer.

[@DrJoeSelfCoaching]

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! After sending my photos out to be printed and always winding up disappointed, your video has resuscitated my astrophotography enthusiasm. I'm hoping you might comment a bit more specifically on what you mean by making the photo more "punchy?" Do you do this with curves, etc??? I kind of know what you mean by 'punchy,' but not how to apply it.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, punchy = more contrast and saturation

[@jerjaws]

I print most of my wildlife photos. Canon pro 200. Excellent printer

[@U_Geek]

When it comes to selling prints. I think modern styles go really well with nebula shots... but I may be biased as an amateur astrophotgrapher.

[@astro7996]

Thanks for sharing these ideas. There was a a hissing noise in the first opening minutes right up to the point when you started to use Photoshop. Thanks Nico!

[@NebulaPhotos]

The hiss was insect buzz from outside. Should have closed my window, but it was hot and I don’t have A/C. Usually doesn’t seem to be a problem, but I changed the camera/mic angle so that the printer was in the background for the intro and that seemed to be enough of a difference to pick up that background noise. Sorry

[@chrzanik666]

This is very crude workaround I found when your monitor displays photo colours different I used my phone to print with Canon app and my PIXMA pro 200 with some success, now I will definitely try Nicos approach since this looks to be far more professional.

[@SunsparcSolaris]

I printed 3 things this year: My eclipse mosaic, totality photo, and aurora photo. One of my friends liked my mosaic so much that he wanted one, so I had a second printed for him. I chose 24"x36", so that's what he got as well.

[@keeplookingup911]

What happened to your home Observatory?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Nothing happened to it, still working very well. Just haven't made a video on it in a while. Waiting to finish electric for the next construction update.

[@1973Antoniob]

First time in your channel. Very good tutorial. Just for clarify: the adjustment are made with the proofing profile active, so these are made to match the print and what you see on the monitor but with the simulation of the profile , so this technique is not for matching what you see on the monitor after finishing the develop and matching that, right? (I don't know if I explain correctly the question). Thank you.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, with the proofing profile active, I make the first set of adjustments (the ones I grouped as ‘Print’) to match the test print. I then make a second set of adjustments to get me back to what the original image looked like on screen (the ones I grouped as ‘adjustments’). Then I turn off the ‘print’ group and just use the ‘adjustments’ group for the final print.

[@1973Antoniob]

@@NebulaPhotos Thank you and sorry for the late reply. So to recap: first print, than set the adjustment group "print" to match the print, with the simulation profile active. Second, make the adj. with a new group " adjustment" to match what we see on screen.....now with the sooftprofing disable?

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@1973Antoniob No, turn off the 'print' group of layers, not the PS soft proofing. The soft proofing stays active the whole time.

[@1973Antoniob]

Ok thank you.

[@zelh5969]

I'd love to come and see it, but wrong hemisphere. However, I live opposite a large photo exhibition gallery, so if you come to Melbourne, let me know!

[@zoomin2298]

I got a question - for landscape and constelation shots withought a startracker what mattters more pixel pitch (size of pixel) or more mega pixels if the sensor size is APS-C . Can anyone tell me the perfect sweetspot for pixel pitch in an APS-C for untracked landscape astrophotography

[@mariovm1243]

I have an Epson Plotter (SC 6000) i can print up to 24 inches and let me tell you, the quality is awesome. I also print on metal with ink sublimation

[@donweisbrod5042]

I am excited when I see my astrophotos on a big screen. But I'd love to print some good ones at home. I tried printing at Walmart, but they didn't print out the way they show on the screen. I'm very interested in this.

[@scarman123]

I’ve printed a few and they don’t have the same sharpness as they do on screen. Not that it’s bad but it’s not the same. I’ve been asked to print some to sell and I’ve been asked to be a featured artist in an art show. If I can figure out how to get the print quality to my satisfaction, I’d love to have some prints to show off.

[@dersupra]

Etsy. You can sell digital prints.... for like 2 or 3 bucks a pop

[@Ang3lUki]

I'm going to put my images into VRChat and Team Fortress 2! Make trippy skyboxes for my maps and worlds!

[@grigoryvidishev1810]

Thank you for video Nico! I got the point about adjusting your image on the screen so it comes well on the printer. When you do that you adjust your image to match a particular computer and printer, so if you send an image to a printing service, it may not come out as desired. Is this logic correct? Thank you!

[@NebulaPhotos]

That is correct. If you have time, you can try to do this same process with a test print using a printing service. 1. Send out the image 'as is' to the service and choose a small print (4x6") 2. Get the test print back and go through the process I show in the video. 3. Send out the adjusted file (either for another test print or the real thing). It's definitely a lot more time consuming, but may be worth it. I've had mixed results with sending my photos out to printing services. I might review some in the future, but it would be limited to US printers.

[@grigoryvidishev1810]

@@NebulaPhotos Thank you Nico. Another question. Computer screen color calibration - would it make the screen and printer more alike?

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@grigoryvidishev1810 Yes, it can make an appreciable difference. My opinion is calibration alone usually doesn't eliminate the need for test prints, but it can still be helpful to do for a variety of reasons.

[@richiewitkowski7142]

Id love to print, but it is just really expensive for me personally I know astrophotography is expensive already but it is hard for me to dump money on things that could go to new lenses/cameras/etc.

[@kevinashley478]

Hey Nico. I have a question, it's off topic. So i went out this past sunday to image the Andromeda Galaxy. I had 45 sec exposures with pinpoint stars. I set my intervelometer and walked away. After a few shots, I stopped it and checked my images. I had significant star trailing. I did some troubleshooting, and to make a long story short, here is what i found: Using the intervelometer gave me star trails, yet if i manually pressed the shutter with a 10 sec delay, i got pinpoint stars. I made sure no cables were caught, i had 15 sec interval between shots on the intervelometer, and i tried 3 different intervelometers - wired, wireless, and Magic Mirror. So, any ideas on why i get star trailing with an intervelometer, and pinpoint stars with manual pressing the shutter button with a 10 sec delay?

[@bluegrassastro]

Do you print from a JPG or a TIFF file, or does it even matter? Just wondering if the compression of a JPG make a difference in the printed result.

[@NebulaPhotos]

I usually finish my astrophotos in Photoshop, so I print from the PSD (equivalent to TIFF quality). In many cases, it would be fine to use the JPG, and many pro labs will just ask for a JPG, but if you have the option, I'd always print from a copy with no compression (PSD or TIFF).

[@jonathanmartinez4278]

I do a yearly calendar for friends and family because I know they love my art and would like a physical piece to keep. I try to break even (never do) but I include astro photos along with other things to have ✨ variety ✨. I mainly use MPix for printing and then I either ship or deliver in-person.

[@ralphpinney8861]

I make a calendar as well. All the monthly images are astro images and I use individual's pictures for their birthdays.

[@michaeloborn8710]

Like you, I want to print my astro images not put them on social media. I notice that your original images were 3900px x 5700px. My concern is that my images will most likely be captured on a Dwarf III and will be at smaller px count. Have you had any experience with printing images below 3900 x 5700?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, you can either do smaller prints or change the print resolution. 300 pixels per inch is a good rule of thumb if you expect someone to look very closely at your print, but from a couple feet away, 200 or even 150ppi can look fine.

[@jratino]

Thanks for this Nico. I assume your monitor(s) are calibrated?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, but I didn’t mention it because this method will work even if one’s monitors aren’t calibrated.

[@jeffratino5456]

@@NebulaPhotos Oh ok

[@KnTGaming]

@@NebulaPhotos I assume it works with uncalibrated monitors because you have the "Print" group of adjustments that mimics what the print actually looks like, is it correct ?

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@KnTGaming Yep, that is correct

[@KnTGaming]

@@NebulaPhotos Thanks ! I was afraid that I needed to buy a monitor calibrator !

[@addos999]

I dont print at the moment because of that contrast ratio changes from screen to print. cheap home printer comes out too crappy for testing, not going to spend several hundred dollars on a decent home printer to test before sending to the shop, and (at least here in Australia), print shops charge an outrageous 'consulting' fee to do the adjustments for you ($70-100 per image plus the print cost).

[@TheSirdragonfly]

Is it possible to do the same process you did in Photoshop using PixInsight ?

[@NebulaPhotos]

I haven't tried, but my first thought would be to use the real-time preview with CurvesTransformation (and maybe a couple other processes). When you have it correct, drag the triangle to your workspace so that you can repeat it.

[@adunthecitadel9122]

So you need a database of mods and grid printing

[@wesleyjohnson597]

The only reason I don't print my work is because I don't have a printer nice enough to do it yet And I'm also not exactly sure what the best kind of printer for me would be

[@blobrana8515]

I would never print out my images, but i would share for free to anyone to use as they see fit.

[@peterrichardson4439]

Living and working in Finland I get some beautiful pictures of nature but also fantastic dark night skies in winter. I do Aurora and astro in this time and put all my years pictures into a calendar and sell

[@GhostSenshi]

I’d print more if it was affordable

[@dennis3004psp]

i dont have a printer because the dont work really well, because many companys want to make money

[@djaa7]

Is this a live stream?

[@eaea2332]

there is no alternative to physical copy of your art.

[@MartinAcossano]

I have a hard time using g photoshop. Canceled my subscription

[@elbass0]

I just switched to Affinity Photo from PS. The adobe subscription cost is just ludicrous. AP is currently 50% off and just a one-time purchase (only costs 60 bucks or so). It is almost as complete as Photoshop and I now do all my post-processing (after PI) with it. There's a 6 month free trial so you can give it a good spin before deciding on anything.

[@LearningAstrophotography-jj9en]

Astro photos are easy to sell, but you need a terrestial object such as a tree or a shack added to the image

[@laurentldoldi840]

Easy to sell? Where? My impression is that people say "wow" and then nothing happens.

[@LearningAstrophotography-jj9en]

@@laurentldoldi840 Try selling to the land owner you used to get the shack, or tree, or rock formation they will buy a large image I print upto 19x13" and printed with a mount in a good quality frame I often get in excess of £200

[@LearningAstrophotography-jj9en]

@@laurentldoldi840 It's all about asking if they are interested....