Printed quality of this picture?

[Gerardo_G]

I printed the following picture in a print and copy center in full color in a 17" x 22" paper. For that I used a TIFF file instead of JPEG. The problem is that you can see this lines in the printed paper, like you know it's digital and not a real printed photo. Know what I mean? Is the problem the file? Is it not of the best quality for being printed in that size? What should I have done when taking the photo and editing it so the lines wouldn't appear when printed?

Was the problem the printer they used in the center? Should I have gone to a profesional photo store instead?


Thanks in advance!

PS: The photo is supposed to be a background for something else.

 

[Santa_Claus]

Sounds like banding from a low-quality inkjet printer.

 

[CameraClicker]

I don't have an example because they get shredded. Sometimes when printing, a clogged jet causes the printer to print "window blinds". There are lines across the printed surface at regular intervals. Running the cleaning and head check routines wastes ink but resolves the problem.

If there are lines on your print that are not in the file, take it back and complain. A good lab will watch their output and correct things they recognize as their fault, while printing. I shoot some strange stuff and have received calls from the lab asking "What the heck!".

Banding happens when the output device cannot display all the colours, and colours that can't be displayed are converted to other colours resulting in coarse transitions. I can't imagine any lab would have that problem, but who knows? The point of using a lab is to get higher quality printers and more printing knowledge than you have on your own, or to get higher volume output, but you don't want that at the expense of quality.

 

[KmH]

It's possible the print is a C-print, not an inkjet print.

But no doubt the OP needs to be showing the print to the place that made the print.
It might also help if the OP's profile showed a location.

 

[Gerardo_G]

So the photo is OK for printing? For a paper of those dimensions I can't use any printer. Full color laser printers for those dimensions don't exist, right?

Would it be better to use a real photo printer?

To be truthful the printing of the photo was extremely cheap so I don't know if the used the best technology for that. And KmH, I live in Colombia, but I didn't get why was that important to this discussion.

Cheers!

 

[KmH]

Where you are likely speaks to the print/copy center where the print was made.

There are prosumer grade inkjet printers that have a 17" wide carriage - Epson Stylus Pro 3880 Inkjet Printer - Product Information - Epson America, Inc.
There are pro grade inkjet printers that have even wider carriages and can print from roll stock.

C-prints can also be printed quite a bit larger than 17x22.

 

[dennybeall]

I had a client that wanted an inexpensive, very hurry up picture modified to remove the ex-daughter-in-law from a Family portrait. It was 11"X17" and had to be printed right away so I took it to the local Walgreens and they have a printer that does 17" by as long as you want and it came out really good. No lines or color aberrations. Gave them a tiff file with 300dpi and it surprised me with how good it was. Not pro quality but surprisingly good when you just have to get a product out.