I've had poor results printing my maps to date. My first attempts used a regular printer and regular printer paper with unaltered images of digital maps that I'd made. They came out very dark and muddy. When I ordered them as photo prints from Wal-Mart, the results were a bit better, though they still looked a bit dark and muddled because they were printed at about 100 dpi. I've had academic research posters printed professionally at places like FedEx and UPS, but their printing rates were too steep for me. I'd like to sell some prints of my maps (or entice an RPG company to add them to their product line), but I need to find an economical way to produce them. Most of my maps these days are made from the get-go to be printed at 300+ dpi on 8 1/2 by 11", so I don't think I need a special printer.

I had just about given up on it when someone who commissioned me to make a map showed me his result from printing this image. Even though he printed it out at around 200 dpi, it looked fantastic. When I asked him, he told me that he had it printed on a Xerox 11x17 machine at a local school. I can take some credit for the result, as I've made a conscious effort to make my map images lighter, with better contrast. That said, there's one component that I've been ignoring: the paper.

I'm interested in trying out some photo paper in a standard inkjet or laser color printer. There seem to be a lot of choices here: glossy vs matte vs luster finish, Canon vs Epson vs Kodak, and a range of "quality" adjectives. The quality adjectives don't seem to make much difference in the reviews I read on Amazon; the consensus seems to be that words like "Premium," "Ultra," "Pro," and "Platinum," seem to exist to justify costing more per sheet; only in one case did I see any significant difference in the review.

Finally, to laminate or not to laminate, and what kind of lamination tool is best for retaining the image and finish of a print? I'm inclined not to laminate my prints and leave that to the end-user, but some people really seem to like lamination, especially if they're shelling out more than 5-10 bucks for a print. Lamination seems like something that would require a trip to a print shop (which I generally don't want to do); are their cheaper alternatives?