Buying prints for wall hanging online - Halp

GnomeTank

So I want to get some really nice prints of some space images for my living room wall, specifically the Pinwheel Galaxy and the Orion Nebula. But I've never bought quality prints for wall hanging before, so I'm not even sure what I'm looking at.

I don't want cheap posters, I want nice prints that can be framed and will last quite a while. What kind of paper should I get? The options I see from the site I'm looking at Value Poster Paper, Poster Paper, Heavyweight Archival Paper and Premium Canvas. I also would prefer it not be terribly glossy as I have track lighting in my living room that will glare horribly off of a glossy surface. Those options seem kind of branded to the site though, so is there some better metric I should be using? Perhaps the weight of the paper?

Also, I've seen some sites offer metal prints, what exactly is this? I assume anything printed to metal would have some glossy effect to it.

In addition, what sites are good to order from? I've seen Art.com and Zazzle high in the search results, but I have no idea about the reputation of either site. If I do order from one of those sites, should I just order the print and have it framed locally, or should I have it framed before shipping?

Thanks for any advice you guys can give. I want these to be really nice prints that hang in my living room for years to come.

calamityjamie

Honestly, I'd go to a local print shop with some of the incredible files from NASA Images and get it priced out. It may be a touch more expensive, but you can get great hi-res images for free from NASA so it'll probably balance out or still tip a bit in your favor, and a local shop will be a great way to see the print quality in person before you buy.

GnomeTank

Sounds reasonable to me. I'll poke around Portland and find a decent print shop. I assume any modernish print shop I should be able to just bring in a USB stick with the files?