Originally Posted by ozlizard 
I presume from what you have said that if I am not printing the photos myself but having then printed via cd or dvd that I would be exporting them in whatever file format I have chosen (most likely tiff)?
That's exactly right. Any regular image file format -- JPEG or TIFF or PSD, for example -- should be thought of as a
copy of your original photo, created only for the purpose of printing or electronic distribution. Your raw files remain your masters.