Replying to Really Need Some Help: psd->PDF nightmare, +K, +love

I'm trying to finish my portfolio for grad school. PS is just not my bag, I need to take a course or something.

I'm converting my psd files to TIFFS (no layers) into PDF so they can be printed, problem is I went to pick it up this morning and it looked like utter crap. Even worse than it did on my screen. Not that colors were off or that my calibration is horrid, it's not. But fonts are not smooth, images super pixelated, etc.

The other issue is some of my work is in large format TIFF files (like30"x42"), when I shrink them down (no matter what I try to do) they end up looking not so nice.

I'm a total n00b at this business and navigating the myriad of online tutorials trying to get the right information that I can understand is nightmarish.

So... can anyone help me out, in any way? +K or something better depending on what I can get.

Thanks guys!