Printing questions

[leeate]

Hi all,
I am confused about printing. I want to print some of my photographs, but have never done that.

My questions:

- Is a cheap printer-scanner HP combo good for printing photos? (at a beginner's level, of course..)
- Are papers other than those of HP also good for my printer? (Honestly, as an absolutely amateur, I just want to get away with those cheap Epson photo papers
- How glossy should the papers be that I will print my BLACK AND WHITE photos on?

Thank you in advance!

[fletch]

I have a cheap HP printer and have used both high end papers and really cheap supermarket paper. the prints come out really well on the high end paper and ok on the cheap stuff. However even then when you factor in the price of the ink they aren't anywhere as cheap as getting digital files developed at a lab.

I reckon each print out costs between 25p and 50p based on the size and amount of ink I use. Labs here can do 6x4s for 6p each (if you print over 150 shots).

Therefore I used my printer sparingly for proofs or one of prints up to A4. Any more than one or two photos at a time and I print at a lab.