Hiya
I always use quality photo paper, i use between 180-210 gsm, which when mounted to a cardblank gives shop bought thickness.
I use Epson 190gsm gloss (not overly glossy though) quality ink jet paper for 50 sheets it is £5.50 i think from
www.photoglossy.com......i also found that ACE brand photo paper is fabulous quality and good colour results as is MIRROR brand, both very cheap and give good results. DO a search and they come in a variety of thickness and finnishes.
I have done alot of experimenting with paper and found the ones above give the best colour and print quality, always remember to adjust your printer settings to match the paper as this sometimes affects colour produced....
If you are printing on thicker paper and you get smudges, change your printer settings to thick paper in Advanced or maintenence and this will stop that....
I love Linen cardblanks but with some images and inkjet printers the print quality can be affected, which is why i stick with gloss or matt....
One more thing, i have an image that i use on a sympathy card and it is alot of black, although this prints great on photo paper at home, i think it is cheaper to get it printed at ASDA or Tesco / local photo developers at 20p a sheet (7x5inch) and then not only do you get fantatsic finnish but it doesn't get smudged when you are cutting and arranging....
Lol..bit of an essay there...
Helen