I have never printed a dvd cover before, and I don't know when I will, but I thought that it would be good to prepare. Is there paper that I can buy in stores that is exactly like the commercial dvd covers ? Slick, thin, and shiny like dvd covers. And what would be the best way to print it ? Anything special that I'd have to do like use a particular type of printer ?

A regular width cover will fit on a standard letter size piece of paper. If you are talking about a thicker case, you need to get a longer piece of paper. I print on matte photo paper and trim the excess with a paper trimmer. Once you slide the new cover behind the clear plastic of the case, it is tough to tell the difference between the original and the printed one.

Ive got a Canon Pixma and never had an issue printing very close to the edge. Wont any printer designed to print on photo paper be designed to print to the edge like a photograph?

If your printer does borderless (and most do), then a standard sheet of photo paper is all you need. I print them all the time.

How many covers would you say you can print before having to change the cartridges? I've been looking into printing some of my custom covers but I can never really find out how many pages you can get done before refilling.

^ no company selling ink cartridges will state with accuracy capacities. ink is a rip-off that we all have to accept for now. wow im a bummer lol.

For sizing/scaling, you might want to get a copy of CoverXP.
www.coverxp.com

Its free

My printer is on 2500 pages right now...been giving me a low ink warning since the 1500s. I invested in a lower end color laser printer and couldn't be happier with the purchase. The covers look almost identical to the originals whether it's in or out of the case. I've never had a problem printing the covers on letter size paper either. Usually leaves about 1/8" on the top and bottom.

I dont really keep track of how many prints I get per ink cartridge. I set everything to the highest possible quality, and generally replace a cartridge every 4 or 5 months or so. My printer has 5 cartridges, and I run them dry before i change them. I probably could be more conservative on the ink, but it doesnt bother me that much.