Is the entire bitcoin address contained in the paper wallet? IE could I just take the public address and Private Key and import then MANUALLY by typing them in or using the QR code into a client such as Armory or Multibit and then send and receive coins from that address?
Yes. The private key can be imported into any client that provides a method for importing private keys. You could then send the bitcoins from that client.
Note that depending on the client you choose, some bitcoins may be sent to a new address that the client creates and keeps hidden from you. So if you have 100 bitcoins (that were all received in a single transaction) associated with address A on the paper wallet, and you import that private key into Bitcoin-Qt to send 5 BTC to someone, then the remaining 95 BTC will no longer be associated with the address on the paper. Bitcoin-Qt will have created a new address (with a new private key) that it didn't tell you about. It will spend the full 100 BTC in a single transaction sending 5 BTC to the address you were spending to, and sending the remaining 95 BTC back into Bitcoin-Qt at the newly created hidden address.
If so, how does one do this given that it seems that armory and Multibit ask for information other than the public address and private key (or even for a file) when you import a private key.
I haven't tried importing private keys into either of those clients. What other information do they ask for? The only information that should be necessary when importing a private key is the private key itself. I've done it many times with Bitcoin-Qt.
What I mean is can you just import a private key directly from a blockchain.info paper wallet into Armory or Multibit or another client or online service and have access to the wallet stored on the Paper Wallet?
I'm nearly certain that
https://blockchain.info/wallet provides an interface for importing private keys. I know it can be done in Bitcoin-QT (although it is an advanced function requiring API calls in the Debug Window console).
Or is the Paper Wallet (which in effect refers to the private key) created by blockchain.info only importable back into blockchain.info?
No. It is in standard Wallet Import Format (WIF). Any client that allows importing of Private Keys should accept the private keys from the paper.
To put it more simply, does the printed Paper Wallet from blockchain.info contain ALL the information needed to access the address listed on the Paper Wallet, or is it necessary to have a wallet.dat or JSON or some other sort of backup?
The private key is the only information needed to access the bitcoins associated with the address listed on the paper. Some clients might require you to store that private key in a file in order to import it, but that import file can be created at the time of importing.
And if the Paper Wallet contains ALL the info, then how can you import it into a client directly off the paper, in other words can you import JUST a private key from a wallet created on blockchain.info into a standalone client and then have access to send and receive coins from the associated public address?
Yes. Any client that provides an interface for importing Private Keys can import the private key from the paper after which it can spend any bitcoins associated with that address.
Is the private key format from blockchain.info compatible with clients like Armory and Multibit? IE can it be imported as is?
Yes. The private key is provided in standard Wallet Import Format (WIF).
