cheap color printing?

Calica

I'd like to build cardstock terrain for my gaming group. The main appeals of cardstock terrain are its cost ($15-20 for a PDF containing a full set of modular terrain/scenery), customization potential, and easy replacement. Also storage and weight.

My printer died months ago and I didn't replace it because I don't really need it most of the time. So my options for printing terrain are to either replace my printer, or get stuff printed at Kinko's. The latter is something like 50 cents a page for color printing on cardstock, which quickly eats into the cost advantage; plus you can't just print a replacement part when you mess up. But ink cartridges are ridiculously priced too, and in the past I've had issues with them drying up well before I use all the ink.

So is there a cost-effective way to print a batch of full-color cardstock pages once in a while?

None of my friends have color printers... not that I'd want to mooch off of them if they did.

supabeast

Buy a cheap color laser printer that has a feeder for thick stocks. You’ll probably have to press the pages flat with heavy books after you print them, but other than that it will work fine.

T-bolt

There may be some small storefront on-demand print shops in your area that would be at a bit lower price point than Kinkos or Staples (who rely more on brand recognition and one-stop convenience than lowest price.) There would also be some mid-size print shops (like the one I work for) that while technically able to do what you need, you'd run into high minimum charges as they rely more on higher quantity runs.

That or bite the bullet and get a cheap home printer, going more for low cost cartridges than lowest initial cost.