Ok - I thought I had seen a tutorial on here somewhere for RIT's, but I cannot find it with the search up top. For an order due this afternoon, did the transfer on Tuesday. Obviously did not have enough time to dry.

I did it on wax paper taped over the actual pic. I had trouble getting it OFF the wax paper, flipped it over, peeled paper off, then when I went to flip it back the middle stuck to my hand because it was still damp underneath. The friggin thing broke into a million pieces as you can see!

So questions -what should I do the transfer on? How long should I let it dry? How thick should it be? How long does royal icing keep for if I made it from an instant mix? (In fridge or out?)

Thanks guys - off to pipe in buttercream!

I think what you are after is called color flow... and you might want to try it on parchment since it is more breathable than wax. Maybe even put the parchment onto a cooling rack.... Frozen buttercream transfer is always a good option too.

master RIT thread:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-648450-royal.html+icing+transfer

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another alternative: chocolate transfer --

http://us.1.p4.geocities.com/heathers_cakes2000/chocolatedemo.html?1109787013625

Aaaahhhh Doug you are a legend! I knew I had seen that pictorial somewhere and of course was searching through the articles - thank you so much!

BTW, you mentioned refrigeration....keep all royal icing away from the fridge!! I will break it down and it will not work. I use color flow sometimes and sometimes I just use RI. The RI dries much faster though. When I remove from the was paper, I slide it over edge of the counter while holding on gently to the top. Then turn it around and do the same thing on the other side. There is no need to turn it over and risk breaking it. I have even done this with pieces that were still damp underneath and it still worked.
HTH

Oh yeah, wax paper is what I use. I tried parchment paper once and it was a disaster! The paper kinda rippled after it got "wet".

I have never heard of color flow before, just looked up in the recipe section. I was after a final product that would be fairly hard. Some people even stand their's up on a stick! Thanks for the tips - I obviously need to practice! I have done 1 BCT which turned out ok, just thought I would give this a go. It's harder than it looks!

Chances are it broke because it wasn't completly dry.

For larger pieces I say atleast 48 hours but weather and humidity can add to drying time. I've dried an 8in round piece in the oven over night with just the oven light on and it was dry, so you can speed the time up.

I've never used parchment paper for mine. I have used wax paper and plastic wrap and both worked fine. Now after a tip from someone else I almost always do them on plastic page protectors.

Always make two of them, espeically larger pieces, that way you have a back up piece in case one does break.