I am trying to create for my sons graduation a comic theme cake. I do not have a printer with edible ink cartridges. I would like to use one of his comic books on the cake and would love to copy it on maybe rice paper and place on cake but not sure if it's safe to do this. Can anyone else direct me to my options or what else I may be able to do without having to buy a printer and ink. Thank you all in the cake world!

Depending on the detail needed, a frozen buttercream transfer might be an option. They are pretty easy to make if you've never tried one. Check it out....

http://cakecentral.com/articles/73/how-to-create-a-frozen-buttercream-transfer

trace on to rice paper with the edible markers.

Use edible markers to trace and copy your print onto rice paper....put rice paper on cake and trace your outlines with black gel and color in with colored gel. Look at my pictures, 2nd page....there is Skooby Doo and a tractor.... It's all totally edible and easy to do.. hope this helps.

I like chocolate transfers. Here's some instruction... www.ehow.com/how_2330852_transfer-picture-using-chocolate

Here's another link : http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=35817&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

Check my pictures for what they look like.

You can order printed edible images from tastyfotoart.com for about $10.

I've gone to my neighborhood Baskin-Robins. They are the only ones that will print edible images and sell them. None of the bakeries around me will resell the images.

If you try a local bakery (baskin-robins, wal-mart, or others) they probably won't copy it because it's a comic book and it is copyrighted, making it illegal for them to make a copy and sell it to you.

Oh, yes. leily, you're right! Thanks.

Depending on how much detail the comic book has you can do the glaze method. Here is a link on one I did. Make a copy of the picture. Take a corsage pin and poke holes along all of the details. When you flip the page over you will have a pattern. If you are using butter cream it needs to be a crusting butter cream. Let the butter cream crusts and lay the picture on top. I use my finger tips to smooth acrossed the picture you can also use a fondant smoother. When you pull up the picture you will have a pattern. Take butter cream and a tip 2 and outline your image. When you are done gently press down on the outline to make sure there are no spaces between the butter cream and the outline. Then you fill in with your glaze. Glaze is made of powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and water. Once the picture is filled in after several hours it will dry. At that point you can even paint using gel colors and a small paint brush. Give me a few minutes and I will post the glaze recipe for you.
http://allrecipes.com/Cook/13754506/Photos.aspx?Page=3

Here you go.
I use a glaze made from 2 lbs. powdered sugar, 1 T clear vanilla, 1/2 t. almond flavoring, 1/4 t salt and 3/4 c water. The
amount of water can vary. Mix it to a consistency that works best for you. A good guideline is when a small amount of the
glaze is dropped back into the bowl, it takes 3-6 seconds for it to disappear. The thinner glaze is easier to pipe into the
design, but a thicker glaze is needed if you are using it on a cupcake with a surface that's not level. If your glaze is thin you
need to be careful filling in the design or it will overflow the outlines. It crusts quickly, so complete one area at a time,
working from the outside to the center of each section.

The glaze can be put in a disposable decorating bag with a small hole cut in the end or piped from a parchment cone. I use
disposable bags with a hole the size of a # 1 tip. Close the top of the bag tightly with a rubber band. The glaze can be kept
refrigerated for several weeks or frozen for several months. Parchment is more economical if you only use this method
occasionally. If the glaze is saved it will separate in the bags. Pinch the open end of the bag and knead the bag to re mix it. A
small piece of tape can be placed over the end when storing the bags to prevent the glaze from leaking.

Petal or luster dusts can be mixed with lemon extract and painted onto the glazed areas after they are dry. It takes 2-8 hours
for it to dry enough to be painted on. Smaller areas dry quickly. Larger areas take longer. If you attempt to paint on them
before they are dry the glaze will dent.

Thank you all for your comments. The comic book does have allot of detail, but I'm thinking I can pick and choose from the book. Thank you sweettreat 101 for your recipe and your tip. I will try to pick and choose which one works the best. Thanks Crissyann for your buttermilk transfer, my daughter and I are going to try this on her history project of the great wall of china and we will be attempting your method on that. The comic idea will be for next month so I have some time to practice and I'm so looking forward to doing this villan and hero cake somehow. We are big comic fans and this will blow his mind away if I can get it done, with all your help it will. Thanks to all of you!