Hey all,

I'd like to know if anyone out there own an edible printer and your experience.  I had an Epson and it was more trouble than it was worth.  I probably wasted more icing sheets than I paid for the thing.  I only had a few instances where it actually worked properly.  At one point I bought all new edible ink cartridges just to see if it would help.

Anyway...I love the idea of having one, but want to know what you recommend.  

Thanks,

Lori

Personally, I'm so hostile to inkjet technology in general (from uniformly bad experiences with it) that I don't allow it in my house (I have 2 laser printers and a Microdry; unfortunately, nobody has ever come up with edible laser toner, or edible Microdry ribbons, and there's little chance of anybody coming up with it any time before Hell freezes over).

So if I need something done that can only be done by inkjet (edible printing, or printing directly on CDs or DVDs), I outsource. There's a very nice cake supply dealer, halfway between my home and my office, that charges $9 for an 8 1/2 x 11 page of edible printing, and for the tiny handful of edible prints I need in a given year, that's far more cost-effective than doing it myself.

You need to weigh the cost of ownership against the cost of outsourcing.

Hi  Lorabell

If you previously owned an Epson for edible pritning, that is the reason you had so much trouble. Epson does not have a removable printhead and is not your best choice for edible printing.  You will notice that very few companies sell the Epsons for edible printing. Canon is your way to go. It had has a removable printhead so if you do have problems, you can fix them. We recommend that you print at least once per week, otherwise, outsource. Some edible printing supply companies recommend printing more often due to the nature  of their inks. Either way, if you are not going to print at least the recommened time periods, Do Not Get one.These days, there are more options for just putting an image on a cake. We (Icing Images) have a product called iiDesigns. It is a collection of over 1000 different images that are licensed for edible use. You can print patterns, endless bows and ribbons that can be used in many different ways of accents and highlight or as a main focus on your cake. While printing pictures is still awesome, now you can accessorize in so many different ways that it allows people to use their edible technology in so many other ways.

I hope this is helpful to you.

What she said.

Which is to say that Debbie and I are in complete agreement that if you aren't doing enough edible printing to justify the cost of ownership, then outsource it.

And as I've said many times: Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, Public Domain, GPDL, and Creative Commons are your friends.

Thanks to all of you!  Part of the problem with outsourcing it turn around time and licensing for some picture requests.  I will be taking your advise though, as I don't using it enough to justify the cost.

Lori

Well, to be strictly legal, licensing issues shouldn't really change if you're doing your own instead of outsourcing.

(now hopefully, this coming weekend I'll have better luck getting a clear picture of LACoFD Station 127 without somebody's SUV being in the picture! My digital camera does NOT leave my car until I have the shot!)