What Is The Most Problem-Free Edible Image Printer Available?

Business By Cakepro Updated 1 Aug 2013 , 4:12pm by Cakepro

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Cakepro Posted 7 Jun 2013 , 8:10pm
post #1 of 24

PLEASE...if you LOVE your edible image printer and you've had it for awhile and you use it regularly and it operates for you pretty much trouble-free, please share the make and model of it!

 

I am ready to pitch my Canon MP560 in the trash and buy a different printer.  I've had it for 3 years and just spent $75 on a new printhead a month ago but I am still having problems.  It's time to replace it. I'd prefer to stay with Canon but I'm open to any of them.

 

Thank you so much! :D

23 replies
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icingimages Posted 9 Jun 2013 , 1:02pm
post #2 of 24

You said you just bought a printhead and it still isn't working, is that correct? If so, it may just be that your sponges are dry in your printer. This is an easy fix and may fix your problem - which may not be the printhead - but may act like it.  If you are a customer of ours you can access these easy instructions on our website by logging in to your account, going to the support section, clicking on the dampening the waste tank sponges.

These sponges if they are dry then it will make it seem like you are having a printhead problem when you are not. 

 

If you are not a customer of ours, go ahead and email us at [email protected] and we can provide you with the instructions. It is very easy to do

 

If you still have to go for a new printer, go for the Canon MG5320, best edible printer on the market right now.

 

Thank you and best of luck

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Cakepro Posted 9 Jun 2013 , 4:16pm
post #3 of 24

I use your spongeless cartridges and I just started using the refill bottles with the little applicator syringe thing.  Very cool.

 

My main problem is that the little rollers with the teeny little prickles that feed the paper always pick up ink as the image is printing and then there are tiny little dots that print all down the image.  Usually it's not too noticeable but I had to print 8 Texas flags and the white section of all of the flags from the second row down had tiny red dots which were VERY noticeable.

 

When I first started trying to print the flags, the red section of each flag looked like I had chosen a gradient color, starting with dark brown and then finishing in bright red.  I have only refilled the cartridges once so I'm not trying to re-use them too many times.

 

Another problem is that the blue cartridges always leak.  Always.  And it makes such a mess.

 

I have set my printer to all of the settings you recommend...paper abrasion prevention and all that.  I've thrown away a half-full set of perfectly good $75 cartridges, replaced them, bought a new printhead, and am still not happy with the prints.  

 

Thanks for the recommendation.  I hope this model takes the same cartridges as my MP560.

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Crimsicle Posted 9 Jun 2013 , 11:04pm
post #4 of 24

I love, love, LOVE my Canon IP3600.  I don't recall if this is my third or fourth edible image printer, but it's by FAR the best I've used.  I use Icing Images ink in the refill bottles and am so glad I went that route. 

 

Hope that helps.

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howsweet Posted 10 Jun 2013 , 10:18pm
post #5 of 24

Since I started using Icing mages ink, my printer woes have been over. Also their customer service is awesome. And they give you instructions how to set the printer. made all the difference.
 

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Cakepro Posted 10 Jun 2013 , 10:35pm
post #6 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by howsweet 

Since I started using Icing mages ink, my printer woes have been over. Also their customer service is awesome. And they give you instructions how to set the printer. made all the difference.
 

 

I already use Icing Images ink and frosting sheets and I have set my printer to all of their specifications.

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howsweet Posted 10 Jun 2013 , 11:45pm
post #7 of 24

Hi Sherri,

 

Sorry, I didn't notice you were the OP.  My printer is a Canon MG5320, my third edible printer. It's not perfectly consistent - the other day I was printing logos for a corporate order and on one sheet the blue part was all turquoise and on the other, it was royal blue. As for icing sheets - I haven't tried the ones Icing images sells because I really love the ones I get from Bakery Crafts. 

 

Do you have a working aquarium at present?

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Cakepro Posted 11 Jun 2013 , 12:58am
post #8 of 24

Aquarium?  I used to have about 300 gallons of saltwater reef tanks, a seahorse breeding tank, and a Florida tank years ago, but when we moved, I put everything in the garage and never set it all back up again. How did you know to ask that? :)

 

I haven't tried the Bakery Crafts sheets...but I got a Luck's catalog today and am thinking about ordering some from them.  Gotta love free shipping with a $75 order, and they have some really bright quins I've been looking for.

 

Do you think the difference in your blues was due to the printer?  I noticed that when I used old frosting sheets, the colors were really off!

 

Do you ever get those little teeny dots of ink traveling down the length of your frosting sheet from the paper feed rollers?  I wish I could take mine apart and clean it really well.  

 

Thanks,

Sherri

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icingimages Posted 11 Jun 2013 , 2:03am
post #9 of 24

HI Cakepro,

It appears you are having three separate problems. I looked at your order history to see what problems we had listed in your account and did not see anything. I saw you just purchased some icing sheets this year, and then before that it had been many years.  Different Icing Sheets can react differently when printing. Depending on the brand of icing sheets you have been using prior to February, you may have build up on your pinfeeds causing the lines down the page.  I am assuming you are talking about up and down the page, not left to right. The gradient problem sounds as if you have a partial clog in your printhead or your sponges may be dried out making it seem like a printhead problem when in fact it is not.  Before every changing out a printhead, you should always call first as we may be able to help you avoid that expense.  The ink for the 560 and the current mg5320 is the same, but the cartridges are not. I would suggest that you try dampening the sponges on your printer before replacing the printer itself.  Based on your printer history, it looks as if the printer has sat unused for periods of time.  You may just need to dampen the sponges. It is worth a try as it is free and easy. Just log in to your account and go to the support section. There you can find the instructions for dampening the sponges. It may save you from buying a printer. You can also find how to clean the pin feeds there as well.

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Cakepro Posted 11 Jun 2013 , 5:07am
post #10 of 24

Hi Debbie,

 

Thank you ~ I'll check into the sponges suggestion.  

 

I've placed quite a few orders with your company since becoming a customer in 2008.  I have exclusively used your frosting sheets since I first ordered them on 5/18/2009. (I save all of my shopping emails. ;) )  I love the way your brand of frosting sheets taste but they are really thick, so I'm wondering if that may be part of the pinfeed problem.  I was blaming the printer for that problem but since reading Luck's catalog, where they advertise their frosting sheets as very thin, I am now wondering if the thickness of the frosting sheet may be part of the problem.  *Shrug*  I just don't know.

 

No worries about the printhead...I definitely needed to replace it!  After yet another clog late one Friday night, I got super frustrated with it and blasted the hell out of it with the high-pressure sprayer in my bakery using very hot water and ruined it.  LOL   I have had clogging problems for quite awhile but that was my own fault, as I only use the printer toward the end of each week but I used to keep it on at all times.  I happened to read in a printer repair forum after I toasted the printhead that I was supposed to turn the printer off when not in use as the printer does something to prevent the ink from drying out in the printhead in between uses.  DOH!

 

I just wish I could produce such clean, bright, vivid prints as the pre-printed ones that are commercially available.  

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howsweet Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 12:06am
post #11 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakepro 

Aquarium?  I used to have about 300 gallons of saltwater reef tanks, a seahorse breeding tank, and a Florida tank years ago, but when we moved, I put everything in the garage and never set it all back up again. How did you know to ask that? :)

 

I haven't tried the Bakery Crafts sheets...but I got a Luck's catalog today and am thinking about ordering some from them.  Gotta love free shipping with a $75 order, and they have some really bright quins I've been looking for.

 

Do you think the difference in your blues was due to the printer?  I noticed that when I used old frosting sheets, the colors were really off!

 

Do you ever get those little teeny dots of ink traveling down the length of your frosting sheet from the paper feed rollers?  I wish I could take mine apart and clean it really well.  

 

Thanks,

Sherri

Sorry for taking so long to respond! I got really busy... I should have added that I was Mantisagogo on RC and you used the same name over there. (later changed my name to angel*fish). I think I ordered some frozen copepods from you - or wanted to - it was so long ago.

 

I order the Luck's brand sheets from Bakery Crafts. I wonder if they're any less from Luck's?

 

Yes, I think it was the printer because the next time I tried to print, the blue was completely clogged :(. I should have knocked on wood right after I posted that. I spent 3 hours trying to print some stuff yesterday and finally had to redesign the order. I discovered my printer has started turning it's self off for some reason. *sigh* Don't even want to think about it until Monday at least.

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Cakepro Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 2:17pm
post #12 of 24

Mantisagogo!  What a small world! :D  I miss my reef tanks so much but oh my stars, they took up all of my free time.  I was a SAHM back then so it was wonderful but there is no way these days I could have another tank.  

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your printer disaster.  I had another one myself this past week.  I have no idea how, but the new problem is that blue gets UP INTO THE YELLOW INK TANK.  Twice, I had to manually empty the yellow tank (goodbye expensive ink) and then wick out (painfully slowly) the blue from the yellow opening. Plus, the last package of 25 frosting sheets I ordered were cut wrong...the top right corner was not cut straight...it jutted out at an angle, so if I did not remember to trim the acetate manually before loading it into the printer, it would catch in my printer, fold over the sheet and tear off the frosting.  I did not remember to trim it off of about half of that package, so that was a burn.

 

The Luck's sheets are $28 for 25 sheets with free shipping on orders over $75.  I needed sprinkles and sanding sugar anyway, so I hope to be printing on new sheets in a few days.

 

Before pitching my existing printer and buying a new one, I have the identical model at home that I use for regular printing.  I'm going to take it to the shop and install my new printhead in it along with some new ink tanks (gonna check with Bakery Crafts for those), cross my fingers, and say a prayer.  What should be taking me virtually no time at all has turned into a time-sucking fiasco of frustration. 

 

But I'm with you...putting it out of my mind until Monday.  ;)

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Marks Cakery Posted 25 Jun 2013 , 1:14am
post #13 of 24

I use the COPY CONFECTION SYSTEM from Bakery Crafts and Lucks Icing sheets. It is a canon 4820 Printer. I usually run about 8 sheets a week for the last 6 months. Not a problem yet. The secret is to leave the printer on all the time. (it runs a cleaning cycle automatically when needed)..

 

Mark

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Cakepro Posted 25 Jun 2013 , 9:09pm
post #14 of 24

Yikes, that's an expensive printer.  I definitely want problem-free printing, though, so I'm going to consider it.  Thank you for your input.

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howsweet Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 2:38pm
post #15 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakepro 

Mantisagogo!  What a small world! :D  I miss my reef tanks so much but oh my stars, they took up all of my free time.  I was a SAHM back then so it was wonderful but there is no way these days I could have another tank.  

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your printer disaster.  I had another one myself this past week.  I have no idea how, but the new problem is that blue gets UP INTO THE YELLOW INK TANK.  Twice, I had to manually empty the yellow tank (goodbye expensive ink) and then wick out (painfully slowly) the blue from the yellow opening. Plus, the last package of 25 frosting sheets I ordered were cut wrong...the top right corner was not cut straight...it jutted out at an angle, so if I did not remember to trim the acetate manually before loading it into the printer, it would catch in my printer, fold over the sheet and tear off the frosting.  I did not remember to trim it off of about half of that package, so that was a burn.

 

The Luck's sheets are $28 for 25 sheets with free shipping on orders over $75.  I needed sprinkles and sanding sugar anyway, so I hope to be printing on new sheets in a few days.

 

Before pitching my existing printer and buying a new one, I have the identical model at home that I use for regular printing.  I'm going to take it to the shop and install my new printhead in it along with some new ink tanks (gonna check with Bakery Crafts for those), cross my fingers, and say a prayer.  What should be taking me virtually no time at all has turned into a time-sucking fiasco of frustration. 

 

But I'm with you...putting it out of my mind until Monday.  ;)

I lost everything in a 2 week power outage from Ike. My 100 g is still running empty with just LR and a mostly dead DSB.  But like you, I have no time for it. Don't know if I'll ever do fish again. My hope is to stock it with corals - animals without brains. It broke my heart to lose my 30 or so little fish.  :(

 

Ugh! So sorry to hear of your printer disaster. Sometimes I think it would just be easier to buy a new one every year... Thanks for the info on the Luck's sheets - I think that's a little less. Bakery Craft has free shipping if you order a certain amount also, fwiw. I do have a Luck's account, but haven't bought anything from them so far.

 

And for my printer problem, as Mark said - the things have to stay turned on I guess. As long as my printer was on, it worked pretty well - we had a power outage and something reset on the printer so that it had cut itself off for a week and I didn't know it. It was a week before the funny blues happened and then in another week, it completely clogged. Power outages seem to be my bane - hahaha.

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Cakepro Posted 28 Jun 2013 , 8:45pm
post #16 of 24

I'm so sorry about the loss of your tank and your beloved fish.  Ike killed many MARSHian's tanks.  I've been reminiscing lately about my beautiful sun corals and sweet pairs of little banded gobies and their tiny shrimp partners, and I am just about crazy enough to maybe consider trying to set up a little 20 gallon.  No, no, I can't.  Oh but I sure want to.  Thanks a lot, girl!!  LOL! 

 

What brand of ink do you use?

 

BTW, I saw on some culinary travel show a couple of weekends ago that mantis shrimp are now being served as a delicacy.  Seriously!  

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howsweet Posted 29 Jun 2013 , 12:38am
post #17 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakepro 

I'm so sorry about the loss of your tank and your beloved fish.  Ike killed many MARSHian's tanks.  I've been reminiscing lately about my beautiful sun corals and sweet pairs of little banded gobies and their tiny shrimp partners, and I am just about crazy enough to maybe consider trying to set up a little 20 gallon.  No, no, I can't.  Oh but I sure want to.  Thanks a lot, girl!!  LOL! 

 

What brand of ink do you use?

 

BTW, I saw on some culinary travel show a couple of weekends ago that mantis shrimp are now being served as a delicacy.  Seriously!  


Thanks and my heart goes out to you, too. I remember you were famous for your sun corals. If I were to do any vertebrates again, it would probably just be a couple of clowns on a rose BTA so people wouldn't ask where the fish are haha. Speaking of that I bet if anyone is reading this they are wondering what the heck we're talking about! I'm going to post a pic of my tank for old times sake.

 

A 20 g...you know what that leads to...and as you know in many ways more effort.

 

I use Icing Images ink and love it the best. The problem was my fault for letting the printer be turned off and unused for too long. Before I used the kind bakery Crafts sells with their printers - good color, but very cloggy. Then I used some called Edible Images, I think - never could get a red from that.

 

After I caught my mantis, I gave him his own tank out of pure respect. The nerve of anyone eating one!! He was so hard to catch. He even outsmarted the trigger I borrowed. (bad move in general, but I was clueless then - he ate every beneficial worm in the tank)

 

This was maybe a year before Ike,  before my rose BTA and lots more corals. I never saw your tanks, but i do remember pics of the suns.  I gave out lots of frags of that gorgonian. If anyone has a survivor that would probably be enough to get the bug again. That thing loved frozen cyclopeeze...

 

May my babies rest in peace-

 

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icingimages Posted 30 Jun 2013 , 2:25am
post #18 of 24

Hey...There is a setting called paper abrasion that needs to be set. This will take care of the pin feed problem. It is under the maintenance section and the "other" subsection. Once you click on that it will open up the roller blades as well.  We also sell Lucks, but 99% of our icing sheet sales are our Premium Icing Sheets.  As for the blue....If you have an older printer, the printhead seals may be getting old causing there to not be a tight seal on the cartridge. This could have been causing problems for you....I hope this is helpful to you.

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Cakepro Posted 30 Jun 2013 , 5:57pm
post #19 of 24

Marie,

 

Wow, that gorgonian is impressive!  And that clam!!  Wow, your tank was so beautiful. Seeing your pics sure brings back wonderful memories. I miss the glow of actinic lighting.  Here are my beloved sun corals.

 

 

Hmmm, I do still have two 180 gallon tanks in the garage...LOL

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howsweet Posted 3 Jul 2013 , 6:42pm
post #20 of 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakepro 

Marie,

 

Wow, that gorgonian is impressive!  And that clam!!  Wow, your tank was so beautiful. Seeing your pics sure brings back wonderful memories. I miss the glow of actinic lighting.  Here are my beloved sun corals.

 

 

Hmmm, I do still have two 180 gallon tanks in the garage...LOL

Those are positively gorgous! And the pearly jaw is the thing that got me into reefing in the first place. Yes, I think I had 20,000 k metal halides and half actinic VHO's on that tank. The pics still make me sad. Remember Anemone's tank?  Nothing but splitting roses? That might be cool and relatively low maintenance... tempting :)

 

Here it is:

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Cakepro Posted 3 Jul 2013 , 7:26pm
post #21 of 24

Oh yes, I remember that!  Okay, so a tank full of rose bubbles, clownfish (of course) and mushrooms that fluoresce under actinics.  That's still low-maintenance, right?  What else can we put in our low-maintenance tanks?  icon_biggrin.gif  Oh, I know..xenia...the white pulsing xenia.  Oh how I loved that xenia tank out at Keith's place (what was the name of that place? Aquatic Designs?).  It was hypnotic watching the xenia pulse and sway in that soft coral tank. icon_eek.gif sigh*  Maybe I need a low-maintenance tank here at the bakery for those super-stressful days.  Wonder if my accountant would agree that it's a tax writeoff for my mental health.  Hahaha

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howsweet Posted 8 Jul 2013 , 12:54am
post #22 of 24

I do remember his pulsing xenia - just amazing. His tanks were the first time I'd ever seen metal halide in person - that hooked me on the glitter lines forever.  Yes, it's definitely got to be a tax write off for mental health!! One time I was in there and Eric B came in - didn't know who he was at the time. I had a falling out with some over at RC for the way they talked about him in the lounge after his swimming pool incident. It would have been one thing if they didn't have loads and loads of his articles still posted for information. Anyway, it really made them look petty. that whole business of losing Ron S et al  resulted in an awful downhill slide for the site. DSB's became declasse and there was such a ton of bad info being given out and then repeated and they were asking people who knew a little something to please go in to the newbie section to help educate. Don't know if you were still around at that time?
 

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Chenara1 Posted 1 Aug 2013 , 11:38am
post #23 of 24

Im in Australia and am having problems with new PhotoFrost Sheets I purchased.  Previously I used KopyKake and they seems quite thick to me.  These new ones seem much thinner!

My Canon Pimxa IP3000 is piercing dotted lines down the entire a4 images almost like its the printhead doing it as the paper is fed through.  I don't know what to do.... Has anyone else had this problem? 

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Cakepro Posted 1 Aug 2013 , 4:12pm
post #24 of 24

Just wanted to update this thread...I switched to Luck's brand of frosting sheets and my printer has been printing on them flawlessly!  I haven't changed anything except brands of edible frosting sheets.  I think the Icing Images sheets were just way too thick.  Although now that I think about it, all of the problems occurred AFTER I switched my printer's settings to paper abrasion and all of the other ones outlined in the instructions page that came with my last set of frosting sheets.  Not gonna worry about that now though that things are working as they should.  

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