Is It Acceptable In Caking World...?

Decorating By jiya11 Updated 19 Jun 2013 , 9:23pm by hbquikcomjamesl

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jiya11 Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 1:06am
post #1 of 23

Hello CC'ers

 

What I wanted to know was is it acceptable to have a non-edible image printed on a regular paper - regular laser printer and be used on a cake as accents which would not be eaten? Example here is the flags and the luggage tag that were printed out on a regular paper and then was pasted on a piece of gumpaste with edible glue and then placed on top of the cake (It was a gift and the receiver was informed). This was done due to time restriction and a last minute addition per request.

 

Photo: Luggage Cake

 

Here, I wanted to do the same thing (request was made the day before the party- hence time limitations) for a neighbor kid but then decided to do the topper with chocolate fondant instead as I felt it was not an acceptable thing as I hear about edible images all the time.

 

 

Please share your thoughts..

22 replies
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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 2:04am
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Please see my dad's 78th birthday cake. In short, I made a color laser print of an image of a 78 RPM phonograph record, then mounted it on a small disposable plastic drinking cup, and set that in the center hole of the cake (a Bundt pound cake, served naked).


Basically, you just set it up so that anything that isn't edible is obviously not edible, and anything that's of questionable food safety status is physically isolated from the cake and frosting.

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CWR41 Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 2:11am
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Before edible images, we did it all the time... driver's licenses in Ziploc food bags, photos wrapped in Saran Wrap, etc.
 

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lcubed83 Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 5:51pm
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I've also seen items laminated and placed on cake.

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jiya11 Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 6:39pm
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AThanks for all the replies. So in short, it can be done as long as its kept separate from the edible portion of the cake. I would love to look into the possibility of edible images but I do cakes for hobby and they are occasional, maybe one to two cakes a month. Can't justify buying an edible printer. I know bakeries could print out for a charge but never confirmed with any as of yet.

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 8:38pm
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If you're not doing enough edible printing to justify the cost, then outsourcing is definitely the way to go (although as I learned this month, it pays to cultivate a backup supplier!). And by all means, unless you're doing something for a competition that requires every element to be edible, feel free to incorporate inedible elements, so long as they're obviously inedible, and so long as they don't contaminate the cake or frosting. Heck (where the Hell is Heck, anyway?), that's what DecoPac has based their whole business model on, and it gives the recipient of the cake a permanent souvenir. But do also explore edible printing, as it allows you to do things that would be difficult or impossible to accomplish with a piping bag, and to do them quickly and easily.

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jiya11 Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 10:03pm
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A

Original message sent by hbquikcomjamesl

If you're not doing enough edible printing to justify the cost, then outsourcing is definitely the way to go (although as I learned this month, it pays to cultivate a backup supplier!). And by all means, unless you're doing something for a competition that requires every element to be edible, feel free to incorporate inedible elements, so long as they're obviously inedible, and so long as they don't contaminate the cake or frosting. Heck (where the Hell is Heck, anyway?), that's what DecoPac has based their whole business model on, and it gives the recipient of the cake a permanent souvenir. But do also explore edible printing, as it allows you to do things that would be difficult or impossible to accomplish with a piping bag, and to do them quickly anwd easily.

Thanks so much for the valuable advice. I visited at the decopac site just now and I am amazed! That brings me to the next question.. if you accept to do a licensed character cake, say Mickey.. and you buy the image from decopac online image library and print it, would it be legal to sell such a cake without having to worry about legal issues??

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 11:00pm
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I think that would depend on whether (1) the character actually is available from a licensed image library (the last I heard, the only way you can legally put a Disney property onto edible printing media and mount it on a cake is if you work for Disney, and are doing it as part of your duties, although I doubt they'd get their privates in a knot over a cake decorator doing an edible print of a customer's picture of the customer's kid standing next to a theme park character), and (2) what the terms of the license say (and no reputable clip-art supplier is going to make you pay the license fee without knowing the terms!)


That said, every image I've ever had anybody put on edible printing media has either been (1) Public Domain (Squad 51 and Engine 51 on my 51st birthday cake were photographs taken by someone who then put them on Wikimedia Commons, and explicitly donated them to the Public Domain), (2) Creative Commons or some form of General Public License (the speed limit sign on my parents' 55th anniversary cake), (3) mine outright (Station 51, the circled 51, and the roses on my mother's birthday cake), or (4) property of the organization on whose behalf I'm doing the cake (the museum logo and trophy photograph on my very first adventure in edible printing, the 2012 Leland Awards cake).

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Pearl645 Posted 18 Jun 2013 , 12:26am
post #9 of 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by lcubed83 

I've also seen items laminated and placed on cake.

I've seen this and also did it on a Cars 2 cake and the customer was fine with it since I couldn't get anything edible to use. Once they know upfront and agree to it you should be fine.

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Sweet_Cakes Posted 18 Jun 2013 , 11:25am
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I know grocery store bakers will charge around a $8-$10 fee for edible images...I know it's pricey, but you just pass the cost on to your client.

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jiya11 Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 1:01am
post #11 of 23

ASounds about right. I was quoted $10 for an edible image from a local bakery. So you just print it out on a regular printer paper and give it to the bakery or does it need to be in digital format?

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 3:48am
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Depends on their hardware, and what kind of shape it's in.


Ideally, if the original is digital, and they can read your memory card, thumb drive, or optical media (or can receive email) on the system they do their edible printing on, then it's best to give it to them in digital form, to cut down on generational loss. Likewise, for a film original, a professional scan of the negative would be ideal, and fairly large lab print would be second best, assuming they have a scanner on the system.


Having them scan a plain paper inkjet or color laser print will work, but it's not going to be as sharp.


Note that you don't need to dedicate a full sheet of edible printing media to one image, or even one project. I normally combine several projects, and do each image in duplicate (in case it rips, breaks, or is otherwise rendered unusable, or has to be scraped off after a failed mounting), laying them out to get as many images onto as few pages as possible. For example, on the Leland Awards cake, I did two each of the trophy and the Museum logo, even though I only needed one of each. And this month, for my mother's birthday and my own, I did one sheet with two of one rose and three of the other, and the backup copy of Squad 51 for my birthday cake, and the other sheet had 2 Engine 51s, 2 Station 51s, 2 circled "51"s, and the main Squad 51. Just cut the pieces out with scissors, chill, place, and (depending on how stiff your frosting is) press.

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Sweet_Cakes Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 10:56am
post #13 of 23

Oh...also most bakeries will NOT make edible images of copyright protected pictures.  Just as a friendly reminder!

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BatterUpCake Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 11:11am
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Canon and Epson sell some printers that you can use for edible image printers as long as you have never used them with regular ink. They sell cartridges for them and you can get them cheaper as aftermarket. They have some of the printers really reasonable...Worth looking into.

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matthewkyrankelly Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 12:15pm
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If you buy an image from Decopac, then it is OK to use.  Decopac negotiates the right to use those images and pays the royalties to Disney or whomever.  Since you've paid a licensed retailer for the image, everyone is happy.

 

If, however, you download another image, even of the same thing, have it printed and use it, you would not be covered.

 

If you can't figure out how the original creator of the image is getting paid, it probably isn't OK.

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BatterUpCake Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 1:40pm
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ATrue but a flag, a luggage tag, a record.... Any of that stuff is ok to print as long as it does not have a company name or logo

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 1:40pm
post #17 of 23

Which is to say that Wikimedia Commons is your friend: every image there has a page giving its copyright status, and with very few exceptions, every image there is either Public Domain, or covered under either some sort of Creative Commons or General Public License.

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jiya11 Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 1:42pm
post #18 of 23

AThanks. That make sense. I will find out from the bakery. Now just for the sake of it, I want to do a cake with an edible image!! I did have a good laugh after seeing the Graduation Cat cake though .. lol...

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Sweet_Cakes Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 3:16pm
post #19 of 23

After working at a GS bakery for so long I'm sick of edible image cakes lol. I know that they are good to use though.

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Marielijah Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 5:17pm
post #20 of 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by lcubed83 

I've also seen items laminated and placed on cake.

    do you need to wash the laminated items in soap & water before putting them on your cake or would it be okay just to laminate and then use on the cake? 

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BatterUpCake Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 7:11pm
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i would wash anything edible that I was going to be placed on my food....thats just me though

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CWR41 Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 7:45pm
post #22 of 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marielijah 

    do you need to wash the laminated items in soap & water before putting them on your cake or would it be okay just to laminate and then use on the cake? 


Rather than laminating with non-foodsafe plastic, and to eliminate prolonged contact, just wrap in food safe plastic like a Ziploc bag, Glad, or Saran wrap.

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 19 Jun 2013 , 9:23pm
post #23 of 23

The problem with wrapping the item in food-safe plastic wrap or a zip-top bag is that it then looks like it's in plastic wrap or a bag.

 

In the case of the laminated picture of a phonograph record on my father's 78th birthday cake, I isolated the laminated item, so that it wasn't in direct contact with the cake, by mounting it atop a small plastic cup that was then inserted into the center hole of the (naked Bundt pound) cake, with only the (presumably food-safe) plastic cup in contact with the cake.

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