I saw somewhere a few weeks ago where someone paid less
than $79 for this software. I tried that link, but the product had been removed. Does anyone know where I canpurchase this software for less
than MSRP??

Maybe try Ebay or Amazon?? Good luck!

natlteam10,,,,,firstly, welcome to CC. As to your question, sorry can't help out with that, but just to say that I purchased the program and am disappointed with the limited functions. You are restricted in the shape of your cake and also in available trims, flowers and decorations. Personally, if I knew what I know now about the program, I probably would not have wasted my money. I did find it helpful to give me a general idea of what my cake would look like, so if you are a newbie to decorating, you might find it helpful, I didn't.

I just got the program and like it. It definitely has some things missing but I just sketch in anything else I need.

I am TOTALLY disappointed with the software. It worked for maybe one month and then I couldn't open it. I tried contacting the company and noone ever returned my call. I did get an email but you can't resolve a computer program through an email. I feel I wasted my money. PLEASE save your money!
I don't like bashing a company in a public forum but I feel ripped off and don't want anyone else in my situation.

Ok. If the software is not worth the money, then is there any other software that you recommend? Paint is too basic, Photoshop is too expensive. Any suggestions?

I don't know what price range you are looking for, but there is a version of Photoshop called 'Adobe Photoshop Elements'. I have an older version of it and it is just as good as Photoshop in my opinion, just more reasonably priced. You can download a free trial of it at Adobe's website. Maybe give it a try and see if it's what you need. Looks like right now, with a $20 rebate you can pick it up for about $80. Just FYI.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

I have Photoshop Elements and the only thing it does (in my limited opinion) is work with photos. How would you use that as a cake design software?

I am a newbie. I really just do cakes for friends and Fam (only a few paid gigs here and there) so I am unfamiliar with cake design software.

Natlteam had mentioned photoshop, so I just wanted to give her a more affordable idea if that's what she was interested in.

Now I am, however, very well versed in photoshop/elements. What I would do, if I wanted to use it for designing a cake (and to give some sort of proof for the customer to look over and approve) is to draw some basic shapes either with the shape tools in Elements or you could simply draw the stacked cake by hand and then scan that to create a .jpg to start with.

Then you can either 'draw' with the pencil or shape tools, or you can use the other 'shapes' (there are a lot of cool scrolls and flowers and generic pretty 'shapes' that can be created in elements). You can color each part as desired in elements as well. Also, if you are creating sugar flowers or something like that, you could take pics off the internet or from your own collections, copy them with the lasso etc and 'paste' them on, resizing to scale etc, on the cake design.

Elements is very useful for creating things from scratch, not just photos. It takes a little time to learn the software, but it is very powerful and useful once you get into it.

Now granted, I am very familiar with the program (I used to work in the printing industry and used this software for creating book covers and things like that) so it would actually be useful to me. But if you are a newbie to Photoshop, it may not be that useful. If anyone has Elements and would like help with anything, just let me know.

Thank CakesbyCarla. This is a good start for me with Elements. I'll try the things you say (even though I do have the Cake Design software). I was thinking that I could design a cake with the Cake Design software and then scan it into my computer to finish things up with Photoshop.

That sounds good. Let us know how it turns out! If I can assist with the Elements part just let me know!