Yes it is!

It uses the Icing Images Genesis series cartridges!

AI love icing images happy with all the help I get from them!!!

AI was just wondering because the printers have 2 different model numbers and the prices are very different. I just wanted to make sure im ordering the correct ink cartridges.

Thank you so much!!! Have you tried DECOgel?

cakeaddct, they take the same cartridges, our Genesis series so you are fine!

APlease Help#!! I was given a cannon pixma as a gift. I normally order my images but it has gotten out of control where i needed my own. I have already played and tested it out but i seem to be having one slight problem. The images are not vibrant enough. They come out dull almost faded looking. Does anyone know how i can work this out???

Congratulations!!!  If you are using our inks, then you want to have the proper settings.  Make sure that the paper type is set to Matte with standard quality.  If you received our printer, then it came with a CD with all the setup documents, troubleshooting etc!! Lots of good info!

You can always contact our office directly at 540 869 5511540 869 5511 or [email protected]

Happy Printing

Hi

Okay Thank you so much!!

I am looking to buy an edible printer is the canon pixma mg5320 the same as the mg 5320 mentioned in the earlier responses. I checked the icingimages website and did not see it listed.

HI Salieze,

One thing you have to be careful with on Cake Central is sometimes the information is a bit old and with Canon printers and edible printing it changes yearly! You can get the cartridges on our website.  If you go to edible ink cartridges and put the model number in, it will come up. But we no longer sell the printers, they have been upgraded.  The current series is the mg6620 and actually they are on sale right now and selling like hotcakes!!!  Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks

Scott that is great information.  I would like to add to it if I may.  We also have been around for along time, since the 90's and are happy you are sharing here to help decorators make solid choices they are not disappointed with.  All companies inks are different, however some company's resell other brands.  Using printers keeps them happy, however our inks have really come a long way allowing people to go further between prints.  Some companies require you to print daily, while for us we are weekly or biweekly.  But again, you must use it! 

Regarding item number one and the straight through path, that is only required for certain icing sheet brands.  The Icing Images Premium Icing Sheet has no problem making the U turn, its not that sharp of a U turn and it is fine if you are using our Premium Sheets, if you are not, then I fully agree that you may want to consider the straight through path.  I am sure you will agree that Canons have fewer problems and are much easier to maintain then other edible printer brands.  If you are interested in trying our sheets, shoot us an email or call us so you can test it yourself!

Regarding item 2.  All cartridges are made outside the US, there may be a few that are not, but the Ink and the assembly you want to stay with US dealers.  You are 100% correct. if you buy cheap you are buying problems.

Regarding item 3. We do not recommend using non graphics programs such as word to print graphics.  You may find that colors do not match up correctly as the file is not interpreted properly by the printing software.  Our company tackled that head on and offer a free program to our customers, no codes, you just have to use our products as it is designed around our icing sheets.  It prints the circles, business cards as well as the large sheets and gives you so many options and more importantly it is simple to use and it prints as a graphic!

I hope you find this information useful

Hello Sweet-Art and Icingimages,

My company is pretty new in Edible printing. We have a long time in the market in traditional bakery in Elizabeth, NJ. I was doing some research regarding the best printer for edible products, so I ran into a warning from Canon saying that their printers are not intended for using edible ink nor edible paper. I am confused about this; the manufacturer, Canon, says something but I read your are success in selling and using the Canon printers; moreover, your clients are widely satisfied by using your products and they recommend them. 

I have already decided to purchase the Canon printer recommended by Sweet_Art since most of our clients are companies with big logos. The thing is that I still have a kind of splinter in my head about the Canon warning, so if you have either any additional comment or recommendation, that would be greatly appreciated.

Luchitabakery.

Hi there,

Thanks for contacting me.  Canon makes its money on consumables and will loose money if it is servicing printers from inks that do not come from them.  They loose their profit!  So yes they will stay as far away from that product as they can.  There are several different types of edible inks out there.  Some are good and some are not so good.  Some edible companies warranty their products, printers etc...some don't.  We have very high quality ink, that is why its not the cheapest out there.  But because its so good, its also not the most expensive! We also warranty printers sold from our company so that we can use our own products and customers do not have the risk of not being able to get service.  Some companies, actually a lot of them, do not warranty their printers, if they do its 30 days on everything.  WE offer a one year on everything but the printhead which is 30 days.  The only reason it isnt longer than 30 days is that normally with our inks the problem in a printhead is due to people not using their printers! 

We believe in Canon printers, sell Canon printers and use them in house as well!

I hope this has helped! Let me know if I can be of further assistance!

luchitabakery,

I agree that Canon printers are the best choice among the current inkjet printers on the market because of the removeable (and replaceable) printheads as  well as the rear feed on the Canon iX6820 printer. It is my understanding that Canon will void the warranty for any printer that is used for edible printing use, so I am sure the information that you received regarding this disclaimer on the part of Canon is correct.

The best approach would be to realize the printers are all relatively inexpensive making any warranty protection less of a concern. By the time you pay shipping and handling, etc. to return a printer for inspection for a warranty claim (which could be denied), as well as suffer the lost revenue during the downtime while the printer is out of service, you are really better off to just replace it and get back to work. The offer of a warranty for an item in this price range is really just a marketing approach to allow the printers to be dramatically marked up in price.

Best of luck and let us know if you need any more information. Also, please visit us on Facebook (and LIKE us too!) for periodic information about edible printing. www.facebook.com/sweetartcompany

Legally, Canon cannot void the warranty, however they can put up a big fight and its not worth the fight with them.  Edible printing companies like Icing Images are a full service one stop shopping professionals that provides exceptional customer service for edible printers.  While under warranty with Icing Images, 99 percent of the time we can help you over the phone so there is little to no down time, there is no premature purchase of a printer when it is not truly "dead" as we can help to determine that.  If under warranty, it gets replaced and shipping is handled by Icing Images when the printer does malfunction.  (in addition, Icing Images has been known to print and ship images to their customers with down printers until their issue is resolved, within reason!) I have seen non Icing Images customers buy printers every two months because their printer was having problems when it was a simple fix.  I cringe when we find those customers who make that mistake.  Having a full service company like Icing Images behind you every step of the way is imperative as not only do we not like wasting our own money, we really do not like wasting our customers either and making the correct choice based upon edible printing experts who back you up is imperative with edible technology.  

One of the ways to provide excellent service is to start with excellent products that we personally use every day to make sure there are very few problems.  Experts and leading decorators in the industry choose our products for their bakeries, competitions and classes such as Dana Herbert, Next Great Baker, CMSA Peggy Tucker, CMSA Mike Terry, Renown Sugar Artist and author Colette Peters and so many more because Icing Images products are not only is our service impeccable, but our products are ones that represent them well in their endeavors.

Are we perfect, no absolutely not, but we sure aim at perfection always trying to improve everything.  Our job is to keep you printing beautiful edible prints that bring smiles to your customers face!

This is  great information.  Sweet Art you mentioned getting the right design program for edible images. Which programs do you recommend.  I have lots of experience using Word and Publisher for my home printing but I am new to the edible image program and could use a recommendation.  Thanks!

ButtercremeBliss,

In the interest of full disclosure, we have been in the edible printing business since the 1980s, so have our own dedicated Sweet Art Decorating software that is available on our website at http://sweetart.com/sweet-art-v5-0-decorating-software/ or you may also be interested in a Starter Kit at http://sweetart.com/decorating-starter-kits/ which couples the Sweet Art software with the edible ink and edible paper sheets you will need for printing.

There are a few other software solutions, but unlike the Sweet Art software, most tie the use of their software to the purchase of the supplies by providing a key of some sort. Our philosophy is to allow you to purchase the software and then it is yours to use without any restrictions related to the continued purchase of supplies.

Using a software designed specifically for cake decorating makes it much simpler to quickly create a design, and with the Sweet Art software, you can also easily create photo or logo cookies, cupcakes and other edible items in addition to cake decorating.

I hope this helps and let us know if you have further questions.

Shopping now for an edible printer.

Came across this thread and there is alot of useful information.

However, I am looking for an update.

What is the Canon printer that is the best as of today? FEB 2016

Thanks

Jen in sunny San Diego

No More Boring Cakes

We are sticking with our original recommendation of the Canon PIXMA iX6820 (see our previous post, above). It is a great printer that can print every size of edible sheet available from the standard 8-1/2" x 11" to the large 11" x 17" icing sheets. These printers also have the advantage of a rear paper feed so the edible sheet doesn't have to be fed into the front and make a "U-Turn" to come back out the front like on most of the other Canon printer models. This is more reliable, in our opinion.

Although we sell the printers through our website, the least expensive way is to just buy it directly from an online retailer like B&H Photo (free shipping) or Adorama and then buy the supplies from a respectable supplier. From Sweet Art, the proper cartridges for this printer are the SA300-series (http://sweetart.com/edible-cartridges/sa300-cartridges/).

Hope this helps,

Sweet Art

I'm in the process of shopping for a new edible printer. I know this thread was last updated a year ago, so I would like to know what's the best printer today? And where I could find some nice deals. 

Thank you!!!:)

What a fun time getting ready to purchase an edible printer. Edible printing can help your business grow and save you time and money.  It is basically a little money generator. For quality the best printers on the market for edible printing currently our Canon MG 6820 and a newer model Canon TS 5020 or 6020. While the ix6820 is a good printer the quality and collars are better on the printers I listed. What's the most important actually is the edible and you choose. No matter what printer you get if you put  and inferior ink in it that is what will cause your edible printing problems. In addition it's very important that you use your printer 3 to 4 times per month. And finally if you do have a problem having an edible printing company that specializes and has experience  with edible printing is the most important. For example as previously listed in this thread warrantees can be an issue. It is a solvable issue but it is an issue no less. Icing Images offers a free  One year limited warranty on the printer. In addition our Company has been in business for 18 years. Our service and expertise is bar none.  You can visit our website at www.icingimages.com to view more information. I hope this thread is helpful for you.  Please let me know if I can answer any further questions. 

dream_cakes15,

Again, we are sticking with our original recommendation of the Canon PIXMA iX6820 printer (see our Feb. 10, 2016 post just above your original post), primarily because of its rear feed capability. This is very important when printing with edible sheets which are thicker and more problematic to run through a printer than a plain paper sheet. It is best to avoid a printer model that feeds through the front and forces the printer to "U-Turn" the paper so that it will also exit from the front. The iX6820 feeds from the back and runs the paper straight out the front avoiding this U-Turn. Some paper suppliers say their paper doesn't require this straight printing path, but all edible papers are of the same basic design so this is probably more hope than reality. Also, the iX6820 is a heavier-duty printer than some of the new and inexpensive light-duty printers, and this should provide you with more reliability.

Please also see our earlier post at http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/688970/best-edible-printer/60#post_7636611 which discusses whether warranty protection is worth the difference in price over just purchasing the printer directly from Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Adorama, etc.. Getting too wrapped up in worrying about the equipment frequently keeps customers from concentrating on the important thing which is creating your products and making money. I hate to say it, but at the low price of the printers from some of the companies mentioned above, the printers are basically "throw away" items. Keep your eye on the ball which is making money, and please don't become fixated on the equipment. The time you spend trying to deal with warranty returns and evaluations, etc. can be better spent just moving ahead with your business. We do sell printers directly for customers who want to buy through us, but to be honest, you can save a lot of money just buying directly from an online supplier like the ones mentioned.

We have been doing this a long time and have seen who is successful with edible printing and who is not. The ones that are not are the ones that don't realize the printers are just a commodity. Pick the most reliable model, follow your supplies vendor's maintenance instructions and if you run into serious problems with the hardware, just replace it and move on. Also, avoid really low-priced supplies (ink and paper), and do business with a company that will shoot straight with you and is responsive if you have questions.

Best of luck with your search for a new printer!

SweetArt.com

Hi i am so glad to find this forum, i am thinking of buying a edible printer and adding this to my business to offer edible images.  I dont want to spend alot around $500.00 to buy supplies and get started.  There are places close to where i live that charge $7.00 and up for images, but many places dont have anywhere to buy images.  I want to offer regular sugar sheets, rice paper and wafer this will mostly be a internet business.  I am not very techy so is this doable in my budget?  I live in the U.S. , Oklahoma.

Hi Justinakay,

Icing Images is currently having a Memorial Day Sale on the website. www.icingimages.com.  They are much less expensive and they come with a one year warranty from Icing Images. You will see we have three printers that we sell.  The wide format is the Canon ix6820.  It is your only choice if you need to print sizes as large as 11.75" x 16.25" and every size smaller.  The quality of the printer is not as good as the two standalone systems that we carry.  The Canon MG6820 and TS5020 have a better quality print.  THe MG6820 uses the same cartridges as the TS5020.  The MG6820 has been around for a while and we find it to be very reliable.  The TS5020 that has a straight through paper path has not been around as long, but it has been tested and is recommended by our company.  Whether you choose to purchase the printer on your own or through us, we do not recommend that you throw the printer away when you run in to problems.  Using a reliable ink is the key to successful printing. When using a quality ink the problems you run in to are minor and easily fixed.  I just tend not to lean away throwing things away prematurely.

Since we have specialized in edible  years, you will find all our products to be high quality, reliable products.  Our prices are fair and we even offer Free Edible printing software for our customers. But what customers like about us the most is our customers service. You can see what our customers are creating and saying about our products on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/icingimages

I hope this helps and I would be glad to answer any questions should you want to PM me I would be glad to help.

Icingimages, 

good morning! I've read through this thread and your responses have been extremely helpful and detailed-thank you!  I'm at a point where I'm looking at an edible printer and would like to purchase it from you guys.  My entire knowledge base is pretty much limited to a couple of google searches and this thread, so i do have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me with :)

1) since the quality needs to be set on High for best prints on icing sheets, how many 8.5X11 sheets would you say you can get out of one cartridge set?  rough estimate is all i'm looking for....10? 50? 100?

2) The refillable inks are THE most genius idea! One of the factors that has been holding me back from purchasing an edible printer all these years is the cost of ink.  Now, with $55 bottle set allowing me 4-6 refills (even if i have to buy a new cartridge set every 3 refills)-very reasonable! Question-do the refill bottles keep a long time? Since i don't know how heavy my printing volume will be, would like to know how long the ink will keep in the refill bottles. 

3) the current price of $339 for the Spectra TS printer-is that a Black Friday price or your regular price? Ideally, i was going to purchase the printer within a month or so, but if the price will jump, may consider purchasing sooner.

4) I imagine that the printer will do great both with the regular icing sheets (Lucks), premium ones AND Flex Frost? Just want to confirm. 

5) A little side question-just discovered Flex Frost sheets and they appear to be absolute dream! Can you share your opinion on them and how they compare to Premium sheets you sell?

thank you!

Hi Lyoshka

Edible printing can be so much fun!  There is so much you can do with it now, you may want to look at my blog www.icingimages.com/blog  for some more ideas.  To answer your questions,

1) since the quality needs to be set on High for best prints on icing sheets, how many 8.5X11 sheets would you say you can get out of one cartridge set?  rough estimate is all I'm looking for....10? 50? 100?

The Quality should not be set on high, for our ink.  It needs to be on standard quality but Matte Paper.  I would guess you would get 50+ prints depending on what you are printing prior to you running out of one color.

2) The refillable inks are THE most genius idea! One of the factors that has been holding me back from purchasing an edible printer all these years is the cost of ink.  Now, with $55 bottle set allowing me 4-6 refills (even if i have to buy a new cartridge set every 3 refills)-very reasonable! Question-do the refill bottles keep a long time? Since i don't know how heavy my printing volume will be, would like to know how long the ink will keep in the refill bottles. 

The edible ink is the most important part of your printer.  It will make you love edible printing or hate it.  Never ever go cheap like on Amazon or Ebay unless it is from a reputable edible company.  The refills bring down the cost quite a bit and they last a few years.  But the cost per print is $2 with Icing Images products and you can sell them or charge the customer between $10-$15 so your margins are huge.

3) the current price of $339 for the Spectra TS printer-is that a Black Friday price or your regular price? Ideally, i was going to purchase the printer within a month or so, but if the price will jump, may consider purchasing sooner.

The printer is on sale and will go off sale later tonight.  If you are on our mailing list, you will receive black Friday coupons.  Many times they are posted on our social media as well facebook.com/icingimages  instagram.com/icingimages  etc.

4) I imagine that the printer will do great both with the regular icing sheets (Lucks), premium ones AND Flex Frost? Just want to confirm. 

Our printers work with all our edible paper.  The only exception is the Simi transfers do not work well with the rear feeding printers as some of the transfer towards the top of the page rubs off in the printer.  The sheets are still usable, however this could happen. 

5) A little side question-just discovered Flex Frost sheets and they appear to be absolute dream! Can you share your opinion on them and how they compare to Premium sheets you sell?

I love all the sheets we sell otherwise we would not carry them! I suggest you go to our blog at: http://www.icingimages.com/blog/2017/11/the-new-world-of-edible-paper/  as each type of paper is meant for different uses.  Basically, wafer paper stands off your edible art, icing sheets lay flat on your edible art, fabric sheets drape or act like fabric and Simi transfer sheets are meant for transferring images on to hotter mediums.  While some of them overlap in function, you would want to use the icing sheets for laying pictures on cakes as while the edible fabric can do that, it is more expensive and the icing sheet works better and is less expensive.

I hope this helps you!

Thank you, Debbie (did I get the name right?).  VERY helpful! Ok, definitely will be buying the printer and ink through you guys. If I get on your email list, how long will the Black Friday specials be good for? 

We are offering a lot of sales black friday and cyber monday.  I would get on the email list tonite prior to it going out.  If you do not it may be listed on our social media.  And yes, my name is Debbie!  Happy Thanksgiving

Debbie, thanks again.  I have a couple more questions and i hope the OP doesn't mind additional questions, since they all revolve around printing systems (and the thread is 7 years old lol).  

1) iDesigns-is there any way to preview the library?  The question I'm wrestling with is whether the database is worth the $, when i can technically find any image i want online? What sets iDesigns apart?  am aware the 30 day trial with the purchase of a system, but not sure if i'll buy the printer within the iDesign membership sale window.

2) Canon TS5020 or 6020.  So, Amazon has these printers for $49.  Obviously, no edible ink.  But, that is a huge price difference.  Is the printer you are selling changed internally additionally to just swapping ink cartridge out to justify the price hop?  If so, can you elaborate?   I'm genuinely asking because I don't know, and I want to understand :)

thanks again for your time and detailed responses.  I appreciate it!