I am in the process of making a cake for a Baptism dinner tomorrow (I am being baptized).  I have never used these before and am wondering how I use them.  I use crusting buttercream.  Can I put them on the cake after the cake crusts and I smooth it using the Viva method or do I have to do something special to get the sheet to adhere to the cake?

ADepending on the exact type of edible printing media used, you may or may not need to chill it before peeling. Some materials (DecoPac's, for one) should most definitely be chilled in the freezer, while others (the stuff my current cake supply shop uses, for one) aren't significantly affected by being chilled.

If it's your first time, it might be a good idea to have a spare edible print on hand, especially if it's the kind of media that doesn't become stiff when chilled.

And you need to either apply it BEFORE the frosting crusts. Or un-crust the frosting by moistening it. Once the image is peeled from the backing sheet, line it up (you only get one shot at it), plop it down (literally, if it's the chill-and-apply sort of media), and press lightly. Over a period of from several minutes to several hours, it will fuse to the frosting. Note that edible inks and printing media are not archival; the colors will start to shift and fade within a matter of days after application (or within a matter of months in storage).

But I'm speaking only from my own limited experience. If you have questions, you should take them to whoever did your edible printing; they presumably know their own materials, and should be able to give you more specific instructions.

The cake is done.  I recently purchased a Canon printer and edible ink and sheets from Icing Images.  I don't think it turned out to bad for the first one.  What do you think?

This is an especially difficult time for me.  My husband recently informed me that he filed for divorce.  I am in total shock.  We had been discussing over the past several months of my getting baptized and I was waiting for my parents to return for the summer so they could be here for the baptism.  I wasn't going to go through with it after his announcement but decided that this is the best time for me to do this so I signed up and will be baptized tomorrow afternoon.  I made this cake for the carry-in dinner that will follow.  All my family will be there including my step son and his wife and the two grandkids.

I continue to pray that God will change his heart and help us mend our marriage.  Please pray for us as we need all the prayers we can get.

AIt looks at least as successful as my "Leland Awards" cakes, or my "52 Pick-Up" cake from my birthday this year, and a good deal more successful than my 51st birthday cake, or the one I made for the 45th anniversary of the first Moon landing.

And I'm sure you've already heard something to this effect, but it bears repeating, for the sake of food safety, whenever anybody first enters this realm (so don't feel like you're being singled out), particularly if they're doing it themselves instead of farming it out: The first two rules of edible printing are (1) You do not run non-edible ink in your edible printer. (2) you do not run non-edible ink in your edible printer. (and you still don't talk about Fight Club . . . I keep alluding to that movie as if I'd actually seen it!)

Your image is beautiful, and no wrinkles, very nice application. Congratulations on your baptism; that's awesome news! I'm  so sorry to hear of your situation, but you definitely made the right decision..... He is strongest when you're at your weakest. I can't imagine the pain you're in, or how hard it is to trust that no matter what the outcome of the marriage, you will be ok. Bu you will be, He's holding you in the palm of His great, nail scarred hand. I'll be praying for you, @kimbm04r.

What part of Indiana, if you don't mind my asking?

ASpeaking of wrinkles, the edible print for my Apollo Day cake didn't just rip; it wrinkled around the rip, where I was struggling to make it as inconspicuous as possible. As I said, yours turned out very well indeed (and now that I know you're doing it yourself, rather than farming it out, I guess you pretty much can have all the spares you need, on demand, which should make it a little less dicey for you than it is for me, if things start going wrong).

One thought, if I may (and please, either take it as constructive, or ignore it entirely): when I use edible printing, I trim to what, in the graphic arts, is known as "full-bleed," i.e., with no borders. Or in the case of the Leland Awards cake, I trim all the way to the outlines of the trophy and the museum logo. And I've seen other examples in which white borders around the image were hidden under piped borders. All three of these strategies are essentially tricks to hide the edges of the edible printing media, so it looks like the whole cake was somehow inserted into the printer, instead of an applique being printed and plopped down. For what it's worth.

Thank you.  It makes it even more difficult because this is a second marriage for each of us.  Both having spouses that did the same thing he is now doing to me.  And to add to the hurt he was 3-days from becoming the pastor of his own church when his first wife left him.  I will make it through, I just have to keep focused on God right now and know that he is working for the both of us.  He is living with his son and daughter-in-law right now and I am afraid it will put a strain on their marriage.  They are both really upset with him right now and are struggling with talking to him about it.

I was very fortunate to have a large support team there with me today.  I had about 20 people there which included his son, daughter-in-law and grandkids.  I am very blessed for the family and friends I have supporting me right now.

I recently purchased a new Canon printer and edible ink and icing sheets.  Hadn't set it up yet and decided this was the best time for it's first use.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out but was really happy with it.

By the way, I am located in Warsaw, Indiana.  About 1 hour west of Fort Wayne, 2 and a half hours north of Indianapolis.

It is a Canon MG5520.