Wedding Cake Design Pro Software?
Decorating By Mark-Mexicano Updated 6 Aug 2013 , 3:20pm by sheilabelle
Hey ya'll I have been thinking about this for quite some time and was wondering if anyone has it. It is software that lets you make 3d designs of wedding cakes. The reason I was wanting (besides the awesomeness lol) is that I have spent almost 3 Hours with a bride before because she could not make up her mind!!!!! and then ahe changed her design 5 days b4 the wedding date soooooo I think this software would help them envision there "dream" cake. soo I was just wondering if any one has this and if it helped there business?? Thx all MMex
http://weddingcakedesignpro.com/art-designer-wedding-cake.html
i think it might help you more to have a cut off date - 'after 1-2-3-4 weeks before your date there can be NO changes/ changes cost $25-50-100'.
personally i like sketching out cakes for people, (although i dont do it as a business) in my head, with clients like that, i think you would end up on the computer, with them over your shoulder saying 'oh try THAT shade of blue'.
the pictures i have seen of finished cake designs, they arent really that much better than paint, or a proper sketch. but some people do really love it, especially those who dont like to draw.
xx
I have it and I LOVE it, mainly because I can whip up a cake in a couple minutes flat and email it right back to the bride, much easier than pulling out a sketch pad, spending hours drawing and coloring and then having to scan and email. Just quicker. When I do one on one consultation i do sketch however. Then I go home and make the 3-D model for them on WCDPro and email that to them as well.
I had one bride that completely changed the look of her cake once she saw the 3-D version, I tried to warn her the colors she chose wouldn't work well and she said "trust me, I know what I like" well...she was so grateful after seeing the 3-D version!!
here's my WCDP version of the cake and then the real cake that was made for the weddings.
Can you put custom design on it?
For instance recently I had a bride want three different tiers from three different cakes. (Recent brown one in my pics.) While she liked the cake, I think if I would have had this software, I could have more easily compared which design would have looked best on which tier...but like the latticework on the top...could that have been hand done in the software or is the software limited to pre-programmed designs? (I didn't like the cake so much)
I saw on the website there are tons of additional upgrades so I wasn't sure how limited the software really is.
I don't do a TON of weddings yet (boo hoo...waiting!) and the tiered cakes I DO do are quite unique or more for kids parties....I would get the software if I could know its fairly flexible.
I really like the software, but do you guys think its worth it for "non-wedding" cake ideas.
I would like to know this too as well as the best place to buy price wise?
KHalstead, your pictures make me want this program really bad!
It looks like it's around $70 for the base package. Then, if you want to add more features like more cake shapes, and more colors you add more money to the base price.
Seems pricey for a hobbyist, but may be worthwhile for a thriving business.
It looks like it's around $70 for the base package. Then, if you want to add more features like more cake shapes, and more colors you add more money to the base price.
Seems pricey for a hobbyist, but may be worthwhile for a thriving business.
Darn, that takes me out of the market, just a hobbyist, but I love cake toys.
I have the software and give it mixed reviews. I was a computer programmer in a previous life, and I absolutely love software. Can't even begin to tell you how much I have invested in various software packages for all my interests. Most are great tools and extremely useful to me. I was hoping this package would be as well.
I find the software most useful for traditional wedding cakes, as that is what it was designed for, albeit for the bride, not the cake artist. It lacks many desirable features, limiting its usefulness for non-wedding cakes. For instance...
Tiers are sized in height and diameter with a slider. They can not be sized by indicating, for example, that a particular tier should be 10" x 4".
Offset, Tapered and Topsy Turvy tiers are not possible.
There are limited borders, toppers, decorations, etc. in a limited range of sizes and colors. In some cases you can not even color the swags or stringwork the same color as the cake.
Text is very limited, just a few fonts, colors and limited placement.
The decorations can be resized within limits, rotated, spun, etc. but they do not always look good or realistic in 3-D.
The decorations are limited to those suitable for wedding cakes. I have made do in some cases by using objects for purposes other than intended. For example I used an overlay of red, yellow and orange leaves to represent flames.
There are workarounds to some of the limitations, but the very limited help file does not document any of them. (I found out about some by venting to the software developer.)
The software does not utilize many expected common functions, such as the ability to select multiple objects for copying, editing, etc. If you change your mind about a color or size of a repeated element, every last item has to be edited individually.
Having said all that, the program was designed to help brides plan and visualize their wedding cakes. It just does not meet the demands of a cake decorator/designer/artist.
I have made many suggestions to the developer, and sometimes they respond. I have begged them to develop a version for decorators, even suggesting that they join this site and search for their own name, where they would see that many decorators are looking for a software package, trying their product and finding it lacking. I suggested to them that they are missing a golden opportunity, that caking is really hot, just look at TV any night of the week to see a cake show.
A few weeks ago, the developer told me that an upgrade with many enhancements was in the work, that he expected to be finished with it in a couple of days, and asked me to test it. I readily agreed, but never heard from him again. I was really disappointed.
I keep checking the website for an upgrade, but it has not been posted.
At this point, I use the package to just print the basic shape/size of the cake, then I sketch on it.
It looks like it's around $70 for the base package. Then, if you want to add more features like more cake shapes, and more colors you add more money to the base price.
Seems pricey for a hobbyist, but may be worthwhile for a thriving business.
Darn, that takes me out of the market, just a hobbyist, but I love cake toys.
Not necessarily........that's what I thought...then someone showed me this
http://www.caljavaonline.com/wcd1.htm
I decided I would set aside $5.00 of my profit from the next 8 cakes..well it turned out I sold 8 cakes the week I decided that and ordered it that weekend!
It IS limited I guess, you can tell on the yellow petal cake that I wasn't able to recreate the EXACT scrollwork pattern, but it was good enough to get the idea across.
The bride that ordered the cake with polka dots told me what she wanted, I sketched it and she said it looked fine (I made smaller dots) and then did the 3-D version and she hated it!! She said, can the dots be bigger?? And can they just go on the bottom 2/3 of the cake so it's not so overpowering? Then I readjusted the design on WCD pro and sent it back and she loved it. In the end she was in love with her cake and has given me glowing reviews on many websites!
Oh and thanks for the compliments on the yellow cake....everyone that came to my house and saw the fondant wrapped up said "what hideous cake are you gonna make with that?" Of course, once the cake was done everyone agreed it looked nice lol.
Just want to add that Khalstead is using the program as it was intended, to design wedding cakes, and obviously it works well enough for that. As she said, it works well enough to get the idea across to the bride. Her designs and cakes look almost identical (and BTW, those are lovely cakes indeed!).
It is not designed for non-wedding cakes, and therefore does not work well for that purpose.
I really wish they would get a move on and develop a version for caking in general. I would gladly pay more money for a richer-featured package. I am a very visual person, and really like using software to design things.
grandmom you said it......I do like the software and it DOES get the point across to the brides which is why I ordered it. Sometimes I think the brides think that the cake will look different than my sketch because maybe I just can't draw well. But when they see the 3-D...they realize.......this is pretty much what your cake is going to look like!!! I love it for that!
I agree with its limited ability.........however, I did hear about a cake decorator (semi-famous guy too if I remember correctly) that did invent software that would allow you to do EVERYTHING you would ever need to do...but if I remember, the software was hundreds of dollars! Way outta my league. I'm a small home-based business.......like I said, I had to "save up" for the $40.00 program LOL
Khalstead, if you happen to recall any details, now or later, about the name of that software or the person who developed it, I would just love to know! I have searched the Internet frequently for something more flexible, but so far I've found nothing.
I can't figure out what the name of it was.........I know it was fairly expensive (couple hundred dollars I think) and was made by a guy, I'm thinking he was fairly well known in the cake industry...I heard about it here on CC probably a year or more ago.
Guess What????
The guy just emailed me saying he would send the link for the new version!! Well, I say it's a guy. I really don't know for sure because the person doesn't sign the emails with a personal name, just the business name.
Maybe they did join CC and saw our posts!
Anyway, I'm so hopeful!
Well, I've never tested anyone's software but my own (back in the day...), so I'm not sure of the rules! But yes, definitely, when it's appropriate to do so, I will tell all! I really really hope the software works out for us!
Can't wait to get home to download it - I picked up the email on my Blackberry at work, so now I can't think about work, just cake!
Oh! I'm the HR Director for our corporation (far cry from computer programmer... long story...), and payroll falls under my box on the org chart. The other day the IT guy called and said he was going to block access to "that cake site". I told him, fine, I'll block access to your paycheck. I can still get to this website!! 
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