im planning to invest in a printer for the edible sheets...do you have suggestions on the best printer to buy (probably not the best but the most cost effective) and where to get them...or someone here might be selling their old ones

thanks

Hi,
On the "home" page, there are some (3) very good articles about edible images!! They cover just about all questions on the subject. I don't believe it's mentioned on where to get one though. It does mention which types to use though

I bought my printer at an office supply store. Go to kopykake and there is a list of printers that are compatible with the ink. I have and Ebson 4800cx love it paid $89. Bought the ink and frosting sheets from kopykake.

I have the epson c88+ and love it! bought for 60 bucks at compusa on sale...

ink and sheets also from kopykake...

My husband just bought me one for the holidays - we got the Canon - it is a Canon ip6000D. It is one of the last Canons that will still work with the color inks - apparently, they recently changed their cartridges in the new printers. My husband had spoken to Debbie at Icing Images at the suggestion of a number of posts (he was so cute and snuck onto cake central to do research for my gift), and the feedback he had gotten was that the Canon had fewer problems than the Epson printers. I think the Epson C88 printer is cheaper, and it requires fewer cartridges to refill, so in that sense, the Epson is more economical, but apparently if it clogs, you have to replace it, so that can mean a greater investment. There are a large number of compatible Canon printers out there that you can get off of ebay or other places that are a bit less than the one we got and only have 4 cartridges instead of the 6, but none that you can buy in the regular stores.

Good luck deciding - my husband said that Debbie is very helpful if you are trying to make your decision, and can give you some good tips about where to look for printers and which ones to get. He was very seriously considering the Epsons because they are a bit less expensive, but opted for the Canon because he thought it would be easier to maintain.

thanks for your replies...i checked kopykake a week ago and found the list of printers...i was checking circuit city, bestbuy etc. for compatible printers but i guess they don't sell those compatible printers anymore...

i was checking kopykake today and i couldn't find it...does anybody have the list of compatibe printers?

i also checked icing images the system is expensive...i couldn't spend $450 right now

i was checking circuit city, bestbuy etc. for compatible printers but i guess they don't sell those compatible printers anymore...

For the most part, the big stores won't have the compatible Canon printers because they are all discontinued models. Many people have found them on sale tables. But, they won't be in their ads or on their websites. I got mine on Amazon.com and found some on eBay, too.

ohhh that's why hehe thanks...

angela....I bought a canon Pixma ip3000 from ebay for only about $54. It was brand new. It prints wonderful! I order my icing sheets and cartridges from icingimages.com. I find that it's more reasonably priced. And you can just select that printer and then choose which icing sheets you want. The icing sheets run about $28 for 25 81/2 x 11 sheets. The sheets taste just like the buttercream and are easy to work with! The only thing about that site is the high shipping. They only ship UPS. BUT, I find that I still come out cheaper! HTH

I'll attach a cake I did with this printer and these icing sheets....

I got the Epson Stylus C88+ from Staples for $79.00. It will work with KopyKakes icing sheets and Epson edible ink. It holds 4 cartridges.

cryssi & Momof4luvscakes...how long have you had the epson c88? did you ever have problems with it?

i read somewhere that sometimes it does not print anything and that it uses too much ink?

My husband just bought me the Canon ip6000 brand new - not as a complete system from Icing Images, but as separates (it was much cheaper that way). He was able to buy the Canon at a store (I think online), but maybe through amazon, and then he bought the ink cartridges and paper separately from Icing Images. He might have bought the mini starter kit from icing images . . . I'm not exactly sure which combination or how much he paid, but it was MUCH less than her complete kit for $450 - he bought it all separately so it would cost less. He wanted to get one of the 4 cartridge canon printers, but could only find them used, not new. I can probably check with him later and ask where to buy the canon, but he did not buy the printer from icing images, just the sheets and ink cartridges. Hope that helps!

thanks tkeys...i thought your husband bought the kit...its sooo expensive im only doing this as a hobby for now so im not yet ready to pay 450 for the kit

i also think that a canon with 4 cartridges would be the best choice but if the c88 is good enough i can also go for it

im relying on people here for your expert advice

thanks to everyone for the suggestions

im hoping to get more replies on which printer should i get

I have not had mine that long, but no problems so far. This printer was the one KopyKake suggested of the Epson printers.

thanks Momof4luvscakes

the c88 is one of my options

I don't blame you! I was thinking of going with the Epson, actually, because my father has an old C88, and i've been told you can rehab the Epsons once they have been used with regular ink, but not the canons (something to do with how their printer head works). My husband had a long conversation with someone at Icing Images, and did some research online, and then noticed that the Canons are being discontinued. He decided that he was worried we would have problems with the Epson clogging, and if we later wanted to get a Canon we wouldn't be able to. I think he said it was about $30-60 more now to get the Canon (i think the extra money for the printer plus the cartridges are slightly more expensive), and the refills are about $15 more, but he said it was better than constantly trying to buy and replace Epson printers! I'm not sure if there really would have been a problem with the Epson printer, and I wasn't involved in the decision making process, but I'm just thrilled to have the one I've got! It is actually really nice and a good size. I'd suggest checking ebay and amazon for the printers . . . whichever ones you want. I think the 4 cartridge systems are the best - from what I can tell, the 6 cartridge systems just have extra of the same color, and they tell you NOT to print "photo quality" and use them for the icing sheets anyway.

tkeys...you are so lucky!!! i want to get the one that you have but i need more convincing...its toooo expensive for me...i think it was around $200 just for the printer...

i would need the inks which would be $50 plus the sheets at $28 that is almost $300 already...

hmmm come to think of it i might go with that if it would last me longer huh?

wahhh im confused!!!!

If I know my husband, he got a deal - found it on sale, or had a coupon or something! Also, we are planning on selling the real ink cartridges from the printer online, too (the ones that came with the printer), and we are hoping to get some money back from that, too.

I didn't realize the printer was that much more expensive . . . I hadn't actually priced it! I thought he told me he got the printer for like $30-$50 more than the C88, then the cartridges were about $15-$20 more than the other cartridges. He wouldn't tell me the exact prices of anything, though, so I have no idea. He was really cute about the whole thing, and so proud of how he snuck onto cake central and did his research.

Good luck deciding - I'm sure whatever you get it will be good. I'm not sure what I would have picked if I was deciding myself. My husband usually doesn't splurge, but he might have been worried about getting me a bad one, so he might have this time! My father does a lot of stationery printing and computer calligraphy, and he always uses epsons for that - totally different than cakes, I'm sure, but he loves his epsons, and won't use anything else. Do a search on this site, read the threads, and maybe call both kopykakes and icing images and ask their opinions about the different printers and about the clogging issues, and see if that helps you.

tkeys...sorry for giving the price range...thanks for all the info

i hope i get one before my next "project"

thanks for your help guys

Oh - no worries! I've been curious, and probably would have looked it up online sooner or later I'm getting ready to really use it for the first time this weekend - I'm making a cake for my grandmother's birthday which is on New Year's Day - I'm doing a photo album cake for her - I've got a baby picture of her, and her favorite picture of herself when she was 18, and a picture of her from about 10 years ago - it is her 94th birthday, and I thought it would be fun to present a few memories. We were going to put in some pictures of her with my grandfather, but she suffers from dementia, and sometimes she forgets he died (even though it was 20 years ago), and we didn't want to upset her, so we are hoping she finds the pictures fun . . .

I'm so excited to use the printer.

i would be so excited too...right now i can't wait to get one...i have a lot of ideas in mind

have fun with your new "toy"

I have the epson cx4200 that I got on ebay for under $70 and it works perfectly. It's also a copier and a scanner. The tech at kopykakes told me they don't hold ink in the print head so clogging shouldn't be a problem.

tiggy2...how many cartridges does it have? would you recommend it?

It has 4 cartridges, which I purchased from kopykakes. I've had it approximately 6 months and have used it many times with no problems whatsoever. It's the only one I've ever had so I can't really compare it to any of the others but I'm very happy with it. I have had other epsons in the past (for regular printing) and would not have a problem purchasing another one.

have you ever bought a new set of cartridge or are you still using the 1st set that you got? i was checking the prices of the inks...the 4 cartridge epson costs as much as the6 cartridge canon...im thinking that the epson might be using less ink?

I'm still using the 1st set and I just checked the ink level and it looks like they are about 3/4 full.

I love my Epson CX7800!! I've printed about 7-8 sheets and still have lots of ink. And the sheets that I printed had LOTS of black

I've had my epson for a few months now and no problems. I don't use it very often, but still get great prints. When I am doing a new design, I print a test page first on plain paper in "draft" mode. Maybe it gets the ink heads flowing, I don't know. I try to use it at least once or twice a month, and put a towel over it when not in use. DH and I are big Epson people, though...the c88+ is our 3rd epson (we have 4 printers). I think it prints fabulous icing images...

I've printed 150 business card size images that were mostly red, and 3" circles that were about 50% black. I think the magenta cartridge is less than half and the black is also less than half full. The Kopykake people told me that 1 cartridge should be able to print 2 full packages of icing sheets (I think, memory is spotty...check one of my posts in an old thread...lol).

Anyway, the epson cartridges ARE more expensive, but I stand behind my epsons...yay for kopykake

now im more confused...all of you have good feedbacks on your printers...i hope i get one like yours right now im still looking...can't finde those compatible 4 cartridge canons but im not yet giving up...if i don't have it by the end of the week i might get the epson or canon with 6 cartridges...

thanks everyone

Have your looked on ebay? I couldn't find anything compatible locally so I did a search on ebay and found several. Once purchased I received it within a week. Good Luck!