Edible Images - Printer Ink Dries Up

Decorating By mjaret Updated 31 Aug 2011 , 4:13pm by tiggy2

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mjaret Posted 24 Jul 2011 , 6:41pm
post #1 of 12

I bought an printer for edible images...Epson Workforce 1100, I was told that it was the best. Then I bought ink, and it dries up between each use - the colors are always off and look awful after it is on the cake in the refrigerator. I need help. What is the best Printer, Paper and Ink! Thank you for your help!

11 replies
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jennifercullen Posted 24 Jul 2011 , 7:45pm
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I know what I'm about to say doesnt actually answer your question, as I dont know as I dont have an edible printer. How often do you use it? I've heard people say you need to be using it a couple of times a month?

Also, I got an edible image printed out for a cake a while ago and had to go to a local cake decorator to ask her to do it. When it came out she said 'oh thats come out really well actually'. When I got home I put it on my cake and ended up 'colouring in' over all the printed parts because the colours looked quite bad! It looked ok at a glance but the black parts were a grey/green, the red and blue were really pale it didnt look good. It kinda left me wondering whether its worth it even though I've seen some lovely things on here...[/img]

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MyDiwa Posted 24 Jul 2011 , 8:18pm
post #3 of 12

You should print something about once a week so the ink doesn't clog. Also DO NOT REFRIGERATE edible images once placed on the cake. If you need to refrigerate your cake, then wait until it's out of the fridge to then place your image. Or use fillings and icing that doesn't need to be refrigerated. That is probably what is ruining your images.

I use the Canon ip3600 printer with tatsyfotoart ink. I have heard good reviews on icingimages ink too but haven't personally used it. Kopykakes doesn't seem to have very good feedback compared to others.

HTH

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microunique Posted 25 Jul 2011 , 5:05am
post #4 of 12

You can decorate the cakes with the pictures of customers with Kopykake printer. You just need to replace your regular printer inks with the Kopykake Edible Inks. Then use your current equipment to draw the designs which you want.

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WAdora66 Posted 25 Jul 2011 , 5:34am
post #5 of 12

With my Epson printer I have to clean the printheads & do a print check to see if all of my colors are printing before I print on frosting sheets. I was told by a rep at KopyKake that I can do this w/ regular ink and paper. Once all of the colors print out (mine are a series of 4 lines for each color cartridge) then I can change back to the edible ink and frosting sheets. I know some of you will balk at this, but the rep said there is minimal regular ink left in the printer and not enough to affect printing when I switch back to the edible ink. I print images about once a month (sometimes less) and have success with this method.

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icingimages Posted 26 Jul 2011 , 11:18am
post #6 of 12

Hi, not to be rough about moving regular ink in and out of your printer, but with peoples reacctions to non edible products, you could end up really hurting someone. The FDA/Health and Human Services is beginning to crack down on people who are doing this. My guess is something happened. THere are toxins in the inks and if you poison one person, its not worth it. Ink not only remains in the printhead, but it will get on other parts of the printer and remain there and will contaminate the printer. There is an ink waste tank that is below where your cartridges sit when the printer is idle. When your printer sits idle, it will mix the inks there in with your edible inks. Printer ink cotains a toxic ingredient called P-Anisidine which is responsible for the different colors of ink. This ingredient can result in nervous system damage. Headaches and nausea are also common symptoms of poisoning from printer ink.

Instead of using regular ink, why dont you just print on regular paper every week to 10 days to keep the ink flowing? Much safer and even if you do end up getting a clog, isnt it much better than poisoning somone? Sorry to be rough, but it is a pet peave of mine since human safety is at risk.

I will respond to the other posts next...

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icingimages Posted 26 Jul 2011 , 11:26am
post #7 of 12

Hi...ok to respond to the rest of the posters. One of my jobs is to break and fix printers so that we know what to tell people when something happens. While Epson can give a nice print, I was able to break, clog or jam that brand of printers and could not get it fixed. The only one that I was able to get to fix was the Epson Workforce series. I still do not fully recommend that series as much as I do the Canon. There are very few things I cannot get fixed on that brand, and what I cant get fixed, I have never had a customer break! The reason Canon is the choice of edible printing is that the printhead can be removed for easy cleaning. ON the Epson, if you get a clog and you cannot get it out using the machine to fix it...or by throwing regular ink in there, you are out the machine. The printers that I recommend the most are specifically the Canon mp560 or ip3600 the newer series are the Canon mg5220 or the Canon ip4820. All good printers. THe newer series prints faster, but all are avaiable.

Jennifer...what you described is not a good print. If you sell prints, you will steal her business left and right because you should get beautiful colors since you are doing your research!!!

Inks do make a difference. If you are coming to ICES you will see how vibrant our inks are! Yes, you can refridgerate them. You have to watch the condensation and the best way to do that is when you take the cake out of the refridgerator, keep it in the container and do not open it until it is at room temperature.

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kake4umjp Posted 28 Jul 2011 , 6:09pm
post #8 of 12

I read on the Photo frost web site as to how to clean my print head. I have the Cannon 3300 also. It is done with the spayer on your kitchen sink. Wow what a great picture after it was cleaned. They also told me to put the orange caps back on my ink and place them in a zip lock bag and inside a rubbermaid or tupperware container, much like you keep all gum paste or other item that dry out. It is working for me. I only print maybe once a month or less....
Now Help me Pleaseeeeeee. I have printed several sheets of Scottish plaid that I have to put on a wedding cake. It is heavy print. The colors came out perfect. But How in the devil do I get it off the back? Any ideas. Thanks so much.

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icingimages Posted 28 Jul 2011 , 6:35pm
post #9 of 12

What Icing Sheet Brand are you using? If you are using PF or KK, you can try sticking it in the freezer for a few seconds. If you are using my brand you should be able to peel it right off...however, depending on your humidity level, this can affect all sheets. Normally you would leave icing sheets out to get them to dry a bit prior to printing. But if you do this in highly humid conditions, no matter what brand you are using, you are collecting moisture. So after you print, once the ink is set, if it is very humid, put it back into the sealed bag. Try to remove it without leaving it out to dry first. Than try the freezer method.

We do not recommend that you take the cartridges out between use. While we recommend that you use the printer regularly, even if it is to put regular paper in the printer and print something, if you are not going to do that, It is best just to close the printer up leaving things inside the printer. But again, the recommended method is just to print once a week. The printhead can also gel up as well by leaving it in the printhead. So it is best to leave the cartrdiges in the printhead in the printer to keep everything moist

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Mikel79 Posted 31 Aug 2011 , 1:17am
post #10 of 12

I have a Canon IP4700. I use icingimages frosting sheets and inks. Works great!

Here is a cake I did with their product...

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2141013

HTH

Michael

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icingimages Posted 31 Aug 2011 , 1:32am
post #11 of 12

Awesome Cake Mikel....Have you checked out the IIDesign portion of IIPhoto?

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tiggy2 Posted 31 Aug 2011 , 4:13pm
post #12 of 12

I've used different brands of ink and frosting sheets and had problems until I switched to icing images gold label inks and their frosting sheets. I'm sold on their products and their customer service is the best!!! If you have an electronic customer their frosting sheets are the only ones that will cut clean and not clide off the backing when cutting icon_smile.gif

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