I recently bought the equipment to make edible images. My questions is where do you get the pictures to print? Are they just coloring pages? I'm confused. Help!

I print images from the i-net or images I have scanned into my computer onto the edible image paper.

I plug my laptop into the printer and print anything I need to from that.

Hope this helps.

For the images you get from the internet, are you able to write names, or put personal messages on?

Hi di_ stump

 

I did own a Canon ip4700 which I purchased from www.anycake.com

• Follow the instructions in the manual on how to load the edible paper top or bottom?- just like plain paper when using a normal printer (non food use only)

 

• The edible paper isgenerally PLAIN WHITE or IVORY - you decide on the background colour, design, images,, sourced form Photos, ClipArt, etc,

 

• The essential difference between the printer types is; Normal - uses plain paper and oil based ink (toxic)  Special Purpose Printers for example FOOD USE ONLY  use edible paper with water based ink (non toxic)

 

• Edible paper is far more expensive than plain paper, so if your not too sure of the layout, View it first in Print Preview - before you print! and then print a sample on plain paper. I myself learnt the hard way!!! Allow also for some colour variations between the paper types.

 

• Depending on the usage - its advised to run one sheet of plain paper through the printer once a fortnight to prevent the print heads from drying out - since the ink is water based. However this dosn't apply if you intend using it more frequently. I am a hobby cake decorator and skipped this routine after a few months - hence to my cost - replacement Print Heads are very expensive!!!

 

 

I wish you good luck, enjoy your new printer, and once you figure out how best it works - the skys the limit,!!!

Margaret393

thank you both so much!!!! 

Hi its me again!

 

I meant to say - have a look at a reply posted by me 9/01/13 to a thread "How was this cake made?" regards cake design - some suggestions on sourcing, creating and using edible images in cake decorating.

 

Hope this helps!

Margaret393

ty!!!  

If I want to add text to any of the images I download the image to my computer then edit the image in my photo editor and add the text I need.

Then print.

really you can print anything that you could print on paper!  so if you take a picture you can download it to your PC and print!!

And if you don't already have an image editor, and don't want to get Photoshop (which is installed using the SPENDMONEY command), get GIMP. It does most of what Photoshop does, runs on WinDoze, Mac, or its native Linux, and best of all, it only costs you the time spent downloading it. It's what I used to set up both of the edible image print jobs I took to the local cake supply.

 

Oh, and technically, unless it's food-grade rice paper, the technical generic term is "edible image media," and the most common type seems to go by terms like "frosting sheets," as it's a bland, frosting-like substance coated onto a plastic backing material.

 

And of course, the first three rules of edible image printing are:

1. never use any other kind of ink in your designated edible printer

 

2. NEVER use any other kind of ink in your designated edible printer

 

3. never sell or distribute an image unless you're absolutely certain that either you have the legal right to do so, or the customer has the legal right to grant you clearance to do so. (Which is to say that both Wikimedia Commons and Flickr are your friends, but you do need to pay very close attention to the licensing conditions for any given image: you want either (1) Public Domain, or (2) Creative Commons or GPDL language that says "You are free: to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work; to Remix — to adapt the work; to make commercial use of the work.")

 

 

Any cleaning procedure that would render a printer food-safe after being used with regular ink would almost certainly either (1) turn the printer into a large paperweight (think high-pressure industrial steam hose), (2) cost more than a new printer (think replacement of all the most expensive moving parts), or (3) both.

I have a similar question - but mine is more " you know those images that you see all over the place, ebay, cake shops, other small edible image sellers, and they might be anything from a halloween set to Christmas set to lego set. Where do you go to buy the rights to print those images on your own edible image printer?" 

 

I'm not sure if that is what the first person asked, but given my question is so similar I thought I would post it here too

Well, if it's Public Domain, then you're free to use it as you see fit. If it's Creative Commons or GPDL, then you're free to use it, subject to the author's limitations. And if you buy a clip-art collection of some sort (you'll find them in some of the larger art supply shops and bookstores, as well as online), you might pay through the nose (especially if you get a CD-ROM), but you're then generally free to do anything with the images in it, short of publishing them as your own clip-art collection (but read the fine print).

 

Note, however, that I am not a lawyer, and neither do I play one on television.

If I am going to print an image, I try to get one that is high-resolution. In Google Images, under Search Tools, choose Size and then choose large. Computer screens are mostly 72 dpi. If you want the printed image to be sharp and clear, you want at least 250. With a very large picture off the web, you can, in photo-editing software, increase the resolution and decrease the size.

 

Also, most government pictures (except military one) are in the public domain, such as the Astronomy picture of the day http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html. If you click on the picture, you'll get a larger one and if you click on that, an even larger one.

 

What kind of picture are you looking for?

Wikipedia Commons and Flickr both frequently offer multiple resolutions for any given image (and for vector graphics on Wikimedia Commons, you can have them rendered at any size and resolution needed). Also, note that reducing the "print size" of an image without actually changing the size in pixels increases resolution: an image that is 10 inches square at 72 dpi becomes 360 dpi if you print it at only 2 inches square (say, for a cupcake, or a tiling pattern, or as part of a multi-image design like my Leland Awards cake). Or to take a concrete example, if, for my planned 51st birthday cake, I were to take this PD image (Squad 51, from Emergency) from Wikimedia Commons:

which is 768x501 pixels in its natural form, and have it printed on a full sheet of edible image medial, it would print at 72 dpi, more or less, depending on the margins. Not very good. But if were to have it printed about the size that it's shown at here, and combined it with other pictures, it would be close to 200 dpi: still not ideal, but certainly far more acceptable.

I've purchased frosting sheets with Disney characters on them...but it was my understanding that now that I have my own equipment I shouldn't do "Disney" characters because they are copy righted. Am I correct?

AYes, dl_stump, you are correct. You will find thousands of copyright violations in a 2 minute search on the Internet, so obviously not everyone obeys, but we can only police ourselves.

You can use them if you are making a cake for a friend or family member. I believe the restriction with copyrighted images is you cannot make a profit from or publicly advertise the images.

I could be wrong though.....

If you buy Disney character edible images, from a licensed source, then you should be free to use them. On the other hand, if, in the past, you bought them from an unlicensed source (or had unlicensed images printed to order), then both you and the unlicensed source would likely be subject to civil liability and perhaps even criminal prosecution. And it's fairly obvious that if you started printing your own edible prints of Disney characters, without some sort of license agreement, you'd become an unlicensed source yourself.

 

Not quite sure what the situation would be with a customer-provided photograph, actually taken by the customer, of a family member with a Disney character, in a Disney theme park. I think you'd have to talk about an intellectual property lawyer about that situation.

A

Only for personal use. It is still protected by copyright laws which prohibit you reselling the images.

Ok so how do grocery stores sell cakes with disney characters? Where do you buy licensing rights?

AThose are typically deco-PAC and are made specifically for resale.

A

Either that or the store is infringing. Just because you see a business selling a product doesn't mean it's legal.

A

If you do not duplicate the image (e.g. sell the original licensed image as part of the cake) you do not need permission since the first sale doctrine protects your right to resell (but not your right to duplicate).

A

That is an interesting one. My take is that you would still need permission to duplicate the likeness of the Disney character, otherwise it would be trivial to effectively acquire duplication rights to any item protected by copyright simply by taking a picture of it and duplicating the picture.

I'm not a lawyer and the preceding is not legal advice.

How much does a Printer of this kind cost I would love to purchase one.

I use the (free) photo editor from kopycake.   You can add text...do some simple things.  It allows you to make a collage.   It's free...check it out.    

Thanks ddaigle I'm going to check that out!

 

msmendoza89 You can purchase a brand new printer and then purchase edible ink. You can't use a printer that has already been used with chemical inks in it. You can google search "edible printers" however these usually are just regular printers that edible companies put their names on. I bought my printer for 90.00 on amazon.