Buying your first Edible Printer System!

Edible images are very popular and it's easy to see why! First of all, it saves you a lot of time and second, the end result is always awesome!

So that's it, you're ready to take the leap! Because you are tired of going back and forth to your supplier of edible images and / or having to take yourself more than a week in advance, in order to make sure you receive them on time. 

But where do you start when you don't know much about it?

In this article, I will answer many of your questions and if I forget any, please feel free to ask me!

First, you need a desktop printer (yes! Yes!) But a Brand NEW one! Because it must not have had a non-edible ink in its system (and do not use the cartridges that come with the printer when purchased).

Prensently, on the market, we do not find all the models of compatible food cartridges; which means you don't have to buy just any printer model. From experience, Canon are by far the most used (you will find the list of compatible models at the bottom of this article as well as on the ink cartridge detail pages on my web store).

Usually all printers will give the same print quality. What makes the difference between a super beautiful image and a less beautiful one are the quality of the ink used, the quality of the edible paper, the print settings, the quality of the image to be printed and the condition of the printer.

So what explains the price difference from one model to another? This is often because of the options it has: scanner, fax, capacity paper trays, ability to print on CDs, touchscreen, automatic two-sided printing, oversized printing, etc.

My advice? If you have no preferences on the options, simply choose the least expensive (making sure it is on the list of printer compatible with edible inks!!!) Admit that this is rare as advice lol

Now let's talk about the factors that will affect your print quality, in order to optimize your purchase to its fullest potential!

By buying your inks from Maman Gato & Cie, you will not be disappointed! We have been resellers for many years of the Ink4cakes brand which are well known for their exceptional quality. You will get with these inks, a real beautiful red and real black! No more orange spiderman and black coming out very dark green!

In terms of the quality of the paper; thicker and smoother the paper is, more ink can be absorbed which will result as deeper colors. But not everyone likes to work with thick sheets (Supreme), so there is the flexfrost which is much more flexible and thinner. The best way to find out is to try them out and find out what works best for you!

Now when it comes to print settings, many underestimate this point. Yet this is really the basics. This is what determines how much ink the printer throws on your sheet. The basic settings are normally for normal blank sheets, not for taking pictures. Here are the settings I recommend. Make the comparison yourself and you'll see ????

• Qualité d’impression : HIGH
• Media Type : MATT PHOTO PAPER

How do I change the settings? From your computer, go to the "Control Panel". Then, "Peripherals and Printers". In the "Printers" section, right click on your printer and choose the "Printing Preferences" option. A window will open and you should see:

Media Type: Selected Matte Photo Paper

· Print quality: chose High

Printer paper size: Letter

· Paper feed: choose the receptacle you prefer if your printer has more than one.

Now let's talk about another big factor that will undoubtedly affect the quality of your printout and I'm talking about the quality of the image to be printed here. If you take an image that's 2 "x 2" and you want it 8 "x 8"; it is of course possible to enlarge it, if the image has had enough good resolution to start with. If not, you'll end up with a picture full of little squares. I call it the "minecraft" phenomenon lol ... I'll come back to talk to you about how to choose these images in a future blog post Maman Gato Et Cie!

Here is a very simple rule that will help you, with your zoom at 100% on the computer screen, if the photo is not clear and sharp, it will not be more once printed!

Finally, the condition of your printer. When I speak of this, I am referring to the nozzles. If there is blocked nozzles, there will be white lines appearing in your photos and the colors will not come out of the color they should. If so, do a nozzle test first (you can use a regular sheet to test). With this test, you will immediately know if it comes from the printer and from which cartridges. The test is perfect, maybe check your used file, because if it's an image protected by copyright or other rights (like paper money for example), it may not print like it should. If it really comes from the printer; prodeed with a printhead cleaning (option available with all printers). Then repeat a nozzle test and compare the results. If everything came back perfect, you're done, otherwise redo the cleaning. If there is still a lot of line, do a deep cleaning (other printer options). I will talk about cleaning the printer in a future article. In order to prevent this from happening, it is recommended to make at least one impression per week. It might even be just a test print!

Hope this has been a great enlightenment for you on the subject and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them to me!

Here are the most recent compatible ink models on the market for which you should find printers: https://www.mamangatoetcie.com/Ensemble-cartouches-d-encre-comestible-Canon-280-281

Here is the list of compatible printers:

TS702 canon, TS6120 canon, TS6220 canon, TS6320 canon, TR7520 canon, TR8520 canon