Chocolate Artist Software/Printer

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Robyn Wood on April 4, 2011 at 4:48pm

I have it and use if for logos and photos. I chose to get a printer on my own, and then ordered the software USB.  I ordered the sheets and USB from Tomric.  

I have a Canon MP620 and ordered edible ink cartridges from KopyKake and another place I can't remember the name of.

It works well, but the software could be better.  Better editing and sizing options would be helpful.  I have one scalloped round mold that the software doesn't have an option for.  So, I choose the rectangle and it lines up almost perfect with it.  

This is a logo from the caterer I work for.  I always airbrush over the image with white cocoa butter to keep the colors true and to have it show up on dark chocolate.

I hope down the line the have some updates to the software, but I like using it.

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Permalink Reply by David Peterson on April 4, 2011 at 7:13pm

Thank you for the information. Have you figured out the additional cost per piece?

 

David

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Permalink Reply by Robyn Wood on April 5, 2011 at 1:30am

No, not yet.  I'm not doing a lot of chocolate right now, and haven't gotten around to it.  Another thing on the list.

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Permalink Reply by MARIANNE MCGOWAN on August 27, 2011 at 5:44pm

Can you please explain in more details how you get the white color so nice

Thanks

Marianne

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Permalink Reply by Robyn Wood on August 28, 2011 at 12:49am

I don't do anything special or different than when using the white cocoa butter for anything else.  I warm in in the microwave in bursts until it's fluid enough to use with the airbrush.  Never checked the temp, but it should be around 90 degrees.  I have heard from some that they get it hotter than that because the air brush will "temper" it as it goes through sprayer.  Has never worked for me that way.  If it's too hot, I usually loose a lot of pieces. After the printed sheet has dried, I just spray over it in a even layer, and let it set until dry.  Then mold as usual.  I have had some chipping on corners, but haven't figured out what causes it. It's really random, and it hasn't happened much.

I use the Badger 260 sprayer on my compressor just FYI.  

Probably not a lot of help, but when I first started playing around with this whole thing, I just jumped in and figured it out as I went.   

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Jones on April 6, 2011 at 10:37am

I agree the software needs work.  Tomric didn't tell me that the design has to be done on white -  & I don't have  airbrush equipment yet.  On my list! So I can improve!!

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Permalink Reply by Robyn Wood on April 6, 2011 at 11:48am

Yeah, unfortunately, printers don't print in white.  I tried molding with white chocolate, and for some things it works without the white.  I used a photo of my cat, and molded with a layer of white chocolate behind the photo.  It worked better because she's Siamese and the more golden color looked more like her coloring.  I did it with white cocoa butter and she was washed out.  So, it just depends on the image. 

And Jackie, you can just brush a thin layer of cocoa butter on the sheet with a brush or sponge as long as the printed image is dry.  I did that for a more streaked appearance on a logo I did for Infiniti (don't have a photo unfortunately). It's not as solid as the photo above though. 

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on May 30, 2011 at 8:00pm

If you're familiar with design software like Photoshop or Illustrator (to name just 2) you can completely skip the clunky and expensive Deco software!

All you need are the transfers from Tomric plus the edible inks from kopykake.  I use the Canon ip4700 and it works quite well.  Of course you have the white issue, but that can be circumvented by using white chocolate for your prints or spraying a white background with either white cocoa butter or white edible ink.  Just did some VW logos for our local club and they looked great.

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Permalink Reply by Wendy Buckner on May 31, 2011 at 12:49am

I tried this system for a while.  We bought our own printer and ink from kopy kake.  We made our own templates and ordered the sheets from Tomric.  The molds are pretty expensive, so we only had a few to work with at a time.  Our main issue was that the transfers didn't work very well.  We spoke to Tomric repetitively about our issues, tried everything that they said we should try...and it never worked well at all.  It was a lot of wasted time and money.  Wasted transfer sheets that didn't transfer well.  We tried everything.  In fact...the first package of sheets we ordered worked much better than the second package...I don't know if they changed them...but it was horrible.  I did not try what Robyn did and airbrush the sheets with white cocoa butter before using...that could have helped...maybe.  But I was VERY unhappy with the system.  It was a super cool idea...but we had to put SO much work into it to get each order completed.  We decided to not offer it anymore.  **We also had the printer get stopped up a couple of times if we didn't use it for a week or so.  It was a pain!  I wish I had better things to say about it...but I do not recommend it at all...unless Robyn has the secret trick of airbrushing the sheets.  I was also unhappy to find that the sheets were not cocoa butter sheets to print on...they were sugar based.  I don't have them near to give the ingredients...but true transfer sheets are made from cocoa butter...so I think that was why I had so many problems with them working as well.  I love Tomric products...except for this one.

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Permalink Reply by Robyn Wood on June 1, 2011 at 4:18pm

I've heard other issues with the sheets, which could have just been the batch.  I still have the first original batch I ordered, so I don't know if another one would give me problems.

I don't have any secret trick, it's all been hit or miss when I first started using these.  I just spray the cocoa butter the same for anything else I do.

I have used them without the cocoa butter and they worked, but I felt the image wasn't as bright as with the white. This shows without, but the logo is white, and this is way is too yellow from the white chocolate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, this photo is of my cat, and the white chocolate works better than white cocoa butter because it's her blond color:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Tomric only sells these and are not the maker, I don't know if any info from Deco in the UK or Chocolate World in Belgium would be better. They are the ones that developed it.  I was going to order the sheets from them until I found that Tomric sold them.

I've never had any trouble with the printer clogging.  www.tastyfotoart.com is the other place I ordered ink from.  I liked them better because the came with the chips that the Canon printers have,  and I didn't have to move chips between cartridges.  

I can still have problems occasionally, but it's mostly been from the cocoa butter not being the right temp or something.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Jones on May 31, 2011 at 10:35am

Tomric should tell people that unless you apply a white background, the software & sheets don't work well.

I just ordered the sheets preprinted with my customer's logo & they worked much better.  Wasted much money.

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Permalink Reply by MARIANNE MCGOWAN on August 28, 2011 at 1:24pm

Hi Jackie,

Could you please tell me where you order the sheets preprinted, how long time does it take and

is there a min order

Thanks

Marianne

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