# What's Up with Edible Cake Images?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-edible-cake-images/667523
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 29, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-edible-cake-images/667523 "2013-08-29T19:42:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@walkoflife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/walkoflife)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-edible-cake-images/667523/1 "2013-08-29T19:42:53Z")
Places like icing images have edible cake images and cake printers. Although I’m rather foreign to this concept, I’d love to know why everyone has popularized these.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-edible-cake-images/667523/2 "2013-08-29T19:56:59Z")
They’re stupid-simple for grocery store cake decorators to apply, for one. No artistic skills, and no cake decorating skills are needed. Just put a sheet of rice paper or whatever it is in the printer, print the photo provided by the customer, lay it on the cake, and get back to putting sliced bread into bags.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-edible-cake-images/667523/3 "2013-08-29T20:20:38Z")
They allow a huge selection of decorations, many of which cannot be feasibly constructed otherwise, with no concern over having to remove them before eating.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-edible-cake-images/667523/4 "2013-08-29T20:46:03Z")
> [@walkoflife](#):
>
> Places like icing images have edible cake images and cake printers. Although I’m rather foreign to this concept, I’d love to know why everyone has popularized these.
At first, because it was novel. And then, after it was ubiquitous, it was still “cooler” to have, for instance, a blown up picture of the happy couple’s wedding day on the cake for the Golden Anniversary party than some underpaid baker at the big-box store bakery misspell Grandma’s name on the “Happy Anniversary” wish piped oh so carefully onto the cake. (Bitter voice of experience there.)