A new iOS app to make caking easier
We all have our own ways of getting an idea out on paper. Some of us are great at just sketching away, some of us like to use software of some sort, some of us think we can't draw a stick figure to save our lives and just let sugar be our canvas. No matter which of these you are, you start with an idea in your noggin that you'll likely have to convey to a client. At the very least, being able to show them an image of a general shape/style/color scheme is beneficial when trying talk about your design ideas versus theirs.
Out of those three sketching styles I'm a mix of the software type and the sketch it out type. I go back and forth. But what I always want to start with when I design tiered cakes is a perfect to-scale representation of the bare cake. I will spent bunches of time laying out measured grids in Photoshop to accurately create the tiers, or I get out a good old fashioned ruler and pencil. Chances are I'll change my mind about the design or I'll want to compare the look of different shapes. Either way, it's a lot of time spent re-doing the basic cake shape.
I found a different way to quickly and easily not only switch around your basic shape and design, but also know exactly how many servings it creates, provide you a slicing guide per tier, allow you to add custom colors to each tier, rotate the 3d-ish visual model, email to a client or yourself, and add pricing.
Whoa. Crazy run-on sentence. Let me show you this nifty new app that I'll be
I have the older version of this app and I've gotta say, this new one trumps it. Waaaaaayyyyyyy trumps it! Let me show you.
This is the mini user tutorial within the app. It'll explain a a lot about the app in better, more concise ways than I could. I go off on tangents. This app doesn't do tangents.
Above: I love that you can set you own serving size and then build up to that number based on your pan sizes. And you don't just have the most common round shaped pans choices: included in the app are square, heart, oval and petal shapes.'ll Super duper easy. Not in the mood to buy pans specifically for a job? Edit the list of pans to reflect what you have on hand and build around that.
Above: If there is a very typical shape you use, or a most requested shape style, you can save it into a favorites menu to go and select that saved cake anytime you need it. No need to reenter all the specs. Tap "View Cake" and you get a 3D style rendering. You can move it, rotate it, zoom, view it from above... It's kind fun to play with. *I'm not responsible for vast amounts of time lost due to playing with this cool feature. Just puttin' that out there.*
Above: You can easily change the colors of individual tiers or the entire cake all at once. There is a hue selector like in photo editing software, so the rainbow is at your disposal. It also comes with a fancy-schmancy cutting guide for each tier shape and size. AND you can export it to email and print to send along with your cake. This is a HUGE plus for me. HUGE!!!
Above: Each tier is broken down for you into a list (entire cake inclusive, largest tier to smallest) and ready to be emailed. Oh! But wait! What kind of party is this for? Birthday? Wedding? Cakers know that serving size matters according to the event...
Above: Straight, classic, or custom servings can be chosen. But what if you're just not sure? Have a particularly tall tier, like 5.5" or 6"? Let the app help you....
Above: This is so cool. It's like you have a cake consultant for yourself in the app.
Now, in the last image did you notice the pricing in the lower right of the screen? Yep. The whole reason (other than
Above: Set your standard pricing before the extras. Of course if you charge "X" amount for sugar flowers, and "Y" amount for Swiss dots, and "Z" amount for custom sugar figurines you'll add those to your final quote. But here you get to see your basic charge for a cake of this size.
Above: Let's go back to the Stacker for a moment. The best part of this program is what you can do with the image of the stacked sketch after creating it here in the TieredCaker app. Have digital editing software that you like to use to create customer-ready images of your ideas? Or do you simply like a nicely arranged blank cake canvas to print and sketch on by hand? I do both, and this next part makes this simple app process worth it. First, using the slider at the top you change the shading of your background color. When I'm working digitally or when the cake is various shades of light colors, the black or gray background is ideal. If I'm sketching by hand over top of a printed image, the white is best. But what do I do from here...
Above: Send it! Email it, save it to your phone and export it through another app like Dropbox (that's what I did; it's easier and quicker than emailing it) or just keep it as an idea in your phone's photo bank.
Above: Take the image into your editing software and you have a beautiful blank canvas to work with. So much easier than trying to create perfect shapes and layers within the software accurately. Trust me, until now I've been spending too much time doing that.
TieredCaker 2 will be available in the App Store for iOS devices on March 16th, 2014. If you currently have the original TieredCaker app it will be a free update. Score!!! (A side note, TieredCaker 2 will only work on devices running iOS 7 or newer.)
I'm off to play with this little gem. If you get it, leave me a comment below and let me know what you think!
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