Digital Embellishment Enters Its Value Era as Demand, Profitability and Confidence Rise

The third annual Digital Embellishment Study finds an industry moving beyond machine ownership and learning how to market, sell and scale premium print.

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Digital embellishment has spent years proving that it can make print look and feel more valuable. The more consequential question has been whether printers can turn that visual impact into a repeatable, profitable business. Results from the third annual Digital Embellishment Study suggest that transition is now underway. During an Aug. 19 Taktisphere Live! event, Taktiful President Kevin Abergel joined WhatTheyThink Managing Editor Richard Romano and co-host Eric Vessels to reveal the 2026 findings. Across measures of demand, utilization, marketing, training and confidence, the data points to a market that is becoming more commercially disciplined while retaining substantial room for growth.

The study drew 59 responses from the WhatTheyThink and Taktisphere communities, with additional outreach from equipment manufacturers and industry contributors. Respondents represented owners and users of both fifth- and sixth-color toner capabilities and inkjet-based embellishment systems. Romano stressed that the research is a voluntary convenience sample, not a probability sample of the entire U.S. printing industry. The percentages should therefore be read as directional estimates of behavior among participating print service providers. Even with that caveat, three consecutive years of asking many of the same questions now offers something the first two studies could not: a visible trajectory.

Demand Is Becoming Real

The clearest signal is utilization. In 2023, 42% of respondents said their embellishment equipment was rarely or never used. In the 2026 results, that figure fell to zero. At the same time, 61% reported increased demand during the past year, more than double the 29% recorded in 2025. Only 5% reported a decline. Romano called the demand chart one of the most encouraging findings in the report because it indicates that digital embellishment is moving beyond occasional showcase work and into a more consistent production rhythm.

Profitability reinforces that conclusion. Three-quarters of respondents said embellished jobs are always or usually more profitable than conventional CMYK work. For the first time in the study's history, no respondent said those jobs were rarely or never more profitable. The result does not mean every embellished piece is automatically successful, but it does challenge the idea that the technology is primarily a creative novelty. For the printers using it effectively, embellishment is increasingly functioning as a value and margin strategy.

The competitive picture may make the timing especially important. Only 21% of respondents said competitors offer digital embellishment, down from 44% a year earlier. Romano cautioned that the sharp change could reflect better market awareness, consolidation or normal sample variation. Still, the broader point remained intact: many providers believe they have a meaningful differentiation window. 'The competitive window is wide open,' Romano said, while also warning that technology adoption cycles are getting shorter.

The Next Constraint Is Selling

The study also shows that owning the capability and being known for it are different things. Seventy-one percent of respondents now market a branded embellishment offering, compared with 54% in 2023. Use of generic manufacturer materials is declining, as is the share of shops doing no embellishment marketing at all. That shift matters because customer familiarity remains highly dependent on provider involvement. Before a printer engages, only 42% of customers are described as familiar with embellishment. After samples, demonstrations and provider education enter the process, familiarity jumps to 94%.

That gap explains why sales capability remains the industry's most persistent bottleneck. Respondents continue to identify the ability of sales teams to explain return on investment and overcome cost objections as a major barrier. Abergel argued that the answer is not to position embellishment as a simple surcharge on a CMYK job. Instead, the additional cost must be connected to a business outcome, whether that means increased response, higher product sales, stronger brand perception or a more valuable customer experience. 'Buying a machine is one thing,' he said. 'Showing customers how to make it work from a business standpoint is where you are going to see more adoption and more sales.'

Training appears to make that conversion easier. Forty-one percent of respondents said they invested significantly in training, roughly double the level reported two years ago. Cross-tabulation produced an even stronger signal: 60% of shops whose sales teams received a great deal of training were very satisfied with profits from digital embellishment, compared with 34% of respondents overall. The finding gives printers and equipment manufacturers a practical mandate. Installation is only the beginning; sales enablement, application development and ROI storytelling are central to realizing the technology's value.

The Opportunity Beyond Business Cards

Business cards remain the leading application, an understandable result given their ability to deliver a memorable brand experience in a small format at attractive per-sheet margins. But Romano identified that dominance as evidence of the market's largest missed opportunity. Books, flyers, brochures and direct mail all ranked lower than their potential would suggest. If embellishment can improve attention, perceived value and response, its future should extend well beyond premium cards into everyday printed communications designed around specific commercial goals.

Design capacity remains part of the challenge. Nearly half of embellishment jobs are now created collaboratively by printer and customer, reflecting both growing client interest and the specialized knowledge required to build files with multiple effects and layers. Participants said better education, visualization and preflight tools could expand the pool of capable designers and reduce a workflow constraint that has limited adoption.

The industry's outlook suggests providers believe those obstacles are solvable. Ninety-one percent of respondents described themselves as positive or very positive about the future of digital embellishment, up from 74% last year. The 'very positive' group alone rose from 33% to 48%, while not one respondent expressed a negative view. For an industry rarely accused of excessive optimism, that unanimity stood out. The 2026 study does not say the market has finished maturing. It says the business case is becoming clearer: demand exists, the work can command higher margins, and the providers that educate customers and train sales teams are best positioned to capture it. As Romano summarized, the question is no longer whether the opportunity is real, but who will act before the window begins to close.