Harris & Bruno’s Digital Embellishment Momentum: Technology, Education, and the Future of Print

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drxypBqUjBU

By Paul Furse, Harris and Bruno International

Digital embellishment has moved from novelty to necessity in the print world. What was once a niche add-on is now a strategic differentiator for commercial printers, packaging converters, and brand owners seeking higher engagement and margins. I have witnessed this transformation first-hand. In my role at Harris & Bruno International, I’ve seen customers increasingly demand tactile enhancements that make their print stand out. For example, studies show that adding texture and foil dramatically boosts a printed piece’s impact.

Consider these findings from a Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) study on embellished packaging:

• Higher attention: Embellished prints hold viewers’ gaze about 50% longer than plain prints.

• Premium perception: Almost 46% of consumers perceive an embellished package as higher quality.

• Consumer preference: An impressive 77% of shoppers say they prefer packaging with embellishments over non-embellished alternatives.

These numbers underscore why embellishment is no longer optional, it’s becoming foundational to print marketing success.

I recently discussed this industry shift with Kevin on The Digital Embellishment Show, sharing insights on how Harris & Bruno is helping accelerate the momentum through innovation, education, and community building. My message to print professionals is clear: if you want to thrive in the future of print, embracing embellishment is a must. It’s not just about adding sparkle for the sake of it; it’s about delivering value and experiences that today’s customers crave. In this first-person account, I’ll walk you through how we at Harris & Bruno are driving this change and why I believe the future of print enhancement is here now.

Manufacturing Expansion Signals Market Growth

One of the strongest indicators of this growth in digital embellishment is our expansion in manufacturing operations – a move that speaks volumes about market demand. Recently, we made a significant investment in scaling up production capacity at our Idaho facility, which has evolved from a fledgling operation into a fully-fledged production hub. Completing our first full coating system (ZR series) in Idaho was a proud milestone that reflects the sustained global demand for advanced coating and embellishment systems. Scaling manufacturing is not something we take lightly; doing so tells me that printers worldwide are investing in these capabilities, and we’re working hard to deliver on that need.

We’re seeing robust growth across both sheetfed and web press segments. Historically, Harris & Bruno was known for high-performance coating systems in offset environments. That legacy of engineering precision is still core to our identity, but in recent years we’ve made a major push into digital production. We now support several web inkjet press OEMs and have strengthened partnerships across digital print ecosystems. This mirrors a broader industry trend: B2-format inkjet and digital sheetfed platforms are taking on volume that used to be the domain of offset presses. Printers might switch to digital presses for their speed and variability, but they still need coating and finishing capabilities. That requirement doesn’t disappear with inkjet – if anything, it becomes more critical. I often tell customers: adding a digital press without an embellishment plan is like buying a sports car and never waxing it. The extra shine and protection complete the investment.

To meet this demand, we’ve strategically grown our production team and capabilities. By expanding in Idaho (and integrating tightly with our California headquarters), we can build and deliver coaters faster, with the same high quality our customers expect. This means shorter lead times and better support for printers who are eager to enhance their digital output. In short, the market signals are all pointing up – and we’re scaling our manufacturing, our team, and our technology to ride that wave of growth.

The ZRX Platform and the Hybrid Advantage

At the center of our digital embellishment strategy is the H&B ZRX Digital Embellishment Press, a solution I’m especially excited about. The ZRX embodies a “hybrid” advantage by combining analog flood coating with digital inkjet embellishment in one integrated system. In practical terms, this means we’ve brought together the best of both worlds – the efficiency and coverage of a traditional coater, and the creative freedom of digital spot enhancements – all in a single pass. As someone who’s spent years around coating equipment, I can’t overstate how game-changing this is for printers in real production environments.

Here’s how it works: first, the ZRX can lay down a conventional flood coat (either water-based AQ or UV varnish) using our proven chamber/anilox system – the kind of full-page coating that adds protection or tactile feel uniformly. Then, on that foundation, a digital inkjet embellishment module applies precise effects like dimensional clear varnish and digital foils with perfect registration. Because it’s digital, we can jet varnish in varying thicknesses to build texture, and we can apply foil only where needed – no plates, dies, or screens required. The result is a press that produces an astonishing variety of effects (more than twenty distinct finishes) by layering different coatings, textures, gloss levels, and foils in one go.

This analog-plus-digital architecture is significant. Many embellishment platforms on the market focus only on digital spot UV and foil. Those are great, but we wanted to extend the value proposition. The ZRX lets you incorporate traditional coating techniques – things like soft-touch matte, reticulated textures, grit and glitter effects, and other specialty tactile coatings – alongside the digital spot effects. In other words, you can create rich, layered sensory experiences that combine eye-catching visuals with haptic (touchable) feedback. For example, on one job you might flood coat a soft-touch background, add a digitally varnished raised logo, and top it off with a shimmering foil accent. All of that happens inline, in one seamless workflow. Printers can now offer their clients not just print, but truly multi-sensory pieces.

From a production standpoint, the hybrid design offers huge advantages. Inline integration means fewer handling steps, which improves registration accuracy and throughput compared to multi-device processes. Because the ZRX was engineered for real production volumes (not just short-run samples), it’s built with robust mechanics, high-speed feeding, and reliable curing to handle longer runs. We even won a PRINTING United Pinnacle Technology Award for the ZRX’s capabilities, particularly our signature xMatte effect that creates an embossed look without any dies. This emphasis on durability and productivity comes from our company’s coating heritage – we know a press has to earn its keep on the shop floor. As embellishment moves into mainstream production, I firmly believe devices must deliver both stunning visuals and industrial performance. The ZRX is our answer to that challenge, marrying creativity with the dependable engineering Harris & Bruno is known for.

ZRE: Broadening Access to Embellishment

While the ZRX serves high-volume needs and the most advanced applications, we recognize that not every printer is ready to jump into the deep end of digital embellishment right away. There are many print providers who are just beginning to add specialty finishing for their customers. To help broaden access to this market, we are developing a new platform called the ZRE – a lighter-duty sheetfed coater designed for the growing B2 digital press segment.

Think of the ZRE as the “little sibling” in our product family. It focuses on flood coating capabilities (full coverage coatings for protection and base aesthetics) but with a lower acquisition cost and a simpler, more compact footprint compared to the ZRX. Importantly, even though it’s a smaller system, it maintains our core chamber/anilox technology for consistent, high-quality coating application. One practical feature I’m excited about is that the ZRE is being built for easy switching between water-based coatings and UV coatings without contamination – this kind of flexibility is now a practical requirement in many hybrid print shops that handle both conventional and digital work.

Why is the ZRE strategic for us and for the industry? In my view, it’s about scalability and “meeting printers where they are.” As B2-format inkjet presses (20×29 inch sheets, roughly) continue to gain share from offset, a lot of mid-sized printers will need a way to add coatings to those digitally printed sheets. Not all of them can justify a top-of-the-line embellishment press on day one. A mid-tier flood coater like the ZRE provides an entry point – a way to start offering basic coating (say, gloss or matte flood, maybe soft touch) to add value and durability to digital prints. From there, as their business and their customers’ appetite for special effects grow, those printers can upgrade into spot embellishments and foils down the road. In essence, we’re creating an upgrade path that democratizes embellishment: lowering the initial barrier while preserving a growth trajectory into more advanced effects.

I often compare it to buying a car with an option to add features later. You might start with the base model to get you on the road, but you know that you can enhance it when you’re ready. The ZRE will let printers start with high-quality coating today, and later step up into the world of digital embellishment (like with a ZRX or similar module) without having to scrap their original investment. This approach ensures that no customer gets left behind. Whether you’re a small print shop or a large packaging converter, we want to have a solution that fits your stage in the journey toward tactile, high-value print.

Out of This World: Educating through Design Competition

Of course, technology alone isn’t enough to drive adoption of embellishment. In my experience, education is just as critical – if not more so – to help designers, marketers, and print sales teams understand how to leverage these new tools. One of the most exciting initiatives we launched to address this is the “Out of This World” Embellishment Design Contest. We developed this program in collaboration with partners at Dscoop (the HP user community), HP’s graphics team, Taktiful, and even academia like Cal Poly’s design school. Our aim was to educate and inspire the next generation of creators to work with digital embellishments from the ground up.

The contest invited designers and students to create space-themed artwork optimized for digital embellishment. Why space? Well, we wanted a theme that encouraged imaginative, “out-there” concepts – and it doesn’t get more out there than outer space! Participants received a detailed mission guide that explained the available effects (raised spot UV, digital foils, glitter, our xMatte, etc.), file setup guidelines, and design tips to make the most of those effects. Essentially, we gave them the playbook for how to design for embellishment, not just add it later. The mission was twofold: spark creative ideas and simultaneously teach how to execute those ideas using our technology.

The response was fantastic. We saw submissions ranging from cosmic landscapes with swirling textured galaxies to futuristic product packaging with foil constellations. But beyond the cool visuals, what really struck me was the feedback from the designers themselves. Many told us, “I didn’t realize you could do that with print!” They were amazed at effects like crystal-clear polymer that can be layered to feel like braille, or how a foil can be digitally applied in intricate patterns. This revealed a real knowledge gap in the market: designers simply didn’t know these embellishments were possible, so of course they weren’t incorporating them in their projects. Once they understood the capabilities, you could see the lightbulb go on – their mindset shifted from seeing embellishment as a gimmick to seeing it as a genuine design tool.

To me, that’s a huge win. It means we’ve begun reframing embellishment from just a production upgrade to a design-driven opportunity. By educating creatives, we empower them to push boundaries, which in turn drives demand for printers. The contest is helping to build that bridge. In fact, we’re showcasing the finalists at industry events like Dscoop conferences, and we’re incorporating some of the standout designs into our sample kits that go out to agencies and print buyers. This way, the education multiplies: a printer can show their client a sample from the contest and say, “Look what’s possible. Imagine doing something like this for your brand.” It’s tangible, and it gets conversations started on value and creativity, rather than just price per piece.

On a personal note, I’m proud of how collaborative this effort has been across the industry. As I said when we launched the program, we wanted to give designers direct access to the technology shaping the future of print. It’s our belief that when creatives and printers learn together, the whole industry benefits. We’re stronger together, and educational events like this are the fuel for that engine.

The Role of Reaktor: Better Proofing, Faster Sales

A key enabler that made the design contest (and many client projects) so successful is a piece of software called Reaktor, developed by our partners at Taktiful. If you haven’t seen it, Reaktor is a 3D embellishment proofing and visualization platform – essentially, it lets you see a realistic simulation of the embellished piece on your screen before you ever hit “Print.” As a marketing guy who often has to show samples to customers, I can’t overstate how valuable this is.

Using Reaktor, a designer or printer can take a regular PDF artwork and virtually apply effects like foils, spot varnish, raised textures, and even specialty coatings. The software then generates a 3D model of the print that you can rotate and view under different lighting angles, so you see highlights glinting off the foil and shadows from the dimensional varnish. It’s incredibly realistic. This kind of tool was a long time coming – static proofs just don’t cut it when you’re trying to convey depth and shine. According to Taktiful, their simulator (Reaktor Prime) can handle all kinds of embellishment previews, giving users an “immersive design experience” for coatings and foils.

From a sales perspective, Reaktor helps bridge the gap between idea and reality. One of the toughest parts of selling embellishment used to be making mock-ups. Traditionally, if a client wanted to see what their brochure would look like with, say, a spot UV pattern, you had two choices: print a full physical sample (time-consuming and costly), or show a flat digital proof (which fails to show the tactile effect). Both options were hurdles – either in cost or in clarity. Now, I can fire up Reaktor, load the artwork, toggle on a varnish layer and some foil, and show the client a lifelike preview in minutes. They can virtually “feel” it with their eyes.

This has been a game-changer in reducing hesitation. Clients gain confidence because they have an accurate sense of the final product. Designers, too, love it because they can experiment freely – trying a foil here, a texture there – and immediately see if it works visually. By the time we go to press, everyone is on the same page about what we’re aiming for. In practice, this speeds up approval cycles and helps justify premium pricing. When a customer sees with their own eyes (even on a screen) how a shiny metallic logo or a raised pattern will make their piece pop, the value of embellishment becomes concrete. It’s no longer an abstract upsell; it’s right there in front of them.

Integrating visualization tools like Reaktor into the workflow is, in my opinion, a major step toward mainstreaming digital embellishment. It takes a lot of the unknowns out of the equation. And as we get even more sophisticated (imagine AR/VR previews down the line), this will only get better. The goal is to make selling and implementing embellishments as easy as possible, so more printers and brands feel comfortable doing it.

Educating the Next Generation

Throughout all these efforts – whether it’s new hardware like the ZRX/ZRE or software and contests – a constant theme I stress is education and awareness. If we want digital embellishment to truly become ubiquitous, we have to start with the people who will be using these tools in the years to come: the designers, marketers, and print entrepreneurs who are just entering the field.

Digital print production is increasingly the norm, and with it comes an expectation for higher-impact output. The newest wave of designers (many of whom grew up designing primarily for screens) need to learn how to think beyond flat ink on paper. They need to be fluent in what embellishment can do. This isn’t some far-off future tech – it’s here now and is becoming expected in areas like luxury packaging, premium direct mail, event marketing materials, and more. Part of why we partnered with educational institutions for initiatives like the Out of This World contest was to plant those seeds early. If a design student today experiments with raised UV or digital foil on a class project, tomorrow when they’re at an agency or a brand, they’ll be much more likely to propose those ideas professionally.

We’re also investing in platforms and resources to continue that education on an ongoing basis. For example, Taktiful (our partner) runs Taktiful Tuesdays webcasts and other tutorial content, and Harris & Bruno has an Innovation Center where we host trainings and demonstrations. I personally try to do a lot of outreach – speaking at industry events, contributing to webinars – to share knowledge on designing for and selling embellishments. It’s almost a grassroots effort: one designer, one print salesperson at a time, showing them what’s possible. And I truly believe it pays off. I’ve had print sales reps tell me that once they show a creative director what an embellished print can do (often using those contest samples or a Reaktor demo), the conversation with that client shifts. Suddenly, the client is talking about adding value rather than removing cost. That’s a transformative moment for a printer – when the job is no longer about who’s cheapest, but who can help the client make the biggest impact.

In short, educating the next generation of print creatives to “think dimensionally” is critical. We want them to treat embellishment as a core part of their design palette, not an afterthought or a special request. When that happens, printers will find that they’re not having to convince customers to use embellishments – instead, customers will come asking for that sparkle or texture because they’ve already imagined it in their design. That’s the future we’re working towards.

Building a Community: Taktisphere and Collaboration

Another aspect that I’m passionate about is community building around digital embellishment. This isn’t something one company or one person can do alone – it’s going to take an ecosystem of printers, suppliers, designers, and educators working together and sharing knowledge. That’s why I’ve gotten involved in the launch of Taktisphere, which is a dedicated community platform for digital embellishment professionals. The vision for Taktisphere is simple but powerful: create a centralized hub where anyone interested in embellishments – printers, designers, marketers, even OEM partners – can connect and learn from each other.

On this platform, we expect to see people sharing case studies and success stories (“Here’s how I used digital foil on a direct mail piece and what it did for response rates”), application tips (“Best practices for designing a raised UV layer in Illustrator”), technical troubleshooting (“How do I avoid smudges when duplexing embellished sheets?”), and more. The idea is that knowledge accelerates adoption. If a print shop in Florida figures out a great technique for, say, embellishing uncoated stocks, they can share that on Taktisphere and suddenly printers around the world can benefit from it. Likewise, if a designer has a question about what’s feasible, they can ask the community and get answers from experts who have done it. It’s about lowering the learning curve through peer-to-peer support.

I’m honored to serve on the advisory council for Taktisphere, helping guide the direction of the community. My background spans different sides of this field – I’ve worked with toner-based digital enhancement systems, polymer-based 3D varnish and foil platforms, and our own analog coating technologies. That breadth is reflective of today’s hybrid landscape, and I plan to bring that perspective to the group. One thing I’ve learned is that embellishment touches many roles in our industry. It’s not just a “finishing department” concern. Sales teams need to understand what’s possible so they can sell it. Designers need to understand production constraints so they can create realistic designs. Press operators need to know the end application so they can prioritize quality where it matters most. When we all speak the same language (or at least have a forum to translate between creative and technical viewpoints), the process is smoother and the output better.

Taktisphere, along with industry associations like FSEA and events like Dscoop, will form a support network as embellishment enters the mainstream. I often liken it to the early days of digital printing – back then, everyone was figuring out color management, variable data, new substrates, etc., and communities formed to share lessons learned. We’re at a similar point with digital embellishment now. By creating a structured community space, we encourage collaboration over competition. Yes, printers compete in the market, but we all benefit if the overall pie (the demand for embellished print) gets bigger. And that growth will happen faster if missteps and trial-and-error are reduced via shared expertise.

In summary, building a community around these technologies isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential. It ensures that as we innovate on hardware and software, we’re also cultivating the knowledge and best practices to use them effectively. I’m excited to see Taktisphere and other collaborative efforts help shape a knowledgeable, enthusiastic user base for the tactile print revolution.

The Strategic Outlook: From Experimentation to Operation

Stepping back, it’s clear to me that digital embellishment is entering a new phase in its evolution. We’re moving beyond the period where it was an experiment or a luxury reserved for special projects. Instead, it’s becoming a standard, operational part of how printing is done to add value. The technology has matured to production-level; the cost of entry is coming down; the ecosystem of support (education, community, design tools) is growing – all signs of a maturing field.

For print industry professionals reading this, the key takeaway is not just that there are new machines or new foils available. It’s that an entire ecosystem is maturing around embellishment. Success in this space will come from aligning three pillars: technology, education, and sales strategy. Printers who invest in the right equipment and invest in training their staff and educating their clients will be able to truly differentiate with tactile print. These are the companies that will command higher margins and build deeper client relationships, because they’re delivering not just ink on paper, but an experience – something you can see and feel and remember.

On the flip side, those who dismiss embellishment as an unnecessary add-on may find themselves stuck in a commodity trap, competing only on price. I don’t say that to spread fear – it’s just what I’ve heard directly from print buyers. If one printer offers a brochure with dimensional effects that increase engagement, and another offers a plain brochure for a bit cheaper, more often now the brand will choose the one with impact. They understand the ROI of that engagement. So, the printer who can’t offer it is at a disadvantage. This dynamic is only going to increase as brands clamor for ways to break through the noise and as digital printing floods the world with more content – the tactile, special pieces will be what stands out.

Looking ahead, I see digital embellishment continuing to become more efficient, accessible, and integrated. We’ll see faster cycle times, perhaps even inline digital print + embellishment combos (some exist already, and they’ll improve). We’ll see smarter software that can suggest embellishments. We’ll also see sustainability playing a role – for instance, using coatings and varnishes to avoid laminating with plastic film, or replacing traditional foil stamping (with its waste and dies) with digital equivalents that have a lighter footprint. All of these factors will cement embellishment’s place in everyday print workflows.

To close on a personal note: I’ve been in the print industry long enough to have witnessed several “next big things.” Some lived up to the promise, some didn’t. In the case of digital embellishment, I have zero doubt that it’s the real deal.  I see it delivering tangible value every day, and the excitement from creatives and customers is genuine. The future of print enhancement isn’t about wild experiments on the fringe; it’s about operationalizing these capabilities across the board. It’s about making print more engaging, more effective, and frankly more fun. And that future is happening right now on presses and in design studios around the world.

As someone deeply involved in this movement, I invite all my fellow print enthusiasts to jump in. Learn about these technologies, try them out, share your successes and challenges. Because the more we all embrace the possibilities of digital embellishment, the brighter (and shinier!) the future of print will be.