"Who can do short-run spot varnishing" is an oft-asked question in the parallel world of Jo's Help Line, and it's an area that's proved tricky to crack - remember the seemingly nifty Dryprint printer/coater shown at Northprint 2009? That product has subsequently been shelved.

A year later at Ipex 2010 Scodix launched what was described as the "world's first" digital embossing press.

The high-build UV varnish was something of a sensation at the show, leaving the Scodix team ecstatic as they took orders for the entire year's production of machines.

Since then Scodix has been busy building up a worldwide reseller network, although news of actual installations is rather thinner on the ground - RCS in Retford being the notable UK install I'm aware of.

One of the challenges for manufacturers targeting this market is the registration vagaries of some digital print output, which becomes a big issue when you're trying to apply a spot varnish to a moving target.

Drupa will provide a great opportunity for a comprehensive update on where digital spot coating is at, and there's a lot going on. Scodix will have new B3 and B2 devices along with inkjet Braille and a new digital glittering process that's sure to be a wow. Can't wait to see the results.

Yesterday MGI announced its new JetVarnish 3D spot UV coater, which looks to be going head-to-head with Scodix; and this very morning I was handed an impressive sample produced on Autobond's spot UV inkjet device (a new B2 portrait version will be at Drupa), which also included Braille text.

Must-sees (or should that be "must-feels") for fans of tactile print effects.