Color is the currency of the print industry. It is what makes a vehicle wrap turn heads, what makes a retail display stop a shopper in their tracks, and what makes a brand's outdoor advertising unmistakable from fifty feet away. For shops looking to deliver that level of impact consistently, across a wide range of applications, the equipment has to be capable of more than standard four-color output.
The MUTOH XpertJet 1681SR Pro is an 8 color printer built specifically to close the gap between what clients expect and what conventional CMYK machines can produce. Running on MUTOH MS41 eco-solvent ink brings expanded color gamut, refined tonal accuracy, and production-level durability to every job that comes off the roll.
The Color Printer Advantage: A Wider Gamut for Every Application
Most production printers in a shop environment run on four colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). CMYK is a proven and versatile combination, but it has well-documented limitations when clients need accurate warm tones, smooth tonal transitions in large-format prints, or skin tones in people-forward graphics. The New XpertJet 1681SR Pro addresses those limitations with a CMYKLcLmLkOr configuration, eight channels working together: standard CMYK plus light cyan, light magenta, light black, and orange.
Each additional ink channel has a clear purpose, and together they allow this large format printer to handle the color demands of outdoor advertising, fine-detail indoor signage, vehicle graphics, high-impact commercial print, and every application category in between, without switching machines, without workarounds, and without the color correction cycles that erode time and margins.
Light Inks: Refined Gradients, Reduced Graininess, Natural Skin Tones
Three of the eight channels are dedicated light inks, light cyan, light magenta, and light black. Their role is precise: they fill in the tonal gaps that cause graininess and visible banding in standard 4-color output, particularly in highlight areas and smooth gradient transitions. Where a conventional printer produces a perceptible jump from one tonal value to the next, the light ink channels step in with intermediate values that make the transition invisible.
Smoother Gradations Across Large-Format Prints
In large-format output, outdoor banners, wall graphics, building wraps, gradient quality is highly visible. Even slight banding or tonal inconsistency in a sky background, a product fade, or a color wash becomes apparent at the sizes these applications require. The light ink channels in this large format eco-solvent printer produce gradations that hold their smoothness from corner to corner, giving large prints the kind of polished quality that clients associate with premium production.
Natural Skin Tones for Portrait-Forward Graphics
Retail displays, event graphics, advertising campaigns, and interior décor applications frequently feature people. Getting skin tones right in these prints is not optional, it is what separates professional output from output that looks off. The light ink channels reduce the visible dot structure and graininess in midtone skin areas, resulting in natural, refined transitions between highlights and shadows. For shops that regularly print people-focused graphics, this is a meaningful and visible quality difference.
Orange: Vivid Brand Colors and High-Impact Commercial Output
Of all the color challenges that CMYK-only printers face, warm hues are among the most persistent. The dedicated orange channel in this wide format printer directly addresses the gap that standard four-color output leaves behind, particularly in the warm tonal range where brand colors, advertising graphics, and commercial print most often live.
Warm Tones That Reinforce Brand Color Reproduction
Orange reinforces warm tone reproduction across the full color range, not just in pure orange output, but in the transition zones between yellow and warmer neutral tones. For shops serving clients with defined brand standards, the orange channel means those warm brand colors can be hit accurately and repeatably without profile workarounds or client approval rounds that delay production and erode confidence.
Higher-Impact Prints for Commercial and Advertising Work
For shops producing high-impact advertising graphics, retail displays, food and beverage visuals, or any campaign where warm vibrancy is part of the visual intent, having orange as a dedicated channel makes a visible difference in the final output. The graphics carry the energy and warmth that clients expect, and that standard CMYK output struggles to deliver consistently.
MS41 Eco-Solvent Ink: Color Performance Built to Last
The eight-color advantage of this printer is only as strong as the ink delivering it. MUTOH MS41 ink is purpose-built to carry the expanded gamut that the CMYKLcLmLkOr configuration makes possible, with durability and safety standards that make it a practical choice for production environments.
Up to Three Years of Outdoor Durability Without Lamination
MS41 ink provides up to three years of outdoor durability unlaminated, meaning the color accuracy and vibrancy that makes a graphic impressive on output day holds up through sun exposure, rain, and temperature variation. For shops producing outdoor advertising, vehicle graphics, window decals, and exterior signage, this durability directly supports client satisfaction and reduces the reprints that come with premature fade or adhesion failure.
UL GREENGUARD Gold Certified MS41 Ink
The MS41 ink set carries UL GREENGUARD Gold certification, meeting strict chemical emission standards increasingly required by corporate clients, institutional buyers, and sustainability-conscious operators. For shops working in interior environments, wall graphics, indoor signage, retail displays, this certification supports both the health of the production environment and the compliance requirements of demanding clients.
One Printer. Every Application Your Shop Needs to Produce
The 8-color MS41 ink is not optimized for a single application; it is designed to perform across the full range of what a modern print shop produces. As a versatile large format eco-solvent printer, the XpertJet 1681SR Pro covers:
- Outdoor advertising: Billboards, transit graphics, and large-format banners with the durability and gamut to hold up in real outdoor conditions.
- Indoor signage and posters: Retail displays, event posters, and point-of-sale graphics where tonal refinement and color accuracy are visible at close range.
- Vehicle graphics and full wraps: Fleet decals and vehicle wraps where brand color accuracy and vinyl adhesion are non-negotiable.
- Wall graphics and décor: Interior murals, wall graphics, and branded environments where image quality is part of the design brief.
- Window graphics and decals: Perforated and opaque window films, stickers, and decals across retail, automotive, and architectural applications.
- High-impact commercial and advertising print: Campaign materials, promotional graphics, and brand-focused output where color standards must be met.
Production Performance to Match the Color Capability
Color quality only creates value if the printer can deliver it at production volume. The XpertJet 1681SR Pro is built around the AccuFine HD Pro printhead, which achieves precise dot placement across all eight ink channels while supporting faster output speeds.
Improved drying technology reduces drying time by up to 20%, allowing the printer to run at full speed without downstream bottlenecks. The standard smart take-up unit with auto motor stop handles long unattended runs, vehicle wrap rolls, banner batches, outdoor advertising panels, with consistent tension management and no operator supervision required.
Complete Workflow Included
The XpertJet 1681SR Pro includes the MUTOH VerteLith RIP software and a complimentary one-year subscription to SAi Flexi DESIGN MUTOH Edition, a combined value of $1,600 VerteLith is purpose-built for MUTOH hardware, delivering accurate color management and media profiling that ensures the 8-color gamut is fully utilized from the first print. Shops get a complete, tested production workflow out of the box, with no additional software investment required to start producing at full quality.
Industry Recognition: EDP Award Winner at FESPA
The XpertJet 1681SR Pro recently earned the EDP Award for Best Roll-to-Roll Under 170cm at FESPA in Europe, an independent recognition from a panel of industry professionals who evaluated the machine on technical merit and real-world production value. The judges highlighted its AccuFine printhead, improved ink set, reduced banding, and what they described as a breakthrough in price performance.
For shops weighing an equipment investment, that kind of third-party validation adds meaningful confidence to the decision.
Ready to Bring Better Color to Every Job You Run?
The MUTOH XpertJet 1681SR Pro is an 8 color printer that delivers, smoother gradients, vivid brand colors, and output that performs across every application your shop runs. MS41 eco-solvent ink, light inks for refined transitions, and a dedicated orange channel for warm hues that land right the first time.
See what the full color range looks like, request a demo or find your nearest dealer to take the next step.
