Free webp to jpg
CLIP

Clip Studio Paint Document

image/vnd.clip Released 2012 · by Celsys, Inc.

The image/vnd.clip MIME type represents the native project file format for Clip Studio Paint (formerly known as Manga Studio), a premier digital illustration, webtoon, and 2D animation software developed by Celsys. Beneath the surface, modern .clip files are actually structured as SQLite databases. This robust container approach allows the format to efficiently store complex project data, including high-resolution raster layers, vector paths, 3D object references, multi-page comic layouts, and animation timelines in a single file.

Graphics & Layered Images Transparency Animation Production Ready

Technical Specifications

MIME Type
image/vnd.clip
Extensions
.clip.lip
Container
SQLite 3 Database
Compression
Proprietary Blob Compression (within SQLite)
Algorithms
Proprietary (Celsys Blob Encoding)
Color Depth
8-bit (Monochrome), 8-bit (Grayscale), 24-bit (RGB), 32-bit (CMYK)
Metadata
ICC
Capabilities
Transparency
Animation
Progressive Loading
Alpha Channel
HDR Support
Official Specification
Aliases: application/vnd.clipapplication/x-clip-studio-paintapplication/x-sqlite3

Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers

File Signature (Magic Bytes)
53 51 4C 69 74 65 20 66 6F 72 6D 61 74 20 33 00
ASCII: SQLite format 3\x00
HTTP Headers
Content-Type: image/vnd.clip
HTML Accept Attribute
accept="image/vnd.clip, .clip"

Browser Support Matrix

Browser Status Min Version
Chrome Chrome
Not Supported
Firefox Firefox
Not Supported
Safari Safari
Not Supported
Edge Edge
Not Supported
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer
Not Supported Legacy

Advantages & Limitations

Advantages
  • SQLite backend provides incredibly robust data integrity, preventing catastrophic project loss if the application crashes during a save
  • Allows for massive multi-page comic projects and animation timelines to be handled efficiently without loading the entire project into RAM simultaneously
  • Industry standard for manga, anime, and webtoon professional workflows
Limitations
  • Heavily closed-source and proprietary, meaning no third-party applications (like ImageMagick or GIMP) can parse or render the files
  • Standard MIME identification tools will misidentify the file as a generic SQLite database, causing friction in automated file-upload validations
  • Zero web browser support

Developer Code Snippets

import magic
# Libmagic detects the SQLite container, not the Clip Studio payload
print(magic.from_file('artwork.clip', mime=True)) # Outputs 'application/vnd.sqlite3' or 'application/x-sqlite3'
const FileType = require('file-type');
const type = await FileType.fromFile('artwork.clip');
console.log(type.mime); // Will output 'application/x-sqlite3'. You must manually correlate this with the .clip extension for validation.
import "net/http"
// Go will detect the generic SQLite header
// If you need strict validation, check both the SQLite magic bytes and the file extension:
// isValidClip := bytes.HasPrefix(buf, []byte("SQLite format 3\x00")) && strings.HasSuffix(filename, ".clip")
$mime = mime_content_type('artwork.clip');
echo $mime; // Standard setups resolve this to 'application/x-sqlite3'

File Detection Steps

How to programmatically detect a image/vnd.clip file by reading its raw bytes:

  1. 1 Check the first 16 bytes for the standard SQLite3 header ('SQLite format 3\x00').
  2. 2 Because standard sniffers will resolve this to 'application/vnd.sqlite3' or 'application/x-sqlite3', backend systems must rely on the '.clip' extension or perform deep inspection of the SQLite database tables (e.g., checking for proprietary Celsys schema definitions) to confirm it is an image document.

Software Support

C
Clip Studio Paint

Conversion Tools

Share & Embed

Markdown Badge
CLIP Format Badge
[![CLIP Format](https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/clip/badge.svg)](https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/clip)
Interactive iframe Widget
<iframe src="https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/clip/embed" width="100%" height="280" style="border:1px solid #cbd5e1;border-radius:8px;" title="CLIP Specs"></iframe>

JSON API

All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.

GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/clip.json Open JSON
Free to use
No auth required
CORS enabled
Use from any domain
Cached 24h
Cache-Control headers set

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a .clip file?

A .clip file is the proprietary, native working format for Clip Studio Paint. It saves all editable data of an illustration or comic, including intact layers, vector data, rulers, text, and 3D models.

Why is my .clip file being detected as an SQLite database?

Because it is one. Celsys engineered the modern .clip format using the standard SQLite3 database structure to manage the complex, multi-layered data required for comics and animation. Standard file sniffers read the magic bytes and correctly identify the underlying SQLite container rather than the proprietary Celsys payload.

Can I open image/vnd.clip files in Photoshop?

No, Photoshop cannot read the proprietary SQLite structure of a .clip file. To move a project to Photoshop, you must open it in Clip Studio Paint and export it as a .psd file, which preserves most standard raster layers and blend modes, though Clip Studio-specific features (like 3D layers or specialized vector tools) will be rasterized or lost.

Related Formats

Share this format