{"id":"image-vnd-clip","mimeType":"image/vnd.clip","name":"Clip Studio Paint Document","shortName":"CLIP","category":"Graphics \u0026 Layered Images","extensions":[".clip",".lip"],"description":"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.","seo":{"title":"image/vnd.clip MIME Type | Complete Developer Reference for Clip Studio Paint","description":"Complete reference for the image/vnd.clip MIME type: Clip Studio Paint project structure, SQLite database container, and developer detection methods.","faqs":[{"question":"What is a .clip file?","answer":"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."},{"question":"Why is my .clip file being detected as an SQLite database?","answer":"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."},{"question":"Can I open image/vnd.clip files in Photoshop?","answer":"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."}]},"index":{"compression":["Proprietary Blob Compression (within SQLite)"],"browserSupport":{"score":1,"label":"None"},"commonUses":["Digital Illustration and Concept Art","Manga and Webtoon Production","2D Frame-by-Frame Animation","High-Resolution Print Production"]},"technical":{"magicBytes":{"hex":"53 51 4C 69 74 65 20 66 6F 72 6D 61 74 20 33 00","ascii":"SQLite format 3\\x00"},"container":"SQLite 3 Database","compressionAlgorithm":["Proprietary (Celsys Blob Encoding)"],"colorDepth":["8-bit (Monochrome)","8-bit (Grayscale)","24-bit (RGB)","32-bit (CMYK)"],"transparency":true,"animation":true,"metadata":{"exif":false,"xmp":false,"iccProfile":true},"alphaChannel":true,"progressiveLoading":false,"hdrSupport":false},"history":{"developer":"Celsys, Inc.","released":"2012","specification":"Proprietary (Closed Source)"},"browserSupport":{"chrome":false,"chromeVersion":"None","firefox":false,"firefoxVersion":"None","safari":false,"safariVersion":"None","edge":false,"edgeVersion":"None","internetExplorer":false},"softwareSupport":[{"name":"Clip Studio Paint","logo":""}],"conversion":{"convertTo":["psd","png","jpeg","tiff","webp"],"convertFrom":["psd","png","jpeg","tiff"]},"developer":{"httpHeaders":[{"header":"Content-Type","value":"image/vnd.clip"}],"htmlAccept":"image/vnd.clip, .clip","fileDetection":["Check the first 16 bytes for the standard SQLite3 header ('SQLite format 3\\x00').","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."]},"prosCons":{"pros":["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"],"cons":["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"]},"specifications":{"url":"https://www.clipstudio.net/en/","rfc":"","mimeAliases":["application/vnd.clip","application/x-clip-studio-paint","application/x-sqlite3"]},"developerSnippets":{"python":"import magic\n# Libmagic detects the SQLite container, not the Clip Studio payload\nprint(magic.from_file('artwork.clip', mime=True)) # Outputs 'application/vnd.sqlite3' or 'application/x-sqlite3'","nodejs":"const FileType = require('file-type');\nconst type = await FileType.fromFile('artwork.clip');\nconsole.log(type.mime); // Will output 'application/x-sqlite3'. You must manually correlate this with the .clip extension for validation.","go":"import \"net/http\"\n// Go will detect the generic SQLite header\n// If you need strict validation, check both the SQLite magic bytes and the file extension:\n// isValidClip := bytes.HasPrefix(buf, []byte(\"SQLite format 3\\x00\")) \u0026\u0026 strings.HasSuffix(filename, \".clip\")","php":"$mime = mime_content_type('artwork.clip');\necho $mime; // Standard setups resolve this to 'application/x-sqlite3'"},"relatedFormats":["psd","tiff","png"]}