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Image MIME Reference
CLIP

Clip Studio Paint Document

image/vnd.clip
VS

Flexible Image Transport System

image/fits
FITS

A complete technical comparison of Clip Studio Paint Document and Flexible Image Transport System — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature CLIP FITS
Transparency (Alpha) Yes ✕ No
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
Clip Studio Paint Document
image/vnd.clip
Extension
.clip.lip
Container SQLite 3 Database
Compression Proprietary Blob Compression (within SQLite)
Algorithm
Proprietary (Celsys Blob Encoding)
Color Depth 8-bit (Monochrome), 8-bit (Grayscale), 24-bit (RGB), 32-bit (CMYK)
Developed by Celsys, Inc.
Released 2012
Magic Bytes
53 51 4C 69 74 65 20 66 6F 72 6D 61 74 20 33 00
Full CLIP reference →
Flexible Image Transport System
image/fits
Extension
.fits.fit.fts
Container FITS
Compression Uncompressed / Tile Compressed (Rice, GZIP)
Algorithm
UncompressedRiceGZIPHcompress
Color Depth 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit (Float/Double)
Developed by IAU FITS Working Group / NASA
Released 1981
Magic Bytes
53 49 4D 50 4C 45 20 20 3D 20
Full FITS reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser CLIP FITS
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
CLIP

CLIP Strengths

  • 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
FITS

FITS Strengths

  • The undisputed global standard for archiving and sharing astronomical data
  • Self-documenting: Headers are written in plain ASCII, ensuring data is readable decades later regardless of software
  • Supports incredibly high dynamic range, N-dimensional arrays, and complex binary tables
Limitations
  • No support in standard consumer software or web browsers
  • Uncompressed raw FITS files from modern telescopes can be excessively large
  • Does not use standard metadata models like EXIF or XMP, requiring specialized parsers

When to choose which format

CLIP
Use CLIP when…
  • Digital Illustration and Concept Art
  • Manga and Webtoon Production
  • 2D Frame-by-Frame Animation
  • High-Resolution Print Production
FITS
Use FITS when…
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • Space Telescope Data (Hubble, JWST)
  • Scientific Data Archiving
  • Spectroscopy

More comparisons

CLIP vs ACES → FITS vs ACES → CLIP vs APNG → FITS vs APNG → CLIP vs AVCI → FITS vs AVCI → CLIP vs AVCS → FITS vs AVCS → CLIP vs AVIF → FITS vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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