Studio RIP or Design RIP
Studio RIP or Design RIP: compare
Which one do you need?
Both are the same RIP. They drive your press the same way: the same white under the print, the same colour, the same queue and costs. The only difference is how much design you want inside it.
Free trial · 7 days · no card
Try it free for 7 days. No card.
Every tool, on your own computer. Download it, install it, type your name and email. That is all.
- 1DownloadPick Design RIP or Studio RIP.
- 2InstallWindows: run the installer in the zip. Mac: drag the app to Applications.
- 3StartType your name and email. Your 7 days begin.
When the 7 days end, pick a plan in the app. Pay with the same email and the app unlocks by itself.
One free trial per computer and per email.
The quick answer
You print what you are sent, or you make it too.
UPrint Studio RIP
Choose Studio RIP if
- ✓Your customers send artwork that is ready to print.
- ✓You already design in another program and want the printing done right.
- ✓You clean a file up before it prints: cut out the background, upscale it, recolour it.
- ✓You want the lowest price: $19.99 a month.
From $19.99 a month, $200 a year, or $495 once.
UPrint Design RIP
Choose Design RIP if
- ✓You make the artwork, or redraw what customers send you.
- ✓You turn logos into clean vector and fix them node by node.
- ✓You send editable vector files on: SVG, AI, EPS, PSD, DXF.
- ✓You want no other design software on the computer.
From $34.99 a month, $350 a year, or $699 once. Everything in Studio RIP is in it too.
Both come with the AI tools.
AI image generation
Describe the artwork and it draws it, ready to cut out and print.
Your own OpenAI or Grok key
AI cut-out
Takes the background off the artwork in one press, ready for a dark shirt.
No key needed
AI upscaling
Makes a small file 2, 3 or 4 times bigger and adds detail, so it stays sharp at print size.
No key needed
The AI assistant
Ask in your own words and it does the work in the app. In Design RIP it works on the design canvas too; in Studio RIP it helps with printers, settings, the print check and the queue.
Your own OpenAI key
Real jobs: which edition does each
The job in front of you decides it.
A customer has an idea for a shirt but no artwork at all.
Either one
Describe it and AI image generation draws it, on your own OpenAI or Grok key. Both editions have it.
The customer’s file is too small and prints blurry.
Either one
AI upscaling makes it 2 to 4 times bigger with detail added. Both editions have it, and it needs no key.
A customer emails a finished logo as a PDF and wants thirty of them on a sheet.
Studio RIP
Import it, fill the sheet, print. Studio RIP does the whole job.
Your designer works in another program and sends you print files.
Studio RIP
The design is done. What you need is the white, the colour and the sheet, and that is Studio RIP.
A customer sends a blurry photo of their logo from their phone.
Design RIP
Both editions can upscale it and cut the background out. Only Design RIP traces it to clean vector you can fix.
You draw the artwork yourself and want to print from the same window.
Design RIP
The design canvas and the RIP are one window in Design RIP. No other design software needed.
A team wants every shirt printed with its own name and number.
Design RIP
Names and numbers makes one page for each name on your list. It is a Design RIP add-on.
A customer wants to see their logo in a few colours before they choose.
Design RIP
Colour versions shows the same artwork in several colourways side by side. Design RIP only.
Studio RIP or Design RIP: what is in which
| Capability | Studio | Design |
|---|---|---|
| Import, prepare, lay out, print | ✓ | ✓ |
| Runs on Windows 10 and 11 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Runs on a Mac with Apple silicon | ✓ | ✓ |
| White map and measured colour | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scanner, AI cut-out and Refine edges, no key needed | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI image generation, on your own OpenAI or Grok key | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI upscaling, 2, 3 or 4 times bigger, no key needed | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI assistant for printers, settings, the print check and the queue, on your own OpenAI key | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mixed gang sheets and cost per print | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fill a sheet with copies of a design | ✓ | ✓ |
| PDF editing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Imports EPS and PostScript files, text included | ✓ | ✓ |
| Exports and imports all the major formats | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full design canvas with pen and node editing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Trace to vector | ✕ | ✓ |
| Stencil artwork into any shape | ✕ | ✓ |
| Weld, trim, intersect and contour cut lines | ✕ | ✓ |
| Step and repeat on the design canvas | ✕ | ✓ |
| AI assistant that also works on the design canvas | ✕ | ✓ |
| Recolour a traced logo piece by piece | ✕ | ✓ |
| Editable vector files for a designer: SVG, AI, EPS, PSD, DXF | ✕ | ✓ |
| Add-ons: estimate cost, preflight fix it, names and numbers, PostScript out, font maker | ✕ | ✓ |
The major formats are PDF, PNG, TIFF, JPEG and BMP, which is what a print room hands over. Design adds the designer files: SVG, AI, EPS, PSD, DXF and WEBP. Both make a laser cut file for the printed sheet. AI image generation runs on your own OpenAI or Grok key and the AI assistant on your own OpenAI key, paid to them directly. AI upscaling and AI cut-out need no key. One licence activates one computer, and the 7 day trial is the full software.
Pick one. Pick how to pay.
Already own a compatible press? The RIP is sold on its own and works with the press you have. One licence activates one computer. Prices are in US dollars, and tax is worked out at checkout for your country.
For South African businesses: pay UPrint Global CC in Rand by card. Prices include 15% VAT and you get a UPrint tax invoice to claim it back. No account needed: pick a plan, fill in your invoice details and add your card.
The complete printing workflow in four numbered steps: import, prepare, lay out, print.
- ✓White map and measured colour environment
- ✓Gang sheets with a live cost per print
- ✓Scanner, background removal, PDF editing
- ✓Exports PDF, PNG, TIFF, JPEG and BMP
Everything in Studio RIP, plus a full design canvas in the same window. Trace a logo to clean vector and edit it node by node.
- ✓Everything Studio RIP does
- ✓Trace to vector, and a pen tool to fix it
- ✓Stencil artwork into any shape, and edit it in there
- ✓AI artwork (needs your own OpenAI or Grok key)
- ✓Exports all eleven formats, including EPS and cutter files
You pay on Paystack’s secure page. Your order code comes by email. Questions? Contact us.
You pay on Polar’s secure page. Your order code comes by email. Questions? Contact us.
Still not sure? Ask us.
Tell us what you print and what your customers send you, and we will tell you which one fits. Or try it on your own press first: a 7 day free trial is the full software.