What is RIP Software and Why do I Need it?

[jwedman]

Maybe the first question that comes to your mind is, “What’s a RIP?” Most screen print designs are one or two colors, or a spot color. In other words, they are created without shading or tonality. A large flat area of one color printed the same way across.

However, if you have a detailed design with shading or realistic looking effects, then you will probably have to use halftones to achieve the look you want. Halftones will help to enhance your design’s detail and depth. But halftones also require that you make a few digital adjustments to your design before taking it to the press. That process, a “RIP,” is accomplished with Raster Image Processing (RIP) software.