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Raster image processor
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<p>A raster image processor (RIP) is a component used in a <a href="/facts/Printing/ta4QpeDE">printing</a> system which produces a <a href="/facts/Raster_graphics/HkXNc8oI">raster</a> image also known as a <a href="/facts/Bitmap/Fr80ySnT">bitmap</a>. Such a bitmap is used by a later stage of the printing system to produce the printed output. The input may be a page description in a high-level <a href="/facts/Page_description_language/aUNGG3uU">page description language</a> such as <a href="/facts/PostScript/h2XwbcmC">PostScript</a>, <a href="/facts/PDF/C9Mn1vYL">PDF</a>, or <a href="/facts/Open_XML_Paper_Specification/u2W4ES5g">XPS</a>. The input can also be or include bitmaps of higher or lower resolution than the output device, which the RIP resizes using an <a href="/facts/Image_scaling/qNoeujzm">image scaling</a> algorithm. </p><p>Originally a RIP was a <a href="/facts/19-inch_rack/yFvLAnBg">rack</a> of electronic hardware which received the page description via some interface (e.g. <a href="/facts/RS-232/NCpvGuyq">RS-232</a>) and generated a "hardware bitmap output" which was used to enable or disable each <a href="/facts/Pixel/UzwBvXBV">pixel</a> on a real-time output device such as a <a href="/facts/Laser_printing/fJ2GrUBj">laser printer</a>, an optical <a href="/facts/Film_recorder/Q0GXHL31">film recorder</a>, <a href="/facts/Computer_to_film/UyjvUUqx">computer to film</a>, or <a href="/facts/Computer_to_plate/bXkTCwI2">computer to plate</a>. </p><p>A RIP can be implemented as a software module on a general-purpose computer, or as a firmware program executed on a <a href="/facts/Microprocessor/Fx9CaQht">microprocessor</a> inside a printer. For high-end typesetting, standalone hardware RIPs are sometimes used. <a href="/facts/Ghostscript/f4Iz0Ltz">Ghostscript</a>, GhostPCL, and ColorBurst's Overdrive (for <a href="/facts/MacOS/Y93vVpTm">macOS</a>) are examples of software RIPs. Every PostScript printer contains a RIP in its <a href="/facts/Firmware/62UVKIUK">firmware</a>. The RIP <a href="/facts/Microprocessor/Fx9CaQht">chip</a> in a <a href="/facts/Laser_printing/fJ2GrUBj">laser printer</a> sends its <a href="/facts/Raster_image/HkXNc8oI">raster image</a> output to the <a href="/facts/Laser/jk6PTvvT">laser</a>. </p><p>Earlier RIPs retained backward compatibility with <a href="/facts/Phototypesetting/JLzY5EGe">phototypesetters</a>/photosetters, so they supported the older languages. So, for example, Linotype RIPs supported CORA (RIP30). </p>