The truth is under the hood they are almost the same. As many of you know, CadLINK wrote the original FastRIP for me back in 2000. Back then they did not have a clue about outputting film for T-Shirt printing and their guys spend hundreds of hours and many dozens of trips to Arizona to get the RIP calibrated for our industry and working correctly. I wrote all of the original manuals because CadLink is CadLink. They make great software but fall down in the "manual" department. By my guess we sold almost 9,000 copies of FastRIP over eight years and we knew/know RIPs and our industry inside out.
For T-RIP I threw out all the CadLink Help files and manual. Not good stuff. I wrote the T-RIP manual from the ground up and included a LOT of information about inkjet printing that we learned over the years of selling FastRIP. I also incorporated the manual in the Help file in T-RIP.
You also get me for support. Yes, give me a call. I will take your call, log onto your computer, walk you through things and I have been know to give support almost 24/7. I took two support calls just this weekend (Saturday), and I often return calls at night.
The problem is there is very little margin in RIPs. In the old days we made it up selling you inkjet ink and film. Since profit is not a dirty word when I decided to sells RIPs again, I decided that I needed to make a good margin to cover the support. Not that the program needs it. My manual covers all the details that are important - and you won't find these details in the FilmMaker manual - and frankly, most people download my free trial, read the manual, install the program and have no questions other than - "where do I pay."
When people ask me if the programs are the same I tell them the above story. I also say if they feel they want a better manual and better support then spend the extra $50 I charge and buy from me. If money is the only issue then buy FilmMaker. Good luck.
I am putting up a number of new support videos for T-RIP in the next few weeks and this week I am adding a bonus feature of including my T-ART CD with over 500 high res images when you buy either an upgrade or full version of T-RIP.
I hope that clears the air.
Scott Fresener
FastRIP, FastFilms, T-RIP, T-Seps, T-Biz Network
