License Management

Read more about how to manage, activate and troubleshoot your Pdftools license.

There are three possibilities to pass the license key to the application:

  1. The license key is installed using the GUI tool (graphical user interface). This is the easiest way if the licenses are managed manually. It is only available on Windows.

  2. The license key is installed using the shell tool. This is the preferred solution for all non-Windows systems and for automated license management.

  3. The license key is passed to the application at run-time via the SetLicenseKey method. This is the preferred solution for OEM scenarios.

License activation

New licenses keys have to be activated (except for OEM licenses). These keys have to be installed in the license manager and may not be passed to the component at runtime.

The license activation is tied to a specific computer. If the license is installed at user scope, the activation is also tied to that specific user. The same license key can be activated multiple times, if the license quantity is larger than 1.

Every license key includes a date, after which the license has to be activated, which is typically 10 days after the issuing date of the key. Prior to this date, the key can be used without activation and without any restrictions.

Troubleshooting

License key cannot be installed

The license key cannot be installed in the license manager application. The error message is: "Invalid license format."

Possible causes: The license manager application is an older version that only supports the legacy key format.

Solution Use a current version of the license manager application or use a license key in the legacy key format if available.

License is not visible in license manager

The license key was successfully installed previously but is not visible in the license manager anymore. The software is still working correctly.

Possible causes: The license manager application is an older version that only supports the legacy key format.

Solution Use a current version of the license manager application.

License is not found at runtime

The license is not found at runtime by the software. The error message is: "No license key was set."

Possible causes:

  • The license key is actually missing (not installed).

  • The license key is installed but not selected in the license manager.

  • The application is an older version that only supports the legacy key format, while the license key has the new license format.

Solution Install and select a valid license key that is compatible with the installed version of the software or use a newer version of the software. The new license key format is supported starting with version 4.10.26.1

For compatibility reasons, one license key of each format can be selected at the same time.

Eval watermark is displayed where it should not

The software prints an evaluation watermark onto the output document, even if the installed license is a productive one.

Possible causes:

  • There is an evaluation license key selected with a newer license format that takes precedence over the key in the older format.

  • The software was not restarted after changing the license key from an evaluation key to a productive one.

  • There is an evaluation license key selected for the current user, that takes precedence over the key for all users.

Important to note

The software might be run under a different user than the license manager application.

Solution

Disable or remove all evaluation license in all scopes and restart the software.

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