Opening a student saved file with a professional license 2021

[Oona]

I recently tried to open a file shared with me by a collaborator and got the following error message: "This file was saved in the student edition of Vectorworks. Files saved in the student edition cannot be opening in the professional version." Can this really be true? This will make collaboration in theater impossible, not to mention exclude many people who don't have the means to purchase a professional license from work opportunities.

[zoomer]

1.

Yes, this is true

 

2.

Hmmh,

student licenses are meant for learning, not really for doing commercial work.

 

[Jesse Cogswell]

@Oona  I advise students and interns fairly often who are using the student version of the software and have never had a problem opening their drawing.  You will usually get a dialog notification that the drawing is watermarked and using assets out of the drawing will watermark other drawings.  The watermarked file will functionally be the same as a standard file except it will have a big "Vectorworks Educational Version" bug on the top and bottom of each printed plate, and any PDF exports will be locked down.  It's a pain to work with and I get very annoyed when a collaborator sends me a watermarked drawing in a professional setting, but it's totally workable.

 

The only time I've ever had VW refuse to open a drawing is if it was made in a newer version than you are trying to open it on, or if the drawing was created on an illegal copy of Vectorworks, which I've only ever encountered once and outside of refusing to open the drawing, it will actually launch a browser window explaining the situation.

 

All that being said, this is the case for North America, I don't know if international versions are more locked down with their Educational licenses.

 

Watermark warning

[klinzey]

@Oona In the US professional versions can open a student file but all files and all content in the student's file will be watermarked and the watermark will be printed on all documents generated from the file.

Outside of the US many educational versions use a different file format and can not be opened with the professional version.

 

Students and educators must annually provide proof that they are currently affiliated with an educational institution in order to obtain a license that is only good for 1 year.

 

Educational versions are to be used only for educational purposes. Having a student use an educational version to do professional work, even as an intern, using the educational version is not permitted. If the student is getting compensated in any manner  they must using a professional license.

[Oona]

@Jesse Cogswell Thanks — I’m very familiar with the watermark question, this is a new error that will not let me open the file at all. I’m on the most up to date version of 2021, so it’s not the newer version problem either.

I can understand this error if the file was made by a pirated version of Vectorworks, but not if it was made by a legit student version.

@zoomer The theater world and the commercial world operate on very different budgets. I use Vectorworks for theater, where it’s much harder to make enough money to purchase a professional license when you’re just starting out.

[Oona]

@klinzey Thanks for your response — the error I’m getting is not the watermark, it’s that I can’t open the file at all. Can you confirm that this is because the file was created in a pirated version of Vectorworks? I’m happy to send the file and a screen shot of the error.

[klinzey]

@Oona Given the error message posted above, the file was created in an educational version obtained from outside of the US and not from a pirated version. The error message from a pirated file will be completely different and take you to a web page with more details.

If you want to send me the file in a private message I can take a look and confirm but I would just ask the person that sent you the file which distributor they obtained their copy of Vectorworks from.

https://www.vectorworks.net/international

 

[Oona]

@klinzey Thank you -- I'll do some digging and reach out to you if I need to. I appreciate your help.

[zoomer]

13 minutes ago, Oona said:

Thanks for your response — the error I’m getting is not the watermark, it’s that I can’t open the file at all. Can you confirm that this is because the file was created in a pirated version of Vectorworks? I’m happy to send the file and a screen shot of the error.

 

 

OK, yes, on the german Forum we professional users are used to not being able to open

any student file at all. Not even to help and support students, which don't get official support.

 

I was not aware that it is possible, beside the watermark, in the VW US version

(which I have) for US Student Version Files.

 

 

But I think the EULA and License is meant the same.

If you use VW for commercial work and make money with the help of VW,

VW wants its part.

[mjm]

7 hours ago, Jesse Cogswell said:

@Oona  I advise students and interns fairly often who are using the student version of the software and have never had a problem opening their drawing.  You will usually get a dialog notification that the drawing is watermarked and using assets out of the drawing will watermark other drawings.  The watermarked file will functionally be the same as a standard file except it will have a big "Vectorworks Educational Version" bug on the top and bottom of each printed plate, and any PDF exports will be locked down.  It's a pain to work with and I get very annoyed when a collaborator sends me a watermarked drawing in a professional setting, but it's totally workable.

 

The only time I've ever had VW refuse to open a drawing is if it was made in a newer version than you are trying to open it on, or if the drawing was created on an illegal copy of Vectorworks, which I've only ever encountered once and outside of refusing to open the drawing, it will actually launch a browser window explaining the situation.

 

All that being said, this is the case for North America, I don't know if international versions are more locked down with their Educational licenses.

 

Watermark warning

Mark of the devil.

As far as I can make out, even taking a line from a watermarked document results in every document the line touches becoming watermarked. No idea if / how it affects referenced objects tho. I get one of those files, I immediately DWG it or PDF it or anything but keep it live. A living hell in a collaborative environment.