Activating BarTender Software

Seagull Scientific's product activation helps to combat software piracy and ensure that your Seagull Scientific software is genuine. Activation is easily accomplished with the BarTender Licensing wizard.

How activation works

What is activation?

Activation is an easy, anonymous, process that authenticates your software license. Activation is an electronic form of the license agreement between Seagull Scientific and our valued customers.

You must activate your software in order to use the applications in the BarTender Suite, including BarTender Designer.

All applications in the BarTender Suite are available after you activate your software. You can test or preview features and applications that are not included in your licensed edition of BarTender; the application displays a message that you are using a feature requiring a higher edition and items printed using the unlicensed features include a watermark to identify that the item is printed in demonstration mode.

What information is needed for activation?

You need only to enter the product key code into the BarTender Licensing wizard. Typically, this code is available from one of the following sources:

• The email that you received after purchasing BarTender that contains the license and installation instructions
• The email that you received after requesting a 30-Day Trial PKC from our website: https://www.seagullscientific.com/30-day-trial/
• A separate product key code card that came with your software package

If you do not have a product key code, please contact Seagull Scientific.

How do I activate my software?

During installation, the BarTender Licensing Wizard will guide you through the activation process. The wizard will ask for the product key code that was distributed with your software and then Seagull Scientific provides a secure web server for fast and easy activation. If the computer on which you are installing the software is connected to the Internet, the BarTender Licensing Wizard will automatically activate your product. The activation process does not collect or transmit any personal information.

If you are installing BarTender on a computer that does not have Internet access, you can still activate the software. For more information, refer to the "How do I activate the software on a computer that has no Internet connection?" section that follows.

If your activation fails, you can visit the BarTender online Support Center for technical support contact information. Our company has representatives who are available to help complete your activation process.

Do I need to maintain an Internet connection after activating?

The BarTender Licensing Service periodically tries to communicate with the Seagull Scientific activation server to retrieve updated license information.

If you own a perpetual license, you can continue to use your software even when there is no Internet connection. However, any upgrade that you make to your edition or to the number of printers will not take effect until an Internet connection is restored.

If you own a subscription or time-limited license, the BarTender Licensing Service must contact the activation server periodically to retrieve the correct expiration date of your license. Your license might expire prematurely if there is no Internet connection. You can verify that the license status is correct at any time by using Administration Console.

Can I use the software without activating it?

No. You must activate the software with a product key code.

Can I activate my software on more than one computer at a time?

No, but the computer on which you activate your software runs the BarTender Licensing Service, and you can install and run BarTender on as many computers as you want, as long as they can all communicate with the same BarTender Licensing Service. Your license is limited to the number of printers that you can print to, and the BarTender Licensing Service is responsible for monitoring printer usage.

How do I move my license to a different computer?

You can move the license to a computer other than the one on which you activated your software by using the "Move License" option that is available on the Licensing page in BarTender Administration Console. BarTender Administration Console is included with your BarTender software.

Moving your license requires an Internet connection for communication with Seagull Scientific’s activation server.

Do I have to reactivate if I change my hardware?

It depends on the scope of the hardware change. Minor changes to hardware will not require reactivation. Replacing a substantial number of hardware components will cause the software to prompt you to contact Seagull Scientific and reactivate. You will be granted a number of days in which to do this. You can avoid having to contact Seagull Scientific by deactivating the software before the hardware change is made and then reactivating after it is done.

What happens if a newer version of the software is released? Will I be able to activate the older version?

Yes. If you choose not to upgrade to the latest release, you will still be able to activate your older version, even if Seagull Scientific discontinues the product.

How do I activate the software on a computer that has no Internet connection?

When you do not have an Internet connection at activation time, you can still authenticate your software license.

The BarTender Licensing wizard displays message #2033 when no Internet connection is available. In the message, click OK, and then click either Activate by Using Mobile Device or Activate by Using Web Browser in the wizard to begin. The process that you use depends on which option you select.

To activate by using a mobile device

The process involves scanning a QR Code to obtain a product activation code at the Seagull Scientific activation website and then entering the code in the BarTender Licensing wizard.

To perform this activation process, follow these steps:

1. On the Mobile Device Activation page of the BarTender Licensing wizard, use your mobile device to scan the QR Code.
2. On your device, tap the link to the Seagull Scientific activation website (https://activate.seagullscientific.com).
3. On the Success page of the website, copy the product activation code that appears. Or, enter an email address in the Email Copy To field, and then tap that option to email the code.
4. On the computer that has BarTender installed, enter the product activation code in the field in step 2 of the Mobile Device Activation page of the BarTender Licensing wizard.
5. Click Next, and then finish the wizard.

To activate by using a web browser

The process involves transferring your activation key to a computer that has Internet access, uploading the key to the Seagull Scientific activation website, receiving a product activation code, transferring the code back to the computer that has BarTender installed, and then entering the code in the BarTender Licensing wizard.

To perform this activation process, follow these steps:

1. On the Browser Activation page of the BarTender Licensing wizard, select one of the following options:
   • Click Save to File to save the activation key to an activation key (*.ak) file.
   • Click Send Email to attach the activation key file to an email message. The message is automatically generated and includes instructions for the recipient about how to proceed with the activation.
   • Click Copy to Clipboard to copy the activation key to the Clipboard. You can then paste the key into an external file, such as a text file.
2. Transfer the file that contains the activation key to a computer that is connected to the Internet, or send the email message to a connected computer.
3. On the connected computer, visit https://activate.seagullscientific.com, and then follow these steps:
   1. In the Activation Key field, enter the activation key. To do this, paste the key from the Clipboard or click Upload Activation Key to select and then upload the *.ak file that you saved.
   2. Submit a response to the reCAPTCHA test, and then click Generate Product Activation Code.
   3. On the Success page, click Save To File to save the product activation code to a product activation code (*.pac) file. Or, enter an email address in the Email Copy To field, and then click that option to email the *.pac file. You can also copy the code to the Clipboard and then paste it into an external file.

   About registration

   What are the benefits of registration?

   Registering your software provides important benefits, such as having free access to our world-class technical support and receiving notifications about security and product upgrades.

   What information is needed for registration?

   Registration requires your name and contact information, some information about where you purchased the software, and the product key code.

   How do I register my software?

   You can register your product by using one of the following methods:

   • Complete the registration page in the BarTender Licensing wizard.
   • In BarTender, click the Help menu, and then click Register on the Web. Internet connection is required.
   • Visit the following website: https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/product-registration/

   I tried to register but received a "Failed to connect to the activation server" error message. What should I do?

   This message indicates that there is an Internet connection issue. Check your Internet connection settings and cable connections, and then try again.