License and seats

RhinoArtisan for Mac has its own license, completely separate from RhinoArtisan for Windows. It belongs to your rhinoartisan.com account, and RhinoArtisan signs in with that account: there is no product key, no License Wizard and no Cloud Zoo. A RhinoArtisan for Windows license or key does not apply on Mac.

Free during the beta

While RhinoArtisan for Mac is in beta it is free. Request access from your account: we enable it on your account and send you an email. Enjoy it, learn with it, and tell us what works and what does not through the contact form. Your feedback is what shapes the Mac edition.

The price and the way RhinoArtisan for Mac will be licensed have not been announced yet. We will announce them before the beta ends, with notice to everyone using it. When the beta ends, RhinoArtisan for Mac will be a paid product.

Connect your account

1. Run ArtisanLicense in Rhino.
2. Your browser opens rhinoartisan.com. Log in if you are not already, check the account shown and click Connect RhinoArtisan.
3. The page says Connected. Go back to Rhino: the command line confirms who the license is for.

You do not have to remember the command: without a license, any RhinoArtisan command or panel asks Do you want to activate your license now?, and answering yes starts the same steps.

You do this once per computer. The connection is kept in the macOS Keychain, never in Rhino’s settings, and RhinoArtisan renews it on its own every time Rhino starts.

If the browser cannot reach Rhino

Sometimes the page cannot hand the connection back to Rhino, for example with a strict firewall. It then shows a connection code instead. Paste it within two minutes:

1. Open Rhino’s settings and go to Artisan › License (see Options).
2. Paste the code in Connection code and click Use code.

Seats: one Rhino at a time

A seat is not tied to a Mac. Install RhinoArtisan on as many computers as you like; each seat lets one Rhino use it at a time.

• Opening Rhino takes the seat on that computer.
• Quitting Rhino gives it back.
• Opening Rhino on a second computer while the first one still holds the seat tells you where the license is in use. Run ArtisanLicense there and answer yes to use it here: the other Rhino loses the license within a few minutes.
• A Rhino that never gave its seat back (a crash, a closed lid, a lost connection) frees it on its own after a while. You can also free it straight away from your account.

The list of computers using your license is in your account and in Artisan › License in Rhino’s settings.

Working offline

RhinoArtisan needs a connection when Rhino starts, to take its seat. After that it renews the license with rhinoartisan.com every few minutes while Rhino is open, and if the connection drops it keeps working for up to half an hour after the last renewal. Then commands stop until the connection is back; run ArtisanLicense to renew at once.

Check the license

• ArtisanLicense prints the current status in the command line, for example Licensed to you@example.com (Commercial).
• Artisan › License in Rhino’s settings shows the same status, the expiry date if your license has one and the computers using it. Its buttons connect the account, check the license again, sign out or open your account page.
• ArtisanAbout shows the status too.

Messages and what to do

Message	What to do
Not signed in. Run ArtisanLicense…	Connect your account with ArtisanLicense.
Your rhinoartisan.com account has no active RhinoArtisan for Mac license.	Request beta access in your account. It is free.
Your license is in use on …	Quit Rhino on that computer, or run ArtisanLicense here and answer yes to use it here.
The license could not be renewed (no connection).	Reconnect to the internet and run ArtisanLicense.
The system clock was set back.	Fix the date and time, then run ArtisanLicense.
Your rhinoartisan.com session has expired.	Run ArtisanLicense to connect again.
This beta version of RhinoArtisan has expired.	Install the current version: answer yes to Do you want to update now? or run ArtisanUpdate. See Beta versions expire.
This RhinoArtisan build has been withdrawn or is not recognised	Install the current package from your account.

Sign out

Sign out in Artisan › License gives the seat back and removes the connection from this Mac. Use it before handing the computer to someone else.