The free and full versions

The free version of Orbit 3D never expires. Its pictures carry a watermark and it cannot export objects as geometry. Nothing else is limited. The full version is a single purchase through the Mac App Store that removes both limits, and it takes effect without restarting Orbit.

#The watermark

In the free version, a rendered picture carries the words Made with Orbit 3D in its bottom right corner and a second, fainter line across the middle, Get Orbit 3D at www.orbit-3d.com. Both are white letters with a thin dark shadow, blended into the picture.

Orbit draws the marks into the picture as it renders, so they are in the saved file whatever its format, including a PNG with a transparent background.

Both marks fit at every preset size. A mark that is wider than the picture is dropped, so the LIVE preview, whose picture is 160 pixels square, shows only the corner mark. A very small or very narrow custom size can carry one mark or neither.

#Geometry export

Geometry export saves the selected objects as a file for use somewhere else, either a Wavefront OBJ file (.obj) for other 3D programs or an Orbit object file (.orbitobj), which brings the objects into another Orbit scene still editable.

In the free version the toolbar's EXPORT menu is dimmed, and so are Export Selected as Object… and Export Selected as OBJ… in the File menu. With an object selected, the same two commands in the command palette open an alert that reads "Geometry export needs the full version. Renders and turntables stay free with a watermark." In the full version the toolbar menu works whenever an object or group is selected.

Importing works in both versions. IMPORT in the toolbar reads OBJ and .orbitobj files at any time, and saving scenes, opening them and saving presets are free as well. Import and export objects covers both directions.

#The full version

You buy the full version once, inside Orbit, through the Mac App Store. BUY FULL VERSION shows the price the App Store charges in your country or region. When Orbit cannot reach the App Store, the button shows no price, and clicking it tries again.

As soon as the purchase completes, the status changes to FULL VERSION, the geometry export commands turn on and the next picture Orbit makes has no watermark. A render or export that started before the purchase keeps the marks, and so do files saved earlier. The LIVE preview can show its corner mark until it next redraws after an edit.

The purchase is tied to the Apple Account that made it, and Orbit runs as the full version on every Mac signed into that account. On a second Mac, click RESTORE PURCHASE if the status reads FREE VERSION. The steps for buying and for restoring are in Buy the full version.

#The purchase controls

The status chip to the left of EXPORT RENDER in the toolbar reads FREE VERSION, CHECKING or FULL VERSION. In a narrow window it shrinks to a small colored square, and its tooltip names the state.

Clicking the chip opens the WELCOME sheet. The sheet also opens each time you start Orbit, unless you start it by opening a scene or object file. The strip along its bottom shows the full status and, in the free version, the BUY FULL VERSION and RESTORE PURCHASE buttons.

The PURCHASE section of SETTINGS has the same status line, with the two actions below it. RESTORE PURCHASE asks the App Store for purchases made with the Apple Account, and the App Store may ask you to sign in first. Both actions are hidden while the status reads CHECKING PURCHASE… and once the full version is active.

#Purchase status

The WELCOME sheet and the PURCHASE section show one of five statuses. On the status chip the three free statuses all read FREE VERSION, and CHECKING PURCHASE… reads CHECKING.

Every status except FULL VERSION works as the free version, and none of them locks you out of Orbit.

Orbit asks the App Store each time it starts. Until the answer comes, the watermark and the export limit apply even on a Mac that has the full version, so a render started during the check carries the marks. Wait for FULL VERSION before you render or export.

A refund comes from Apple. Once the App Store reports it, the status reads FREE VERSION (REFUNDED) and both limits return. A new purchase brings the full version back.

FREE VERSION (UNVERIFIED) means the App Store could not confirm any purchase record as genuine. Wait a moment, then click RESTORE PURCHASE to ask the App Store for the records again. For the messages a purchase or restore can show, see File and purchase problems.

#The App Store record

There is no Orbit account to sign in to, and Orbit uses no license key or server. The purchase exists only in the App Store, on the Apple Account that made it. Orbit reads it from there when it starts, after each purchase or restore and whenever the App Store reports a change such as a refund. Orbit makes no internet connections of its own; macOS contacts the App Store on its behalf. Apple handles receipts and refunds in your App Store account.