"The trial version of the software can only save toolpaths for data from the supplied tutorial files": why can't I save, and why is it still a trial after I bought it?

What the message means

The trial edition lets you design, calculate and preview freely. It blocks two things: saving toolpaths from your own designs, and some export functions. The only toolpaths it will save come from the special sample files supplied for testing a machine. Try to save anything else and you get this message, which asks you to load an unmodified tutorial file.

Usual causes, most likely first:

1. You are in the trial and saving your own design. This is the intended limit, not a fault.
2. You bought the software but are still running the trial installation.
3. You edited one of the sample files, so it no longer counts as unmodified.

How to fix it

To test your machine while still on the trial:

1. On the trial start screen choose View Sample Files. Your browser opens the page of machinable tutorials.
2. Install one, open its file without changing the design, and save its toolpaths with the post-processor for your machine.
3. Check the tool settings in the sample suit your machine and bits before cutting.

After you buy: a trial installation cannot be activated into a full one. The official help center is explicit about this.

1. Uninstall the trial.
2. Sign in to your V&Co customer portal account and download the full installer.
3. Install it and enter your license.

If the trial says it has expired: trials are retired periodically as they go out of date. Uninstall it and download the current trial installer.

How to confirm it is fixed

Help > About shows the full product rather than a trial edition, and Save Toolpath(s) writes a file from your own design.

Pro tips

• Designs you made in the trial need one extra step before they travel to another computer (see the entry on trial files not opening elsewhere).
• If the save form opens but has no post-processor for your machine, see the entry on the post-processor list being empty.
• For what else the trial limits, see the entry on the free trial and its limitations.