{{ figure align=center src=“images/Evaluation-only-Created-with-Aspose-1024x386.png” alt=“Evaluation only - Created with Aspose” }}

You may encounter exceptions in your applications when Aspose APIs cannot validate a license. Typical messages include “Evaluation Only. Created with Aspose. Copyright 2003-2020 Aspose Pty Ltd”, “At most 4 elements (for any collection) can be viewed in evaluation mode”, or “This document was truncated here because it was created using Aspose API in Evaluation Mode”. You might also see watermarks or truncated pages in the output. Below is a quick solution for troubleshooting these issues.

There are three common scenarios:

Do not Have a License File to Evaluate the API

If you are new to Aspose APIs and hit evaluation limits, request a free temporary license as described in step 5 of the guide at How to Buy Aspose License?. The only requirement is a non‑public domain email address. Public domains such as xyz@gmail.com or xyz@yahoo.com are not eligible. After receiving the license file, you can use Aspose APIs without restrictions and decide later whether to purchase a full license.

Already Purchased a License, or have a Free Temporary License

If you already have a license but still see evaluation limits, verify that the license is loaded correctly. For example, with Aspose.Words for .NET you can follow the steps in the Licensing article under the Getting Started section of the Documentation. The article shows C# code similar to:

{{ gist aspose-com-gists 1437fe4e772ae541b53affc499a50642 “Set_License.cs” }}

Similar licensing code is available in the Documentation for each API. Once the license is set, messages about evaluation mode, element limits, or document truncation will disappear.

Recent Upgrade to a Newer Version of Aspose APIs

Another cause of these errors is upgrading to a version released after your license’s expiry date. You may see a message like: The subscription included in this license allows free upgrades until DD MMM YYYY. This version of the product was released on DD MMM YYYY. Please renew the subscription or use a previous version of the product. Your license remains perpetual for versions released before the expiry date, which is stored in the <SubscriptionExpiry>YYYYMMDD</SubscriptionExpiry> tag of the license file. Open the file in Notepad to check the date. If you need the newer version, renew your license. You can also contact us via the Free Support Forum for assistance.