It's awesome you're looking to move from Artisan® 5 to Artisan® 6. You can follow these simple steps below to install Artisan 6 on the same computer as Artisan 5, and move everything into the newer software!
1. Create a Backup
First, as with all technology, sometimes issues can occur when moving from older to newer software. For this reason we strongly recommend making a backup to an external hard drive, so you have a copy saved in case it needs to be recovered. You can find steps for backing up a copy of your Artisan content in this article.
2. Install Artisan 6
Because you're installing Artisan 6 on the same computer as Artisan 5, we strongly recommend double-checking your current computer's specs to make sure they meet our minimum to be able to run the Artisan 6 software. Otherwise you can run into issues such as the software not installing correctly, it not being able to open, or extreme lagging and the software force-closing itself. Learn more about the Artisan 6 minimum computer requirements.
Now that you've confirmed your computer has at least the minimum requirements to run the software, you can install Artisan 6 from either your FOREVER account Download's area, your Order Confirmation email, or by going to www.forever.com/downloads and clicking "Download Artisan 6". After the file finishes downloading, double-click to open and run the Artisan6Setup.exe file - follow the prompts from the Install Shield Wizard to complete the installation process.
Issues installing the Artisan 6 software to your computer? Please send an email to support@forever.com with a brief description of the issue and any screen shots of error messages you have encountered.
3. Open and Activate
With Artisan 6 installed on the computer, simply log in with your FOREVER account email and password that purchased or was gifted Artisan 6 - no need for an Activation Code, the software will connect with your online account to get that code for you!
NOTE: Make sure to attach any external hard drive(s) that contain Digital Art Kits you want to have access to within Artisan 6. Additionally, disconnect any external hard drive(s) that are only backups for your Artisan content.
Issues activation your Artisan 6 software? Please send an email to support@forever.com with a brief description of the issue and any screen shots of error messages you have encountered.
4. Migration Assistant
The Migration Assistant is an automated system that helps move content from Artisan 5 to Artisan 6 for you! In the pop-up box. simply leave check marked anything you want to bring over from the older software. This includes...
- Content License Activation Codes = your art kit's activation codes
- Content Library Folders = location to where your art kits are being stored
- Content Tags = any tags you've added to elements within art kits
- Font Groups = specific groups you've created for installed fonts
- Kit Categories = your art kit's categories they were sorted into
- My Event Dates for Calendars = personally created event lists, used for calendar projects
- User Dictionary for Spell Checker = words you added so they're skipped by the spell checker
5. Double-check Content
As previously mentioned, sometimes issues can occur when moving from an older program to a newer version of the software. The final step is to double-check all the content (i.e. your Digital Art Kits, their codes, projects, etc.) to make sure it was correctly moved over. If you're missing items or they did not correctly come over, you can read this article for steps on how to grab what you need from your backup created from step 1.
If you run into issues with this process, please send an email to support@forever.com with a brief description of the problem and any screen shots of error messages you have encountered.