Spine Support
Do you have a question about Spine? We are here to help! This page provides many ways to get the answers you need.
Spine FAQ
This FAQ contains answers for the most commonly asked Spine questions. Browse the questions below or enter a keyword to quickly narrow down your search.
Purchasing
What payment methods can I use?
The purchase page allows you to pay with credit or debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, JCB, Discover, Diners Club) or Alipay. Unfortunately we cannot accept American Expresss (Amex) or PayPal. Orders over $1,000 have the option to pay via a bank wire transfer. Please contact us for bank wire transfer details.
Can I purchase Spine Essential now and upgrade to Professional later?
Yes. You can upgrade from Spine Essential to Spine Professional at any time for the difference in price. The upgrade is done from your Spine Essential license page. The link to your license page was emailed to you when you initially purchased Spine Essential.
Do you have a software reseller program or reseller discounts?
No, we don't. However, you may purchase Spine on behalf of your client. After purchasing, contact us with your client's name and email address and we will update their account information.
How and when do I receive Spine after purchasing?
Upon purchasing, you will immediately receive a link to your Spine license page where you can download Spine and begin using it right away.
How do I save my work which was done with the Spine Trial?
Sorry, this is not possible. The Spine Trial is for evaluation only, it does not have the save capability.
How do I upgrade from the Spine Trial to the full version of Spine?
The Spine Trial is for evaluation only, it does not upgrade to the full version. Instead, download the full version of Spine from your Spine license page.
Licensing
Can I install Spine on multiple computers?
Yes. You may install Spine on up to 2 computers, but only for your own use. Each person using Spine must have their own Spine license.
Can I install Spine on a new computer?
Yes. To deactivate an old installation, click the Spine logo in the upper left corner of Spine, then
Settings, then Log Out. Even if you don't log out, old installations that are no longer used are automatically discarded by the licensing system.Can I allow a friend or a group to use my Spine license?
No. Each Spine license is for a specific, named user. Each person using Spine must have their own Spine license.
Can I change the name and email address on my Spine license?
Yes, please contact us.
Can I use the Spine Runtimes in my open source project?
While we do contribute to a number of OSS projects (libgdx, Kryo, KryoNet, and many more), Spine is a commercial product. The Spine Runtimes and any derivative works or improvements must be released under the Spine Runtimes license. They cannot be released under the GPL, LGPL, BSD, MIT, or any other license that would supercede the Spine Runtimes license.To avoid having your software project become encumbered by the Spine Runtimes license, one solution is to make the Spine Runtimes portion of your software an optional module which is licensed under the Spine Runtimes license. This gives your users the choice to opt in to the Spine Runtimes license if desired, while still allowing you to license the rest of your project as you like.
Does a Spine Essential or Spine Professional license need to be purchased every year?
No. The Spine Essential and Spine Professional licenses provide you all future updates. You will never need to pay for Spine again in the future. However, once you earn more than $500,000 USD in one year (a great problem to have!), then you will need to purchase a Spine Enterprise license.
Does the Spine Enterprise license need to be purchased every year?
Yes. The Spine Enterprise license allows your company to use Spine and to build and distribute applications using the Spine Runtimes. The Spine Enterprise license expires after one year, after which time it needs to be purchased again to continue to use Spine or to distribute applications which make use of the Spine Runtimes.
How do I renew my Spine Enterprise license?
Within 90 days of expiration, your Spine license page will show a section for renewing your license. The cost of renewal is the same as a separate Spine Enterprise purchase, however renewing your existing license has the advantage that your users can continue to use the same activation code. If you make a new purchase, you will be issue a new activation code.
Running Spine
What are the system requirements for Spine?
Spine runs on Windows Vista, 7, 8, on macOS 10.7.3+, and on 32- and 64-bit Linux. Spine requires a graphics processor that supports OpenGL 2.0 or higher with the FBO extension. Nearly all modern computers should be able to run Spine. If you aren't sure, download the trial to see how well it works.
Why can't Spine contact the update server?
The first time Spine runs, it must connect to esotericsoftware.com using ports 443 and 80 to download an update. If you see the error, "Sorry, the server could not be contacted.", make sure you don't have any firewall or virus protection software blocking Spine from connecting to the server.The server is definitely up if you can reach esotericsoftware.com in a browser. This site may also be useful to verify the server is up. If it is, the problem is very likely to be with your computer or network configuration.If you are behind a proxy, Spine can be configured to use your proxy server.The servers are located in Japan and Europe. If you are located in China or your internet connection to the servers is very slow, you may just need to try multiple times or try again later.
Can Spine use a proxy server?
A proxy server can be specified on the command line.
Does Spine need an internet connection?
Spine requires an internet connection for the initial installation and activation, updating Spine, or changing the Spine version.
Can I disable automatic updates?
Yes. Click the Spine logo in the upper left corner of Spine, then
Settings, then choose the Spine version you want to use.Why is my activation code invalid?
If you are entering the activation code for the first time, be sure to copy and paste the code so there can't be any typos.If you were using Spine for some time and suddenly your activation code became invalid, your account may have been disabled. Please contact us and we will investigate the problem immediately.
Why doesn't the OK button appear after I enter my activation code?
The OK button appears once you've entered all the activation code characters, so you must have omitted some characters. It is best to copy and paste the activation code to avoid typos.
Why does nothing happen when I run Spine?
Are you running antivirus or other software that may interfere with Spine? For example, Bit Defender and 360 Browser have been known to falsely identify Spine as a virus and delete portions of Spine's files. Exclude Spine's installation directory from being tampered with by such software and reinstall Spine.Please see our troubleshooting guide.
Why does macOS complain that the Spine installer cannot be opened?
macOS has a security feature called Gatekeeper that disallows installation of software that isn't from the Mac App Store or is from "unidentified developers". To disable Gatekeeper so Spine can be installed, open Security & Privacy, click the lock icon, then set "Allow applications downloaded from:" to "Anywhere".
Why does Spine hang at start up on macOS?
Are you running antivirus, Finder "enhancements", or other software that may interfere with Spine? For example, Default Folder X causes Spine to hang and Rescue Time needs to be closed when Spine is started.Please see our troubleshooting guide.
Why does Spine crash on macOS when maximized?
Are you running software that may interfere with Spine? For example, Display Link, Duet Display, Twomon, and other display link programs may crash Spine when maximized.
How can I reset Spine to default settings?
If something has gone terribly wrong and Spine cannot start, it may be useful to forcefully reset all Spine settings. Spine stores all settings in a folder under the OS user home folder:Windows: C:\Users\<user name>\Spine\
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Spine/
Linux: ~/.spine/This folder can be deleted (or moved somewhere safe) to cause Spine to use the default settings and to redownload the latest update. On Mac, open Finder and press shift+command+G to get to the "~/Library/Application Support" folder, which is normally hidden.
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Spine/
Linux: ~/.spine/This folder can be deleted (or moved somewhere safe) to cause Spine to use the default settings and to redownload the latest update. On Mac, open Finder and press shift+command+G to get to the "~/Library/Application Support" folder, which is normally hidden.
Why is Spine recognized by antivirus software as a virus or trojan?
Antivirus and anti-malware software use heuristics to make guesses about what looks like a virus. This is how they attempt to identify a virus or malware that hasn't been seen before. However, they often guess incorrectly and report a false positive.We take security very seriously and guarantee there is absolutely no virus or malware in the Spine installer or installed application. This guarantee can be found in Section 8d of the Spine Editor License Agreement.We are in regular contact with 50+ software vendors such as Avast, Avira, BitDefender, Kaspersky, McAfee, Norton, and Symantec to resolve the false positives they report for our software. It is a constant game of whack-a-mole as they update their heuristics and we update our software. With many vendors it takes weeks or months to get a response, if we get one at all. Some require us to pay to get false positives resolved.Some antivirus software will delete or modify some of Spine's files, causing problems that are very frustrating and difficult to track down. We recommend whitelisting the Spine installation folder to avoid this problem.
Using Spine
Where do I begin learning about using Spine?
The Spine User Guide explains how to use Spine from start to finish. Many sections have videos to walk you through the various features.
What is the easiest way to bring my character into Spine?
While you can bring your images into Spine and arrange them manually, it is most efficient to use a script to automate this work. The Photoshop script is the most common, but there are also scripts for Gimp, Illustrator, and others.
Can I export data from Spine to other programs?
Yes. Spine exports data to its own JSON or binary format. You will need to transform your Spine data from one of these formats to soemthing that the other program can understand.
Can I import data from other programs into Spine?
Yes. Spine can import data in the same JSON and binary formats that it exports. You will need to transform your data from other programs into one of these formats.
Does Spine have a plugin system?
No, currently it does not. While running your own code within Spine would be very powerful, there are often ways to work around this limitation.It is very useful to write your own application specific tool to load your Spine data. This can be used for many things, such as associating animations and other parts of the skeletons with game or level data, or for visualizing application specific effects, such as particles or sounds.The Skeleton Viewer is a simple example of such a tool. By monitoring the data file, the tool can automatically reload the data. This allows for a workflow where the animator exports from Spine (`shift+ctrl+E` repeats the last export) and instantly see the visualization and other information in the tool.Also, occasionally it can be useful to export data to JSON or binary, manipulate the data, then import it back into Spine.
Which settings improve use of a pen tablet or touchpad/trackpad?
The
Pan and Zoom hotkeys (J and U by default) make it easier to pan and zoom. Zoom to mouse can be disabled to zoom to the center of the screen instead. Double click shortcuts can be disabled if they happen accidentally.Can multiple people work on the same Spine project file?
Yes, with some limitations. Spine supports importing an animation from one project to another. Copies of a project can be distributed to animators to create new animations. Later, those animations can be imported back into the master copy of the project. However, for this import to work, animators should stick to using animate mode. They cannot create new bones, slots, or other skeleton information.
How do I change the size of all my images used in Spine?
To change the size of the images used in Spine, first export to JSON, then import the same JSON. During the data import you can specify the scale you desire.However, usually this is not necessary. You can design your animations in Spine at one image size, then use a completely different image size at runtime by setting the appropriate scale. Use the size of images in Spine that is easy for you. It is often convenient to use one of the image sizes you will actually use in your game, but this is not a requirement.
Why does my exported GIF play back at a different speed than in Spine?
GIFs work by displaying frames with a delay between them, but most browsers don't support a delay of less than 0.02 seconds. Also it's best for the delay to be in 1/100th of a second increments. Use 50 FPS (0.02s) for the smoothest GIF playback, otherwise try 33 (~0.03s), 25 (0.04s), 20 (0.05s), 17 (~0.06s), 14 (~0.07s), 11 (~0.09s), or 10 (0.1s).
Why can't I set key frames or change keyable values?
Make sure you are in
Animate mode. You won't be able to set keys in Setup mode.Make sure you have an animation active. If no animation is active, the key buttons will be disabled. In the tree, expand Animations and click the visibility dot for the animation you want to edit. If no animations exist, create a new one.Make sure playback is stopped. Keyable values cannot be changed when an animation is playing. For example, event properties, bone flip, etc. If an animation is playing then immediately after you change the keyable value, playback moves to the next frame and the value is reverted (as if you had scrubbed the timeline) before you have a chance to set a key.Spine Runtimes
Can you add official support for my favorite game engine/toolkit/library?
We officially support 19 runtimes and the game development community has contributed more than 40 more. Maintaining these runtimes is quite time consuming and we also need to continue to improve and evolve Spine. We do try to support as many game toolkits as we can, but we can't possibly support them all. Instead, we provide generic runtimes for many different programming languages. These make it easy for you to add support for a game toolkit, you only need to implement rendering. Please post on the forum if you'd like your runtime added to our runtimes page.
What version of Spine works with what version of the Spine Runtimes?
Generally, the latest version of Spine works with the latest Spine Runtimes source. An occasional GitHub release marks the Spine Runtimes source as working with a specific Spine version.Like any software dependency, updating the Spine Runtimes should be done with caution. For example, right before your application release is not a good time. Typically animators should use a specific Spine version so that the Spine version and Spine Runtimes version stays in sync.
Why does my Spine data fail to load after updating my Spine Runtimes?
You need to export your data from your Spine project again. Compatibility is done at the Spine project level so that the Spine Runtimes are not encumbered with loading old data. Exporting data from your projects can be done in batches using the command line.
Why are meshes not displaying correctly?
Using whitespace stripping in the texture atlas will ruin mesh UVs, causing them to be rendered incorrectly. Individual mesh images should be trimmed of whitespace around the edges as needed before being used in Spine.The reason is that each mesh vertex is mapped to a location within the mesh's image. When whitespace is stripped, these mappings are ruined.
Spine User Guide
The Spine User Guide covers all the details of using Spine, from start to finish. It also includes tutorial videos to visually walk you through the learning process. Search the User Guide to quickly find what you need:
Also, don't miss the rest of Spine's comprehensive documentation for using the Spine, the Spine Runtimes, and more.
Spine Forum
The Spine forum is an invaluable source of information, containing more than 25,000 posts about Spine. Enter keywords to find the answers you need, using either the forum's built-in search or Google:
If you have a bug to report or a question about Spine or the Spine Runtimes, please post a new forum topic. If you haven't registered for the forum yet, it takes only a few moments and gives you acces to the entire Spine community.
Contact Us
If you are still unable to find the information you need, we are happy to help. However, we ask that you please use the Spine forum to report bugs or to ask questions about using Spine or the Spine Runtimes. This allows other users to benefit from the answers and avoids duplicate bug reports. Thank you!