InDesign Server activates as Developer Edition

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Resolve licensing issues by clearing the cache and reactivating with the Adobe Provisioning Toolkit Enterprise Edition (APTEE) tool in Adobe InDesign.

When Adobe InDesign Server activates as Developer Edition instead of the licensed production version, the issue is usually caused by cached licensing information left from a previous installation or activation attempt.

If licensing information is not correctly communicated and stored, it can sometimes lead to this behavior.

InDesign Server activates in developer edition mode

Stop all running instances of Adobe InDesign Server.

Rename SLCache in System Library/Application Support/Adobe (macOS) or C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe (Windows).

Reactivate InDesign Server using the APTEE tool. The command takes the format: adobe_prtk --tool=Serialize --leid=V7{}InDesignServer-<version number>-<OS>-GM --serial=<serialNumber> --adobeid=<email>

For example: adobe_prtk --tool=Serialize --leid=V7{}InDesignServer-13-Win-GM --serial=<serialNumber> --adobeid=<email>

Restart the server and verify that output files no longer contain the Developer Edition watermark.

If the issue continues, confirm that you're using the correct installer for your license type. Organizations transitioning from serial-number–based deployment to Adobe Admin Console deployment must completely uninstall the previous version before installing the new package.

For Admin Console deployments, create packages using Admin Consoles.