Help, FAQs & Support
Problems? Questions? I would start by looking at the full Mockups Online Help documentation. If that's not enough, you can look for answers, send us comments, feature requests, praises and rants about Mockups at the Balsamiq Mockups Get Satisfaction site. We are listening! Also, feel free to email or call us with questions or issues you are having with our software. If you'd like to talk in person, you can also contact us by phone or Skype.
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“I am floored by your amazing customer service!”
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“Over the last week [Peldi] and I have exchanged many emails and IMs about the product. Its the type of relationship I hope to build with my customers one day.”
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I update to the latest version of Mockups for Desktop?
- I never received / lost my license key, what should I do?
- Can I use the same license key on multiple machines?
- I am getting an error when I try to install Mockups. What can I do?
- I am getting an error when I try to update. What can I do?
- I can't register: the Activate button stays disabled. What can I do?
- Why are you using Comic Sans MS, and how can I change it?
- How can I use non-latin text in Mockups?
- Can I add a custom controls or icon?
- How can I reuse common elements across mockups?
- Is there a more formal skin for Mockups?
- Is there a Mockups Viewer to share my prototypes with my clients?
- Can Mockups integrate with XYZ?
- Can Mockups Export to HTML/CSS/JS, MXML, XAML, Ruby, etc?
- What's the difference between version X and Y of Mockups?
- How do I transfer a Mockups for Desktop license from a user to another?
- Do you offer educational discounts?
How do I update to the latest version of Mockups for Desktop?
Simply head over to the Download Page and install Mockups for Desktop on top of your existing installation. You won't have to re-register.
To know what changed, take a look at the Release Announcements category on our blog.
I never received / lost my license key, what should I do?
If you bought via credit card, the serial number is sent to you via email automatically. It usually comes very quickly, but in some cases it might take up to a few days (this happens if Paypal or Google Checkout decides to run a routine security check on your transaction). If you haven't received a key for a while, please check your spam folder, then contact us and we will look it up for you.
If you bought a plugin version of Mockups your wiki/JIRA administrator can retrieve the serial number.
- Mockups for Confluence: go to Administration > Plugins > Balsamiq Mockups > Configure Plugin interface.
- Mockups for JIRA: go to ADMINISTRATION > Balsamiq Mockups License.
- Mockups for XWiki: instructions here.
If you still can't find it, email us and we'll look it up.
Can I use the same license key on multiple machines?
Yes! The license for Mockups for Desktop is tied to you, not a particular machine. Install it on any machine you own and use, and enjoy!
I am getting an error when I try to install Mockups. What can I do?
I would try two things: first of all, see if you can download the Mockups air file from here: MockupsForDesktop.air. If you can't, it means that your computer cannot reach our server. Please email us and we'll take it from there.
If you are getting any other error, please refer to Adobe's Troubleshoot Adobe AIR installation issues (Windows, Mac OS) article for tips on what to do.
If the above options don't help, email us and we'll take it from there.
I am getting an error when I try to update. What can I do?
If you get the error above, simply uninstall the current version of Mockups and try again.
To uninstall Mockups:
- On Windows: use "Add/Remove Programs" from your Control Panel and uninstall Balsamiq Mockups
- On Mac OS X: simply delete the "Balsamiq Mockups" file from your Applications directory
- On Linux: open System/Administration/"Synaptic Package Manager", search button, type "balsamiq", right click on it and select "Mark for Removal" (NOT the complete removal option) and Apply. Close the package manager and try installing the app again. You may have to launch it twice before it all goes back to normal.
After uninstalling, download the new version from here, it should install fine and keep all of your old settings.
You can find more info on why you're getting this error in the first place on this blog post.
I can't register: the Activate button stays disabled. What can I do?
The Activate button only gets enabled if the company name / serial key combination is a valid one. Both are case sensitive so we suggest copying and pasting them from the email receipt instead of trying to type them manually.
Sometimes a character gets lost somewhere along the way. If you still can't activate, please email us a screenshot of your activation dialog, it would go a long way helping us diagnose the issue.
Why are you using Comic Sans MS, and how can I change it?
Starting with the May 26th 2009 update, Mockups uses Chalkboard as the default font on OS X.
On Windows and Linux, we are looking for a good replacement font at the moment, if you have any ideas we'd love to hear them!
That said, if you are using Mockups for Desktop, you can swap out Comic Sans MS with any font on your system! Instructions on how to set it up are here. You might also be interested in this list of 40 Free High Quality Hand-drawn Fonts. If instead you'd like to create a font from your own handwriting, you can try out this new FontCapture service.
How can I use non-latin text in Mockups?
The default fonts used by Mockups only include a subset of international characters. To enter non-latin text such as asian languages or characters with accents, you can do one of two things:
- Select "Use System Fonts" from the View menu
- Swap out the default font with one of your choice which includes the characters you need. Instructions above
Can I add a custom controls or icon?
Yes and no. At the moment you cannot add elements to the UI Library yourself. The library includes 75 control types, and we are always happy to add new ones if they are broadly useful to people. Just send us an email with a few screenshots of the control you're looking for and we'll see what we can do. Mockups gets updated weekly, so the turnaround time is usually pretty quick.
If instead you have a very special control that's specific to your project, we suggest you take a look at the import image feature, which will even let you "sketch-ize" your image to make it fit with the rest of the app. We would also appreciate a screenshot or two of your special controls if you can share them, we might be able to add a more general form of it easily.
For controls that are really just groups of simple mockup controls, see the section below.
If this answer doesn't satisfy you and you want more, please email us about it! We'd love to hear your opinion on this subject.
How can I reuse common elements across mockups?
You can use the XML import/export feature coupled with the image feature, as shown in this video.
You may also be interested in Mockups To Go, a user-contributed collection of ready-to-use UI components and design patterns built using Balsamiq Mockups.
We are also planning on implementing a way to "link in" a mockup, as discussed in this GetSatisfaction thread. We can't wait to implement it but it's a very hard feature to do so it might take a few more months, hopefully we'll be done by the end of 2009.
If this answer doesn't satisfy you and you want more, please email us about it! We'd love to hear your opinion on this subject.
Is there a more formal skin for Mockups?
We don't currently have any short-term plans to support other skins in Mockups. The problem with a polished look and feel is that it gets easily confused for a semi-finished product, discouraging discussion about the structure of the application / web site. On top of that, people have a natural tendency to look at details like the color of a button or whether an icon is the right one for the job, neither of which makes for productive brainstorming. Wireframes created with Mockups intentionally scream "I am just a draft, criticize at will, I won't get offended", which help elicit honest feedback.
That said, Mockups saves in XML (a flavor I called BMML), so someone could conceivably build a translator from BMML to another format which uses other assets. We are always interested in ways to make the app better, so send us an email if you'd like to chat about this.
Is there a Mockups Viewer to share my prototypes with my clients?
Yes! All you have to do is open all the mockups you'd like to package together, link them up if you want and "Export All to PDF..." from the File.
A single PDF file will be created, with a mockup on each page and even interlinked pages!
This requires Mockups for Desktop 1.6.45, published on Nov 13th, 2009. So if you have a previous build, update now!
Can Mockups integrate with XYZ?
At the moment Mockups can integrate with Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian JIRA, XWiki and FogBugz. We continuously work to integrate it with other prominent wikis, bug tracking and Web Office platforms, and we hope to release at least two new integrations a year. Integration requires quite a bit of work on our part, and our license agreement specifies that we (Balsamiq employees) are the only people allowed to build such integrations.
We are also hard at work creating a web based version of Mockups hosted on our servers, which will provide APIs for integration (but not for another 6 months or so). If your favorite platform is released under GPL or is just starting to gain traction integrating with the online version will be the way to go, as no code is "released" and you'll be able to do it yourself.
Can Mockups Export to HTML/CSS/JS, MXML, XAML, Ruby, etc?
Not directly, no.
There are too many technologies for a small company like ours to keep track of and export to, so we don't plan on adding export capabilities natively any time soon.
Our strategy instead is to use an open, well-documented file format and work with partners to provide such features. There are already a number of projects under way which extend Mockups this way, see for yourself in the community page.
If you'd like to write an extension for Mockups, do get in touch, we'd love to help you as much as we can.
What's the difference between version X and Y of Mockups?
Here's a summary table:
| Mockups Version | Price | System Requirements | Mockups Saved... | Linking Support | Collaboration | Revision History | Trial Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web Demo | Free | Browser | manually via Export/Import | export to PNG and email | nagging screen | ||
| Desktop (Demo) | Free | Win, Mac, Linux | manually via Export/Import | screenshot and email | nagging screen | ||
| Desktop (Paid) | $79+ | Win, Mac, Linux | as BMML files | ✓ | lots of ways | ||
| Confluence | $149+ | Atlassian Confluence | as attachments | ✓ | via Confluence | ✓ | 30-days |
| JIRA | $149+ | Atlassian JIRA | as attachments | soon | via JIRA | ✓ | 30-days |
| XWiki | $250+ | XWiki Enterprise | as attachments | soon | via XWiki | ✓ | 30-days |
| FogBugz | $237+ | FogCreek FogBugz 7 | as attachments | soon | via FogBugz | ✓ | 30-days |
| Web App | $12/mo+ | Browser | in the cloud | soon | web native | ✓ | 30-days |
Still have questions? Get in touch!
How do I transfer a Mockups for Desktop license from a user to another?
Our Mockups for Desktop Volume Licenses are named and transferrable, meaning that if one of your employees leaves you may recycle that license to a different user. Starting with Mockups for Desktop v1.6.28 (published on Sep.2nd 2009), transferring a license is very easy:
- Select "Unregister from this Computer..." from the Balsamiq Mockups Help menu on all the computers of the person that's no longer going to use it
- Install Mockups for Desktop (install link) on the new user's machine and use your license key information (the one you received via email or invoice) to register it.
That's it!
Here's a little screenshot of all the different screens you'll be seeing (click on the image to enlarge it)
Do you offer educational discounts?
Yes we do!
High-schools and other academic institutions with students aged 17 or younger: you are eligible for Mockups for Desktop completely for free. See details here.
Universities and other academic institutions with students aged 18 or older:
- Mockups for Desktop: we'll be happy to offer you an additional 50% off any orders of 10 or more licenses. Let us know if you're interested and we'll set up a discount code for you.
- Mockups for Confluence: we offer academic pricing (50% off of commercial licenses). See here for details.
- Mockups for JIRA: we offer academic pricing (50% off of commercial licenses). See here for details.
- Mockups for XWiki: we offer academic pricing (50% off of commercial licenses). See here for details.
- Mockups for FogBugz: we offer academic pricing (50% off of commercial licenses). See here for details.
If you run UX or IA workshops, we're planning on hosting a version of Mockups for you to use with your workshop participants free of charge. Details coming soon.
