Inspiration® 9 Technical Support
System Requirements
Upgrade Information
Inspiration 9.0.3 updater - US Edition
Frequently Asked Questions
Inspiration Presenter
Quick Tour
Quick Start Guide
Contact Technical Support
The current version is 9.0.3. Inspiration 8 users, click here for Help Center. Inspiration 7 users click here, and Inspiration 6 users click here.
Version 9.0.3 (released August 2011)
System Requirements
Windows® : XP or higher, including Windows 8
Macintosh® : OS X 10.4 or higher
Recommended:
- Internet connection*
- QuickTime®
Optional:
- Interactive electronic whiteboard
- Microphone
* For downloaded products, the computer on which the downloaded product is installed must be connected to the Internet for the product to be activated.
Upgrade Information
Learn what's new in Inspiration 9!
If you are an Inspiration user, you will still be able to read your files and use your previously created templates and symbol libraries with Inspiration 9. One of the many great features of Inspiration 9 is that you can save your Inspiration 9 files as Inspiration 8 files, for exchanging with others who haven't yet upgraded.
Inspiration 9.0.3 updater
Download the Inspiration 9.0.3 updater.
Note: This update is for the US edition only.
Windows - All Versions
Mac OS X
If you installed Inspiration 9 from a physical CD for a single or volume license, use this updater: CD version
If you purchased a single-license activation code for Inspiration 9, use this updater: download version
This free update adds:
- Diagrams, Outlines and Maps can now be exported to PowerPoint via the File menu, Export to PowerPoint
- Mac OS X 10.7 Lion support
Users currently running Inspiration 9.0 or 9.0a can be updated to version 9.0.3.
Installation notes
- Save all custom libraries, templates and documents out of the Inspiration directory before updating
- Mac users should uninstall their current version of Inspiration 9 before running the new installer
Inspiration Presenter

Play your presentation directly from Inspiration 9 or, in the absence of Inspiration 9, on any Windows® or Macintosh® computer using Inspiration Presenter. Click here to download Inspiration Presenter – it’s free and convenient!
Note: Inspiration Presenter is also available on the Inspiration 9 install CD.
Quick Tour
See first hand how Inspiration helps students grade 6 to adult develop strong thinking skills!
View the Inspiration Quick Tour, a comprehensive tutorial illustrating the key features of Inspiration 9. You'll see how easy it is for students to create webs, mind maps, concept maps, graphic organizers, process flows, and other diagrams for thinking, organizing and writing.
You will need a QuickTime® player to view the Quick Tours. To get QuickTime, click here.
Quick Start Guide
Download the Inspiration Quick Start Guide.
To view this file you may need to install Adobe® Reader®.
The Quick Start Guide is designed to introduce you to the new capabilities in Inspiration 9 and includes how-to steps to help you get started using them quickly and easily. Learn how to create mind maps in the new Map View, and create compelling presentations from your work in Diagram, Outline and Map Views in the new Presentation Manager. Before you know it, you'll be using Inspiration to help your students comprehend, create, communicate and achieve more!
Use the Quick Start Guide when you download your trial version and when you begin using your own copy of Inspiration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I play my Inspiration 9 Presentation on a computer that does not have Inspiration 9 installed on it?
A: Yes, the presentation can play on a computer withour Inspiration 9 by using the Inspiration Presenter. It can be found in the Help menu under "Copy to Inspiration Presenter". Alternatively, it can be downloaded from this link . Copy of transfer the Inspiration Presenter to the target computer and open it. Then use the Open dialog to select the presentation file.
Q: When drawing a link to a symbol I see a green glow around the destination symbol, what is that?
A: The green glow indicates the potential connection points along the symbol for straight link lines. This is an increase over the default eight connection points on a symbol. It allows for a smooth movement when repositioning the symbols in the document.
Q: I saved an Inspiration 9 file as an Inspiration 8 file and my inserted graphics are not appearing.
A: In Inspiration 9, insert the image as TIF, PNG, or GIF and save it back as an Inspiration 8 file.
Q: I'm trying to open a presentation file on a computer withour Inspiration 9 installed and getting an error of "Command line option syntax error. Type Command/? for help?" What's happening?
A: To open the presentation file, first launch the Inspiration Presenter then use the Open dialog menu to open the .isf file
Q: I'm using Inspiration 9 on Snow Leopard and having difficulty printing my presentation slides.
A: Try an earlier version on the printer's driver. If there are still difficulties contact us at technical support.
Q: I just upgraded to Activinspire on my Promethean whiteboard and now handwriting recognition doesn't work.
A: Inspiration applications do not support handwriting recognition under the latest version of Promethean's software, although most other features should work as expected. However, we do support ActivStudio 3, Promethean's next, most recent major version, for handwriting recognition on the PC and Mac (on the latter, prior to OS 10.6, for which a separate issue exisits).
Q: Will Inspiration 9 run on a Novell server?
A: While there has been nothing added to prevent Inspiration 9 from running from a Novell server, it is not a tested environment. Thus, Novell is not a formerly supported operating system for Inspiration 9.
Contact Technical Support
If you don't find what you need here, please feel free to email techsupport@inspiration.com.
