# Keeping a Mark: what happens each year, and with Pro

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/keeping-a-mark)

Claiming a Mark is paid once. Holding on to it is a yearly matter, unless you have Pro. Here is the whole cycle: reminders, renewals, what lapsing means, and what always stays yours.

## The short version

- Claiming a Gradiently Mark is a payment made once, and the first year of keeping it is included.
- After the first year, keeping is free for every Mark you own while you have Pro, or a yearly fee per Mark without it.
- Without Pro, each Mark renews on its own once a year, and Gradiently reminds you a month and a week before.
- If a keeping payment doesn't go through, the Mark stays yours through a grace period and is marked as lapsing; if it is still unpaid after that, it returns to the Market.
- Designs you have already exported stay yours whatever happens to the Mark.

**Keeping a Mark** works like this. You pay once to claim it, and the first year of keeping is included. After that year, keeping is free for every Mark you own while you have Pro; without Pro, each Mark has its own yearly keeping fee. If a year goes unpaid there is a grace period, then the Mark returns to the Market for someone else to claim. Whatever happens, the designs you have already exported stay yours.

Keeping exists because a Mark has exactly one owner at a time. While you keep it, nobody else can export with it. If a Mark could be held forever without any commitment, abandoned Marks would sit out of reach of people who would actually use them.

## The year of a Mark, from claim to renewal

| When | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| The day you claim | You pay once. The Mark is yours, with a certificate in your name and its first year of keeping included. |
| Through the year | Design and export with it freely. Its certificate shows **Licence runs to** with the date the year ends. |
| A month before the year ends | Without Pro, we remind you by email and in the notification bell. |
| A week before | A second reminder. |
| The day the year ends | Without Pro, we charge your saved card for the next year, or email you a link to pay if no card is saved. With Pro, nothing to do. |
| If payment doesn't go through | The Mark stays yours through a grace period, marked as lapsing, and we remind you before it runs out. |
| If it is still unpaid | The Mark returns to the Market. Its history records it as returned to Gradiently. |

Each Mark keeps its own calendar. If you claimed three Marks on three different days, they renew on three different days.

## Keeping with Pro and without it

### With Pro

- Every Mark you own is kept free, however many
- No renewal dates to watch for your Marks
- Pro also brings 4K exports, every format and unlimited designs
- If Pro ends, each Mark moves to yearly keeping when its current year ends

### Without Pro

- A yearly keeping fee for each Mark, on its own date
- Charged to your saved card, or paid from an emailed link
- Reminders a month and a week before
- Turn renewal off for any Mark whenever you like

The arithmetic is simple to do for yourself: if you own several Marks, or design often enough to want full quality exports, Pro tends to be the tidier choice. If you hold one Mark and export rarely, yearly keeping may suit you. [Gradiently free vs Pro](https://gradiently.design/guide/gradiently-pricing-explained) lays out both plans in full.

## What lapsing means for your designs

A lapsing Mark is still yours. During the grace period nothing is lost: the Mark stays in your Marks, nobody else can claim it, and renewing or starting Pro puts everything back exactly as it was.

Once a licence has ended, designing still works and your designs stay editable, but exporting with that Mark asks you to renew. That is the line to remember: **the look keeps rendering, exporting needs a kept Mark.** Files you exported while you held the Mark are yours to keep and use.

| State | Design with it | Export with it | Yours? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kept | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lapsing, in the grace period | Yes | Renew or start Pro first | Yes, nobody else can claim it |
| Returned to the Market | Only as anyone can, while unclaimed | No | No; files already exported stay yours |

Lapsing is a warning, not a loss. The Mark only leaves you when the grace period ends unpaid.

> **Export before you let a Mark go** If you decide not to renew, export the final versions of everything you might need, at every size, while the Mark is still yours. [Exporting images and loops](https://gradiently.design/guide/export-images-and-loops) covers the formats.

## How to renew, or stop renewing

1. **Open Settings › Marks you hold** Every Mark you own is listed with the date its current year ends and whether it renews.
2. **Renew from the reminder, if you prefer** The reminder email carries a link. Opening it renews that Mark for another year in one step.
3. **Turn renewal off for a Mark** It stays yours until the end of the year you've paid for. After that it goes through the grace period and returns to the Market unless you change your mind.
4. **Or keep everything with Pro** Start Pro and every Mark you own is kept free from then on, including any that are lapsing.

If you know you are finished with a Mark, there is a faster route than letting it lapse. **Release** sends it straight back to the Market. Or pass it on: [transfer it](https://gradiently.design/guide/transfer-a-mark) to someone for free, or [list it at your price](https://gradiently.design/guide/list-a-mark-on-the-market) if you would like to be paid.

## Cancelling Pro with Marks you own

Cancel Pro any time in Settings › Billing. Pro stays on until the end of the time you've paid for. Your Marks stay yours; each one moves to yearly keeping when its current year ends. Start Pro again later and they are all kept free again.

If a Pro payment fails, Pro and free keeping carry on for a short while as the payment is tried again. Update your card in Settings › Billing during that time and nothing changes. If it still isn't paid, Pro ends and your Marks move to yearly keeping, each on its own date.

## What never changes while you keep a Mark

- **The recipe.** A Mark's look is fixed once published, so it never shifts under designs that wear it.
- **The code.** It names the Mark for good, whoever owns it. See [what a Mark code means](https://gradiently.design/guide/mark-codes-explained).
- **The creator.** Gradiently crafted the Mark, and that stays on its record whoever owns it.
- **Your exported files.** Downloaded designs are yours whatever happens next.

A kept Mark looks exactly the same in its fifth year as on the day it was claimed. Keeping pays for exclusive use, not for changes.

If you haven't claimed a Mark yet, [how to find and claim a Mark](https://gradiently.design/guide/how-to-claim-a-mark) walks through choosing one you'll want to keep for years.

## FAQ

### Do I have to pay every year to keep a Mark?

The first year comes with your claim. After that, keeping is free with Pro, or a yearly fee per Mark without it.

### What happens if I don't renew a Mark?

It stays yours through a grace period, marked as lapsing. If keeping is still unpaid after that, the Mark returns to the Market.

### Do I lose my designs if a Mark lapses?

No. Designs you already exported stay yours, and your designs stay editable; exporting again with that Mark asks you to renew.

### Does Pro keep all my Marks free?

Yes. While you have Pro, keeping is free for every Mark you own, however many.

### How do I stop a Mark from renewing?

Turn renewal off in Settings › Marks you hold. It stays yours until the end of the year you've paid for.