Accessing free trial of FrameMaker 2022

[Michael at Astec]

Adobe has a page where you can sign up for a free trial vesion of FrameMaker. I completed the form on that page, and got the download, and installed it.

However, when I start the app, it presents a dialog box as follows:

Clicking the "Start free trial" button opens a page to start a free trial of Adobe Creative Cloud, which is something I already have, and does not include FrameMaker. 

So I am confused about how to actually start the free trial. Closing the dialog box exits the application. 

I got a confirmation email saying "Welcome to your Adobe FrameMaker Trial." It gives an email address for queries, but no one has responded to an email I sent asking how to start the free trial.

It seems like the free trial enrollment system is broken.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Try this link - https://helpx.adobe.com/framemaker/kb/framemaker-downloads.html 
Sorry - hit enter too quick - then download the Update 4 version - that actually downloads a file.

[Michael at Astec]

I have the app and it is installed. I just cannot use it, because there is no apparent way to activate the trial mode.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

When you start it up, what is happening? Post a screenshot using the "Insert Photos" icon.

[Michael at Astec]

I did. It is included in my original post above.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Oh, then your best bet is to ping the FM folks - see https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/enterprise-support.other.html#framemaker for your Adobe Support options. I'd recommend using the tcssup@adobe.com e-mail address as it reaches a team dedicated to Technical Communication Suite products including FrameMaker.

[Michael at Astec]

OK, I will try that.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Is there a chance you'd previously used the trial version? If not, I'm sure the email address Jeff provided can help sort it out.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Also, in a pinch, I've created a new Windows user and been able to install troublesome software for short term use.

[Michael at Astec]

I've never used FrameMaker before.

[Michael at Astec]

UPDATE: I heard back from Adobe TCS Support. Apparently an enterprise profile (what I have) is not compatible with FrameMaker and/or the free trial. It seems that FrameMaker uses a different type of Adobe profile that those that are managed with Adobe Admin Console, which I believe or assume is what enterprise accounts are using. It looks like I would need to create a new ID, although the response from support made it sound like I could sign in with my personal ID that is associated with my business account, but so far I've not had any luck getting that to work.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Might be the trial process because lots of enterprise accounts have FM. Of course now it's part of a subscription plan, so it's a bit different than the way it used to be when perpetual licenses were around. 

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Ah, they seem to be saying that your current ID isn't eligible for a trial.

I contemplated mentioning using an auxilliary Adobe ID, but that's pretty clearly against what Adobe wants in those using trials.

Ensure your (eventual) licensing is done using the proper ID...I know FrameMaker users that have had to log in and out of IDs to access CC apps like Acrobat and Photoshop due to licensing issues.

Of course, nothing stops you from using the trial on your personal device, if all you need to do is run it through its paces for a month.

[Michael at Astec · Accepted solution]

UPDATE #2: I got a callback from the Adobe support person, named "Shashank." He walked me through the process step by step. The big thing was that, after making a change to my profile that he had previously told me about (disabling automatic profile selection), I had not shut down FrameMaker and restarted it. That was the secret key.

So while in trial mode, to use FrameMaker I have to sign out from other Adobe apps (sign out the main account, which is the business profile), start FrameMaker, sign in to the personal profile that is connected to the buiness profile. Then when done using/testing FrameMaker, I have to sign out, and then sign back in to other Adobe apps using the business profile. A bit of a pain, but I guess I can handle that for the short term.

I was happy with the responsiveness of this support team, and this person in particular. I guess you could call it the Shashank Redemption.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Stephen King would be proud 😉

Yes, that profile workaround matches what I've heard of in corporate environments.

[Two-fer]

I ended up having Adobe move all my subscriptions to my personal profile so I didn't have to keep logging in/logging out to use Acrobat and Illustrator together with FrameMaker. It is crazy that they do not have a corporate/business license available for FrameMaker--they must think we are all free-lancers. Sigh.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

I suspect it has more to do with the CC ecosystem and that TCS doesn't have a license volume that supports a myriad of options. Maybe we should start a petition to add Fm to the CC...

Glad to hear you got it resolved!