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General Question About Adobe Products

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 17, 2021
3 replies
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Hello, I'm a full-time student who takes classes in communications/arts, which often require the use of Adobe products (Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Bridge, InDesign, etc.). For this particular class that I'm taking right now, we're using (or need to use) InDesign, and I just have a few questions/remarks:

- I have a Windows 10 PC, so on it, I don't have the Creative Cloud software available for FREE access (without having to pay/subscribe). The thing is, money is sort of an issue with me, and I'm not sure if I am able to afford the $20 or $50-something payment just for purchasing a product that I may be using only temporarily, even if it's just for a few months of the duration of the semester that I'm taking a class for.

I do, however, have the advantage of using the computers at the computer labs at my campus, which have Dell/Mac PCs, which of course have the Adobe software available on them, for free and accessible for all students.

- My other question in pertaining to that is, hypothetically speaking, if I am not able to get to campus about most of the time to use the computers for accessing Adobe products, I would like to know if there is a simple and easy way for me to be able to install the products on my own PC at home, without having to make some type of payment... If that's possible (or able to be clearly understood, if I'm wording it properly).

IF there isn't, then I completely understand; I'll just use my school's computers instead. But I'm asking generally if there is any way that I can be able to download Adobe products for free on my PC, just in case if there are some days that I don't feel it is necessary for me to physically go down to my campus to use the computers for any of my assignments?

PS: I'm a grad student who's studying communications/media arts, and it's kind of annoying, but some classes that I'm taking require the use/download of Adobe and that's what we're apparently using a lot of. Money is a serious issue for me, so I would like to know if there will be some sort of alternatives to my using/accessing some of these products.

Thank you.

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Mike Witherell

Community Expert

My daughters are in design studies in school. They are working remote due to COVID. The school provided them with usernames and login passwords.

Are you quite certain your school is not already providing this in the same way?

Mike Witherell

C

christian_girlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Mike,

Sorry for the late response.

If you're talking about a free Adobe license (if that's probably the right terminology for it), then yes, my school did provide a free license last year of March 2020, when the COVID pandemic first became serious and the campus had to shut down and we all had to go remote for the rest of the semester.

In my communications department, we were all offered a free, temporary Adobe license where we had to download it on our own computers (Mac Users, Windows users such as me for one), so even then, I was able to have free access to Adobe to use it for my class projects/assignments, and all that wonderful stuff. It expired that May, at the end of the semester.

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi,

I'm a part-time lecturer at university in Germany for magazine design classes.

Last semester we had the issue that all computer labs at campus were not available due to COVID.

And that all the time. From October to the end of the semester in February.

Plan A: The IT staff made the CC licenses available through a server system with Microsoft Remote Desktop to some students. Licenses were used that were available with the campus computers as far as I know. But this happened only in a very small scale; there were not enough resources for a full fledged server system for hundreds of students with remote access. For some lucky students this came at no extra cost. Of course you need fast internet to work with all the CC products remotely.

Plan B: The way out of the dilemma was a special deal with an Adobe reseller where the university bought about 1,500 CC subscriptions in bulk and handed over that special price per license to the individual student throughout all the faculties. The administrative workload was enormous, also for me, but in the end, very late in the semester, we had a workable solution for a reasonable price.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

C

christian_girlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Laubender,

Sorry for replying so late.

If you're talking about a free Adobe license (if that's probably the right terminology for it), then yes, my school did provide a free license last year of March 2020, when the COVID pandemic first became serious and the campus had to shut down and we all had to go remote for the rest of the semester.

In my communications department, we were all offered a free, temporary Adobe license where we had to download it on our own computers (Mac Users, Windows users such as me for one), so even then, I was able to have free access to Adobe on my own computer to use it for my class projects/assignments, and all that wonderful stuff. It expired that May, at the end of the semester.

I'm not sure if they're doing that right now for this semester, but they certainly didn't offer the free license anymore after May 2020, so back to my original point that I've made in my original post... I had to schedule lab time at my school to use the computers there and access Adobe.

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

If you're studying communications & media arts, then Adobe will be part of your career for the forseeable future.

There are no free versions of InDesign, well, not legal licenses that is.

Either use the computers at school (I know, that's tough during COVID), or purchase an academic license from a bonafide academic reseller. That's either:

your campus bookstore,
an online relailer like https://www.journeyed.com/products/Adobe/293689
or Adobe.com https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/buy/students.html

You, of course, will have to prove you're a bonafide students at a bonafide educational institution, so have ready your student ID or other proof of matriculation. There sometimes is a waiting period for the reseller to verify your eligibility.

Looks like the current price is $20/month or $240 per year. I don't think you can "rent" the software for 3 months, but must instead purchase a year's license.

I understand, that's a lot of money to cough up when you're in school and out of work. Wish Adobe had better options for students, especially since they can't use campus computers right now due to COVID.

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

C

christian_girlAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Bevi Chagnon,

Thank you for your response and your understanding. I guess I wouldn't really mind just using the computers at my school (the libraries have Dell computers, and the printing areas have Mac computers), as well as other academic buildings, including my building with my major (communications/media), which also have Dell and Mac PCs on each floor and each classroom, and Adobe is free and accessible on them.

I'm just saying that it kind of sucks that Adobe doesn't come for free on Windows PCs (which is the PC that I own and use), but I guess there really is nothing I can do about it.

In fact... During the height of the COVID thing last year March, my school offered a free Adobe license for all students for the rest of that spring semester, when we all had to go remote learning for the rest of the semester and spring break was extended by a week. So, for three of my classes within my major that required the use of Adobe, our instructors gave us the link to download Adobe for free wih the Adobe license offered by the university. So, I was able to access Adobe from my own PC at home and complete assignments, projects, and all that wonderful stuff.

And after the semester ended, the free license expired, and so for the fall semester (which was my final semester before I graduated), I had to make use of lab time by going down to my school almost every day to use Adobe for my class projects/assignments.

So, yeah, I guess that's all I'll do for now. I appreciate your assistance and your getting back to me.

Also, yeah, it is pretty tough for me; I'm a full-time student and I've been trying to find work, mostly within my field of study. I'm trying to seek internships/entry-level jobs, not much success, though, but I'm just hanging in there. I don't work at the moment, so that's pretty much why money is sort of an issue for me. I'd like to purchase the Student plan for Adobe, but I'd rather save my money until I can actually find a job of some kind (anything, really), and I wouldn't mind just going to my campus to use the computers... I guess I was really trying to say, I woudn't want to make it that much of a habit being on campus, especially during COVID.

And at the same time, I really wouldn't want to burden my parents with money and such, since they've already spent enough purchasing my books and reading materials for my graduate courses that I'm currently taking for this semester, which are all evening classes. And for one of those classes, I need to use Adobe InDesign, which is why I'm reaching out in the first place. But yes, I do understand your assistance, and I always kind of hoped that there was a way Adobe can be made accessible, especially for students who are struggling or unable to afford it, and are not always able to go to school/access it anywhere else. And I guess free and accesible for Windows PC users (such as myself, for one), not just for Dell or MacBook users.

Anyway, thanks for your help.

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