How many computers can I put Photoshop on?

[galacticagal]

I read somewhere that you can have it on up to two comptuters (home and work) but only one may be used at a time.

But can it be installed on two laptops?

my other question is if i were to get a macbook next year would i be able to transfer my photoshop over to the mac and deactiviate it on one my other laptop?

I just need some questions answered before I go out and make a huge purchase lol

Thanks for any advice.

[Guest · Accepted solution]

You can install it on more than 2 machines, but you can only have 2 activated copies at any one time.

Of these two activated computers you can only run one at a time.

So yes, it you deactivate you can install on another machine.

[galacticagal]

ok thanks that excatly what i wanted to know

im new to photoshop and just used up my trial.. now my mom wants to try it out on our home computer. so we will probably purchase it after that, but i wanted to make sure it could be on two computers (so maybe she will split the cost with me) haha

[Noel Carboni]

Getting someone to help pay for things is great, but...  The letter of the End User License Agreement (EULA) says that the license is for one primary user only, and while you can successfully activate it on two different systems, it's not to be used by anyone else or at the same time.

It's a bit dry to read the EULA, but if you want to look you can find it here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/eulas/

Check section 2.5.

-Noel

[acresofgreen]

I've wondered about the EULA - any idea why the license is for one user?  It would seem to me that a software manufacturer can control the usage of legal copies on one computer at a time through the activation process, but there is no way they can control WHO is using the computer.  If Adobe is worrying about more than one professional designer making money with only one license - that seems pretty far-fetched to me, since the activation process doesn't let them use the product at the same time.

Aside from the licensing issue, if the OP's Mom is not familiar with Photoshop and doesn't want to spend all her free time learning how to use it, Photoshop Elements might be a good holiday present for her instead of expecting her to help finance the professionally priced Photoshop

(Though if the OP is a student, Photoshop should be affordable enough at the education price.)

[Noel Carboni]

acresofgreen wrote:

I've wondered about the EULA - any idea why the license is for one user?

It always came off to me as lawyers justifying their existence, frankly.

And by the way, they don't *actually* check for simultaneous use, but you didn't hear that from me.

-Noel

[RobertoBlake]

Of course it is, and it's impractical and doesn't even mesh with how professional design works particularly at an in-house group or an ad agency. The computer is going to be used by who ever is on shift that day to use it or whatever freelancer is drafted to work on that project. If Adobe is really concerned with individual users holding licences of the software and want to protect it, they should do the following:

You buy a license you can install the software on as many machines as you want, however you cannot use 80% of the features unless you login with you Adobe User ID. Meaning that if you want to open, rename, resize or reformat a file or change the names of layers and such, you can do all of that, but to do any meaningful work you have to be registered Adobe Product User with a license for that software or theorhetically your employer, or department head does.

This just makes a lot more sense to me.

[Guest]

I believe, when they say one user, they mean one user account on a computer.

[Noel Carboni]

I hate to be a wet blanket, but they mean - in no uncertain terms - exactly what's stated in the EULA.  It's a legal document that you agree to follow when you accept it.

If you have a corporate need for the product, there are licensing schemes not listed for everyday users on the Adobe web pages.  You need to call their Sales folks to investigate this.

-Noel

[Dodowatermellon]

I am planning on upgrading to Windows 10, I am putting all the files I want on a disk then doing a clean install. I have registered photoshop elements 9 on windows 7, if I do a clean install then install photoshop elements again will I be able to or will it reject me because the serial key has been used?

[joadym77722434]

Thanks....

[Floart]

Hi ! 
Is there a way to add a 3rd computer ? Should I change Formula to be able to work on 3 computers ? Thanks for your care and reply !  (Yup ! Working a lot ! LOL !)

[davescm]

If you try and activate on a 3rd computer, you will be asked to deactivate on one of the others. Note the CC license allows you to activate on two computers but only use on one at a time.

Dave

[JofreJKD]

Or.... run anyway with internet turned off - smh give me break. If you allow for two pc's in a household let it run on two pcs in the household. so stupid.

[davescm]

Your subscription is personal, nothing to do with households or premises.

The exact words are :

Your subscription lets you activate the Software on up to two devices (or virtual machines) at a time, however, you may not use the Software on the two devices simultaneously.

https://wwwimages2.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/en/legal/servicetou/Software-Additional-Terms_en_US_2020...

and

6.2 Misuse. You must not misuse the Services or Software. For example, you must not:

.......

(C) enable or allow others to use the Services or Software using your account information;

https://www.adobe.com/uk/legal/terms.html

Personally, I've never had a need to run it on two devices simultaneously, I can only use one at a time.

However, if you don't like the terms, you will need to take it up with Adobe directly, this forum is answered by volunteer users - we are not employees.

Dave

[DaveJCummings]

Exactly.  I only have it on my newest Macbook as well as my old Macbook. I don't need more than 2 devices.  I understand the frustration, but limiting to 2 devices is good, because there would definitely be some people who would abuse it if it allowed for more than 2 devices.

[Conrad_C]

Dave’s correct: The word “household” is not used in the Adobe terms, so that doesn’t define it. They call it a “single-user license.” Because it is a single-user license, it doesn’t provide for multiple users. For that, Adobe has multi-user licenses like Creative Cloud Teams.

Can I use my software on two computers? (Adobe FAQ)

“No more than one user can use a single-user-license Adobe product.”

There are other software companies like Apple and Microsoft who do use the word “household” in their legal terms; I think the Mac App Store and Microsoft Office 365 Consumer allow for up to five users in a household per license. But that can’t be applied to Adobe unless that is how their legal terms are written.