Adobe Creative Cloud

Description

Adobe Creative Cloud

Updated August 23, 2023

Campus-wide FAQ regarding Adobe Creative Cloud

The Adobe FAQ document covers common topics such as who is eligible for licenses, how to sign in, and more.

Two Types of License

There are two types of license for Adobe Creative Cloud:

• Named-user license (NUL):
  • This is connected to an individual.
  • Adobe CC can be installed on two computers associated with a named user.
  • These two computers may or may not be owned by NCSU.
  • Only full-time employees are eligible for a NUL. Others (e.g. students, part-time employees, temp workers, no-pay employees, emeritus professors) can access Adobe apps on university owned computers where a shared device license is installed. See the Adobe FAQ doc linked above for a complete list.
• Shared device license (SDL):
  • This is connected to a computer.
  • Anyone who logs into that computer can use Adobe CC.
  • Adobe defines eligible computers as follows: "Shared Device Licensing is not intended to be used on a single owner/user device. It can be used on any institutionally owned machine accessed by multiple users."
  • The computer must be owned by NCSU.
• Logging in to use Adobe software
  • Adobe products now prompt for an Adobe login when you run any CC products.
  • If you have an NUL, you will use your Enterprise ID.
  • If you do not have an NUL, you can sign up for a free Adobe ID:
    • Go to accounts.adobe.com and select Create an Account.
    • When prompted, be sure to select Personal Account and NOT Company or School Account.
    • You can sign up with your NCSU email or any other email.
  • When logging in to use Adobe software, make sure you select the correct ID type: Personal Account for shared computers, e.g. in labs; Company or School Account if you have a NUL assigned to you.

Using Adobe Creative Cloud if you are not eligible for a NUL

• According to our Adobe license agreement, whether you are eligible for a NUL is based on your employment status at NCSU. The Adobe FAQ has a full list, but some key groups who are ineligible include:
  • Emeritus professors
  • Retirees
  • "No-pay" employees
  • Students (unless they are also full-time employees)
• If you want to use Adobe CC but are not eligible for a NUL, you have the following options:
  • If you have access to a NCSU-owned computer that is shared (see definition above in "Shared device license (SDL)" section), your IT staff can install a shared device license on that computer. COE has a limited number of SDLs available for this use.
  • Faculty/staff who are not eligible for a NUL and for whom a SDL is not possible must purchase a license separately.
    • If the purchase is being made with NCSU funds, please contact our Adobe reseller, CIA (Computer Intelligence Association, sales@ciacentral.com, 301.762.1051) for options and pricing.
  • Another option for all academic users is to purchase your own Student & Teacher Edition subscription directly from Adobe or other resellers like OnTheHub.

PDF Editing

• In August 2022, changes were made to the campus Adobe agreement. This has resulted in changes in the way that software for PDF editing is licensed.
• For people who only need to edit PDFs, the College has licensed Foxit Editor Pro for all full-time staff in COE.
• More info is available here: PDF Editing overview

For Updates

• Authoritative updates and information on the campus-wide agreement, procedures, request forms and more will be found at OIT's Software Licensing site.
• Updates and clarifications specific to COE will be made here.