Installing Adobe Creative Cloud for Student Personal Use

As a full-time Emerson College student (enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or a graduate certificate program), you have access to the complete Adobe Creative Cloud suite for FREE on up to two personal devices.

Note: For all new, returning, and transfer students who have not started classes yet, your access begins on your first day of class.

Step 1: Activate Your License

Before you can install or sign in to Creative Cloud, you need to activate your license. This is a one-time step.

  1. Open a web browser and go to your student activation link: Activate Adobe Creative Cloud (Students)
  2. Enter your Emerson email address. If you are asked to choose an account type, select Company or School Account.
  3. You will be redirected to Emerson's Single Sign-On page. Sign in with your Emerson username and password and complete the Duo prompt.
  4. Adobe will display a brief "We're processing your request" message, followed by "Your app is ready to use." Your license is now attached to your account.

You only need to do this once. After your license is active, you can install and sign in on any of your devices using the steps below.

Step 2: Install Creative Cloud

  1. Open a web browser and visit Adobe.com.
  2. Click Sign In at the top right of the page. Enter your Emerson email address.
  3. If presented with a choice, select Company or School Account.
  4. You will be redirected to Emerson's Single Sign-On page. Enter your Emerson username and password and complete the Duo prompt.
  5. From your account, open the apps menu and choose Creative Cloud, then download the Creative Cloud desktop app.
  6. Find the installer in your Downloads folder and double-click to install.
  7. Once Creative Cloud is installed, open it and install individual apps (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and so on) by clicking Install next to each app you want.

Already Have Creative Cloud Installed? Just Sign In

If the Creative Cloud apps are already on your computer and you only need to sign in:

  1. Open any Adobe application.
  2. When prompted to sign in, enter your Emerson email address.
  3. If asked to choose an account type, select Company or School Account.
  4. Complete sign-in through Emerson Single Sign-On with your username, password, and Duo.

Only seeing a Free Trial option?

This usually means an Adobe app is signed in with a free personal Adobe account instead of your Emerson account. To fix it, open any Adobe application, select Help > Sign Out, then sign back in with your Emerson email address and choose Company or School Account.

It is possible to have a free personal Adobe account that uses your Emerson email address in addition to your school account. For more on how this works, see Adobe's guide on account types.

What's Included

Your access includes:

  • The full Creative Cloud suite of desktop apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Lightroom, Audition, and Dreamweaver.
  • The Creative Cloud mobile apps, including Adobe Express and Adobe Scan.
  • 100 GB of Adobe cloud storage.
  • Thousands of fonts through Adobe Fonts.
  • Adobe Portfolio for building and hosting your own website.

Adobe Stock and Adobe Sign are not included in our campus agreement.

To see everything tied to your account, visit account.adobe.com and click View Plan.

Managing Your Two Devices

You can be signed in to Creative Cloud on two devices at a time. To move your license to a new device, sign out of one you are no longer using.

To sign out, open any Adobe application, select Help > Sign Out. You can also sign out of all devices remotely at account.adobe.com. If you try to sign in on a third device, Adobe will prompt you to sign out of one of the active devices before continuing.

Using Creative Cloud in Labs and Classrooms

Creative Cloud is installed on lab and kiosk computers across campus. When you launch an Adobe application in a lab, sign in with your Emerson account to get full access to the apps and services (Adobe Fonts, cloud storage, and so on) for that session. Lab logins do not count against your limit of two personal devices.

Please remember to sign out at the end of your session so the license resets for the next person.

For lab locations, hours, and the software installed in each space, see Lab and kiosk locations and resources.

You will continue to have free access as long as you are enrolled full-time at Emerson. If you leave or graduate, the license will expire. For details on what happens to this and other access when you leave, see Account Access for Departing Students.

More Resources

Need help?

Reach out to helpdesk@emerson.edu.

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