Adobe Creative Cloud, previously Creative Suite, is a collection of applications developed by Adobe Systems. Adobe Creative Cloud provides desktop applications, mobile apps, web services, and resources for all your creative projects - photography, graphic design, video editing, UX design, 3D modeling and rendering, drawing and painting, social media, and more.
All active UMKC users have options for free Adobe access as well as paid license options with your UMKC account (username@umsystem.edu). The differences between offerings for Students and offerings for Faculty & Staff are outlined below.
The first time you launch a Creative Cloud app you will be prompted to Login with an AdobeID. Enter your UMKC Username followed by “@umsystem.edu”.
If you are prompted to select an account type, choose "Company or School Account". You will not be able to access UMKC Labs or UMKC Adobe subscriptions if you select a Personal Account. If you are prompted to select a campus Profile, always choose "Kansas City."
You will be redirected to the UM System multi-factor authentication (MFA) system to complete your login. For more information on MFA, please see the UMKC MFA page.
All UMKC students have free access to the full licensed Adobe Creative Cloud software in general use labs on the Volker and Hospital Hill campuses. Creative Cloud is currently in the following locations:
Depending on your degree program, you may also have access to certain Departmental Labs. Check the complete listing of which Departmental labs include Adobe Creative Cloud. Remote Access to Adobe Creative Cloud is available with RooLabs Online. RooLabs Online allows students to remotely access software from any device off-campus.
Students enrolled in certain degree programs (primarily Art, Media, and Design) may be eligible to receive a free Creative Cloud Student license paid for by the UMKC School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Please contact your instructor to verify eligibility. If you have already been provided a UMKC student license, please refer to the section above regarding 'how to login'.
UMKC students are eligible to purchase personal Adobe subscriptions with a student discount. This requires the creation of a personal AdobeID. Students can not use existing AdobeIDs that were previously tied to UMKC Adobe licenses. Please review Adobe's System Requirements before installing on a personal machine. Assistance with licenses purchased directly from Adobe are supported solely by Adobe. UMKC does not provide support for these licenses.
UMKC offers discounted Adobe license subscriptions to all Faculty and Staff. More information regarding specific Adobe software options can be found on the Adobe Products page. If you are a Fiscal Officer or Authorized Signer, you can submit purchases for employees in your area via the Adobe Order Form. Subscriptions end every year on June 30th. Information Services will give Fiscal Officers the opportunity to renew each user's subscription before it expires to prevent a lapse in service. If you are seeing warning messages regarding license expiration or trial expiration, please verify you are logging in to the Adobe software with your correct UMKC AdobeID (username@umsystem.edu).
Faculty and Staff can access a selection of Adobe products at no cost, remotely from any computer, including personal computers off campus, via UMKC Remote Labs. Options for Students differ and are addressed above.
Acrobat Reader (formerly Adobe Reader) is the industry standard free application for viewing PDF files. Reader will allow you to complete fillable PDF forms and 'print' the output of any type of file to a PDF format. Acrobat Reader comes preinstalled on all UMKC Windows and Mac computers. Acrobat Pro is a paid product which adds the capabilities to create and edit PDF files, build fillable forms, and convert Microsoft Office documents and other file types into fully searchable PDF files.
"Adobe Authenticator" and "Adobe Account Access" are two Adobe mobile device apps targeted at consumer Adobe subscriptions using personal AdobeIDs. All Adobe accounts provided by UMKC are Adobe FederatedIDs (not personal IDs) which allows you to login with your UMKC password to Adobe Products. As part of the Federation process, all UMKC Adobe accounts are already robustly secured and protected via other mechanisms similar to the Adobe authenticator app. Manually enrolling your UMKC FederatedID (username@umsystem.edu) in the consumer protection apps, consumer multi-factor authentication, or consumer two-step verification may result in your account being locked out by Adobe.
UMKC leverages the Adobe Named User model which assigns your purchased Adobe license subscription to your UMKC user account (username@umsystem.edu). This allows authorized users to install and use Adobe Creative Cloud on multiple computers at the cost of only one license. This also allows users to sync Adobe application preferences across devices. You can use Creative Cloud on as many computers as you like. However, you can only be signed in to two computers at a time. If you sign in to a third computer, you will be prompted to sign out of a previous computer. To sign out of a computer, the machine must have an active Internet connection.
Your UMKC Adobe subscription (both paid licenses and Express) permits you to use Creative Cloud on a non-UMKC computer in addition to your UMKC computer. You can download and install directly from Adobe.com. UMKC does not provide assistance or support for usage of Adobe on personal computers. Standard UMKC licensing policies still apply which prohibit users from installing a personal consumer license purchased directly from Adobe on UMKC owned computers.
Adobe cloud storage is included with all Adobe products purchased via UMKC (not including Adobe Express). However, UMKC does not provide assistance or support. Any questions or issues regarding storage should be sent directly to Adobe Support. Your files can be accessed from any computer at https://assets.adobe.com/files/. UMKC offers full support for Microsoft OneDrive and Box Cloud Storage. OneDrive offers fewer limitations than Adobe Cloud Storage and is the University's approved solution for secure cloud file storage, sharing, and collaboration.
Your computer must be physically on the UMKC campus or connected to UMKC Global Protect VPN for the initial software installation. After this is complete, your Adobe software will never need to connect to the UMKC network. Every time you launch an Adobe Creative Cloud app it will verify if you can connect to the Internet. If you are offline certain services and features will be unavailable. If you remain offline for 30 days, you will be unable to open any Adobe Creative Cloud apps.
Adobe offers several premium priced integrations for collecting signatures and managing custom forms which are not included in the cost of an Acrobat Pro software license. Adobe Acrobat Sign Service is the only UM System approved platform for collecting signatures, enterprise e-signature management, preparing contracts, and creating e-Form document workflows. Users of DocuSign should transition to the Adobe Acrobat Sign Service.
