What are the Limitations of the Adobe Student & Teacher Editions?
May 14th, 2012 Leave a comment
The Adobe Student and Teacher Editions look like a great deal. They offer big discounts, as much as 80% off normal prices. They’re available for most of Adobe’s product line, including Creative Suite 6, Lightroom 4, Acrobat X, and Elements 10. They can be purchased by anyone who qualifies – primary and secondary school students, college or university students, faculty, teachers, and administrators. Even part-time students or teachers can be eligible, and there is no age limitation. They’re available pretty much worldwide in many languages on both Windows and Mac, and you don’t need any kind of coupon or promotion code to get the deep discounts.
So what’s the catch? Is the Academic software different or limited somehow? Is there any sort of time restriction, time limit, or time out – do Adobe Student Editions expire? Or are they unusable for commercial purposes?
The answer to all of these questions is fortunately no: all Education products are identical in features and functionality in every respect to the current standard versions – the only differences are the prices and some of the licensing terms… The prices, as mentioned, are a real bargain – for example, instead of US$999 for Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, you pay only $249; instead of $1,899 for CS6 Design & Web Premium (Adobe’s most popular suite which contains seven major products including Photoshop Extended), you get it for $449.
Since Creative Suite 5, the Student and Teacher Editions can be utilized for personal as well as commercial use, for all academic customers worldwide. So yes, you can sell your services or anything you create, or use these products in developing a side business or online venture. And after graduation or completion of coursework, you can continue to use the software on your personal systems; there is no usage expiration and the tools will continue to work.
But it’s true there are some limitations as compared to the regular editions… Happily they are all fairly minor:
- Each eligible person may purchase only one copy of each product per platform per year. Fortunately, each tool and suite and release are considered different products. So Illustrator and Photoshop (for example) are different titles, as are CS5.5 and CS6, and each suite is a different title, so you could buy these all within one year if you wanted.
- Student & Teacher Edition software may be used on your privately-owned computer only.
- The software is not transferrable, meaning it may not be resold or given to others.
- You validate eligibility after placing your order to receive your unique serial number key.
- Student editions cannot be upgraded to other education editions – but do receive Adobe’s discounted upgrade pricing to all regular commercial versions (say for a future release like CS6.5 or CS7), -or- you can purchase another student edition if you still qualify. But the student price on a new release is often lower than the commercial upgrade price anyway, so you can just choose which is less expensive for you… Bottom line, this is another substantial savings and advantage of owning these – basically you get your future releases discounted as well.
So why take your chances on the risks and malware in a pirated or bootleg version of CS6 when you can get the real deal – legitimate, supported, and completely safe – for up to 80% off, direct via instant download from Adobe?
Here’s a very helpful Student & Teacher Eligibility Guide that should answer other questions you may have, including documentation requirements… Documents dated within the last six months are considered current.
See our:
- Creative Suite 6 Launch Guide
- Version comparison: Differences between CS5 vs. CS6
- What’s new features for each product in the suites
- Free Adobe CS6 Tutorials – 18 hours of video training
- How many computers can you install and run CS6 on?
- Watch a video replay of the Global CS6 Launch Event
Do you have any questions about CS6? Just ask them below and we’ll get you answers fast!
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Hi there, I am going to be taking an online Photoshop course, if I get the CS6 will my professor be able to open up the work in CS5?
Thank you,
Leticia
Hi Leticia, you can try saving your Photoshop .PSD files with “Maximize Compatibility” turned on, and that might get you back from Photoshop CS6 to older versions like CS5, CS4, etc.
Or if you save in an industry-standard (not Photoshop-specific) format like .PNG, then someone else will have no problem at all opening those images in prior releases.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your reply. I have one more question, If I purchase CS5 through my school with financial aid, will I be able to get the CS6 upgrade for free?
Sure Leticia, glad to help. Regarding the grace period for free CS6 upgrades, as far as we are aware the last day for that offer in the U.S. was on Sunday, May 6th… That’s what we had heard, and is also what it says on Adobe’s offer policy page.
Since Creative Suite 6 became available throughout most of the world on Monday, May 7th, customers can now get CS6 for students for up to 80% off in boxed form or direct download.
Hi! I am enrolled in a two year photography program, and will be taking a Photoshop class next month. I just received my student version serial number and I installed it on my desktop computer. My instructor in my current photog. class mentioned that some instructors allow the students to bring their personal laptops to class (Photoshop) to edit their work rather than transferring pics on a flash drive to the university’s and using the university’s PS. Can I install my student version also on my laptop for this purpose–or am I only allowed one device? Thank you.
No worries Cynthia – you are allowed to install and activate your student edition of Adobe Photoshop on up to two of your computers.
Thank you for the great job you are doing. I have a few questions. First off ACE exams for CS6. When will there be exam preps available? It would seem useless to take CS5 exams at this point or in the future.
Second question: I taught Photoshop and Illustrator part-time at our local Community College a few years ago. Do you think I will qualify for any discounts on the products?
Greetings Sylvester, thanks for your kind words. The ACE exams don’t come out right away after a new release, they usually take a bit of time – typically up to six months… But the good news is if you take CS5 now then you only need a recertification for CS6.
On your second question – if you’re a current teacher then you would likely qualify, where Adobe says documents dated within the last six months are considered current.
Hope that answers what you wanted to know, if not then feel free to post back!
Can my MacBook Pro 2009 late edition run Premiere Pro CS6 ? You can see my specs below. As you may have noticed, I upgrated my RAM memory to 4 GB.
I’m looking to purchase Creative Suite 6 Master Collection. If the live memory was not enough, I could up it again if need be?
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.28f3
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT:
Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Device ID: 0×0407
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3212
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Hey there Luc, your processor and memory are enough for CS6 Master Collection, although Adobe recommends a bit more than 4GB, if possible. Your system can go up to 6GB maximum (with 4GB in one slot and 2GB in the other).
But also very important – what version of Mac OS are you running? How much free hard disk space do you have?
To answer these questions, please see the complete Adobe CS6 official system requirements for more, and then take it from there. Good luck!
Thanks for your response.
I’m running Lion OS X version 10.7.4. on “I think” is an early 2009 MacBook Pro. According to Crucial.com the maximum amount of Vram I can install on my MacBook Pro is 4GB. Unless you have any information to the contrary? If they’re correct in their assumption, can I still run Premiere Pro CS6 on it? If you find it pertinent, I could send you my serial number by email so as not to expose to much information on your web site?
Hello again Luc, the information we found seemed to indicate you could install up to 6 GB on that system. Please see the links embedded in our previous reply for more information on that.
But 4GB is the minimum based on the CS6 hardware specifications, so you should be able to run it with what you already have – it would just be nice to have more, if possible.
Bottom line, your best bet is to just download and install the free CS6 trial and see how it works for you… it won’t do any harm and you can always uninstall it later if you want.
Hi, are the CS5 trials still available for download in case a person’s system can’t handle CS6?
Hi Sylvester, what is it about the CS6 system requirements that you think your computer can’t handle? In fact, they are very very close to the hardware specs of CS5 – there is very little difference…
In fact, some tools like Photoshop CS6 will even run faster than CS5 on the same machines.
I was thinking a faster graphics card and more RAM would be required.
In some cases more RAM is recommended, but typically not required. Generally speaking, most CS6 applications take better advantage of the resources you already have like the GPU (e.g., Illustrator, Premiere, Photoshop, Fireworks). Also several of the tool interfaces have been completely reengineered to make for a faster and smoother user experience. These are just some of the improvements that CS6 has over CS5.
So CS6 is really going to be the better choice, but if you still want the CS5.5 trials they are still available, and you can still buy CS5.5 if you want.
Hi, I just ordered my copy of CS6 Web Premium Student for Windows. I currently have a fairly new desktop and an aging PC laptop. I know you can install on two machines with the license. However being that I’m a Web Development & Design student, I’m thinking of upgrading my laptop within a year.
I understand you can transfer the license to a new machine but what if I got a Macbook Pro as my second machine? I know PC’s are fully capable but I think Macs are more the industry standard and plus I want to be comfortable using both platforms for my resume and future job prospects. Is it possible to split the two allowed licensees on two different operating systems under my ownership? Thank you.
Welcome Brian, thanks for your question… This recent article should hopefully answer it:
How to Install or Run Adobe CS6 on Both Windows PC and Mac OS
Hi, I bought Adode Flash Student & Teacher edition (Win) last year in July. I really want to buy to buy Adobe Photoshop Student & Teacher edition (Win) right now, until I found out that “You can purchase one license per platform of each Adobe Student and Teacher Edition product per year.”
I got panicked and confused at the same time. Do I have to wait until this coming July to purchase it? I really want to buy it asap before I am no longer eligible for the student discount (i.e., my student card will expire on June).
Greetings Rita, thank you for your question. No worries at all for you – each title is a different product, and each release is a different product. So following Adobe’s rules, you can definitely buy Flash Pro CS5 and Photoshop CS6 within the same year. Hope that helps and enjoy the new software!
Hi, I wanted to get the Adobe Illustrator CS6 for my son. He will be starting college in the Fall and would like to keep up with his artwork. He has used Illustrator CS3 in high school and loved it. Is this a product that is offered under the Student discount program or is it just the Photoshop CS6?
Hi Eva, Illustrator is a great product but you can’t buy a standalone copy with the deep student discount… There are only four Adobe tools which are sold by themselves with the academic pricing, and they are Photoshop CS6, Dreamweaver CS6, Flash Professional CS6, and Acrobat X Pro.
So instead you would need to get a suite edition, which is a collection of integrated Adobe tools – the smallest suite is CS6 Design Standard which includes Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro…
It’s still a great deal as the education price for that full suite is US$349, which is close to half the regular price of just Illustrator by itself (US$599).
There are other suites as well you can take a look at if you want to include other applications like Dreamweaver, Flash Pro, Premiere, etc.
If you have any other questions about it, feel free to post back!
Thank you very much for your response. I will have my son take a look at the CS6 Design Standard and see if that will work for him. It is a great discount.
I just spoke with my son and he asked if the illustrator portion of the software includes everything that is in the standalone Illustrator CS6 and if not, what is missing. That would be the deciding factor. Thanks again for your time.
Yes, absolutely Eva – the applications within the suites are complete, in fact they even include more capabilities because of additional components that are bundled with the suites that aren’t in the standalone products.
So no worries, you won’t go wrong by getting Illustrator within that student edition suite – which as you read above, is fully functional in the education versions anyway.