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“What’s the Difference Between Adobe Student Editions vs. Regular?”
What Are the Limitations of the Adobe Student & Teacher Versions?
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hey i want to get this version but was going to purchase it at office max rather than directly from the adobe site. what would that entail?
Not sure Lexie, we’ve never done that so you would have to ask them… When getting it direct from Adobe, it’s straightforward – you just go through a quick validation process and then the product becomes yours permanently after downloading (or shipping). Adobe will sort it out if you have any questions or it doesn’t work for any reason.
thank you! and i know that it can only be used on one computer but what if, god forbid, your computer breaks or hard drive and etc. what happens to Photoshop then?
Sure Lexie – and actually the software can be used on up to two of your computers, and can even be moved between systems if you need to for any reason.
Hi,
I purchased a Student edition of CS4 for Windows earlier in the year, but I recently bought an iMac. I was wondering if I can install the Student edition on my new computer?
(I haven’t actually installed it anywhere yet, so loading it on too many computers isn’t an issue.)
Thanks for your time!
Hi Laura, Adobe does allow crossgrades from Windows to Mac, however in order to do that you need to be running the latest release of Creative Suite…
So you couldn’t do it with your current version of CS4 (whether Student & Teacher Edition or otherwise), but you could change that platform if you upgraded to CS5.5.
There is also a way now to buy the software so that it runs on both operating systems (multi-platform).
Hope that helps.
Hi,
My sister is a teacher and would like to purchase the Student/Teacher edition of CS5.5 for her own personal use producing school material. She only has a small, old, PC laptop but I have an iMac.
Can she purchase the software then install & validate it on my iMac for her to use? Is this feasible? We do not live at the same address.
Thanks for your help.
Welcome Jane, thank you for your good question.
As far as we are aware that should work – because Adobe does not specify any requirements about the ownership of the computer the customer is running on, only on the ownership and use of the software itself.
So as long as she were the owner and sole user of the CS5.5 Education Edition, then it should be fine.
You may also find it helpful to know that she can actually install the product on up to two different computers.
Hi ProDesign,
I am just about to upgrade my Student & Teacher Edition to CS5.5.
I need the multi-platform to operate both Windows and Mac.
I had a look at the Business Store for the Volume License as you mentioned there, but they don’t have an option for the S&T Edition.
Can you advise how to do this?
My store is the Australia region.
Hey there Natalie, you can’t actually upgrade from an education edition to another education edition… You can only upgrade to a commercial version, or buy another education version outright.
And often, a discounted upgrade to a commercial license costs less than getting a full new education license anyway.
So probably your best bet is to go to the Adobe Store Selector and choose your country, and then “Business Store” and see how it looks. You can simply buy it online – either downloaded or shipped to your local address.
Regarding the alternative, Adobe did recently a new Volume License Store for education – meaning students, teachers, and staff – however it does not appear to be open to customers in Australia or New Zealand.
(Note: If you don’t go with the “business license” upgrade to get the Windows + Mac capability, then you’d have to think about if you want to switch platforms from one to the other entirely – in which case you could just buy the new education version for the operating system you want.)
Hope this helps!
I’m an elementary school teacher. I purchased a MacBook that’s two years old and my school just got me a MacBook at the beginning of the year, which is for my exclusive use. I just upgraded my personal computer to Lion and I can’t run several programs on my Mac including Canvas and Appleworks. I’m hoping Illustrator CS5 will replace both.
I need to run Illustrator on my school to convert Canvas files and rework the Appleworks templates I have. Then transfer to my personal computer. Under this scenario am I allowed to use the two installs?
Yes Geoff, you should be able to. Please see Jane’s comment and reply just above yours, as well as:
How Many Machines Can I Install Adobe CS5.5 On?
I am looking to upgrade my cs3 design standard student to the current cs 5.5 design standard. I am american and home visiting but live in the UK; if I buy a usa upgrade will it still work on my mac in the UK?
Greetings Sophie, we can’t give you an official answer on that but you could contact Adobe Customer Service with that question… From what we’ve heard, Adobe technical support is localized to the region the product is for.
Looking at the different Creative Suite 5 boxes we have in the office here, they all say, “Only for distribution in North America. Not for distribution anywhere else, including the EEA, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Japan, or Asia Pacific.”
We take this to mean if you try to import or export Adobe products outside of the geography they are sold for, then you may not be recognized as holding a valid proof of purchase, nor be qualified to receive support/service for your product, nor be able to upgrade it in the future.
Hi,
We are homeschooling our son and would like to purchase the Student & Teacher CS 5.5. Would it be easier to document from the student side or the teacher side, or is there another way to do this? Our charter with the state of California is pretty basic… and I hadn’t considered getting student and teacher ID’s made.
No problem Jeff, homeschooled students and their teachers are fine – just carefully follow Adobe’s eligibilty requirements and you should qualify.
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone can help me:
If i bought the student edition cs5, install it on my computer, but than i decide to get a new computer, and get rid of my other, can I reinstall the software on my new computer?
Yes – that’s quite easy actually, you can just move your software from one machine to another…
Enjoy the new products!
Hi – If I buy CS5 Design Standard Educational version today Nov 2011 does the “one EDU copy per year” mean one per calendar year, or do I have to wait till Nov 2012 to buy another version?
Good question aabbas. If you read Adobe’s Student Edition FAQ under “How many copies of an Adobe Student and Teacher Edition can I purchase?” they don’t actually say…
We’ve always presumed it means every 12 months rather than every calendar year, but you may want to contact them to confirm if that’s important to you.
Importantly though, note that it’s “per title” – meaning that (in any case) you could buy CS5.5 Design Standard today and CS5.5 Design Premium next week and then CS5.5 Master Collection the week after, if you wanted.
You are also still able to purchase any CS6 suite when they come out, because those will be different products.
Hope this helps!
Am I missing something here? I always thought Adobe’s educational pricing was limited to college students.
I have the full version of CS5 for work, but am intrigued with the idea of purchasing Design Premium for home use. According to all the documentation, I see no reason why my junior high-aged children wouldn’t qualify.
While I know my kids would use some of the programs, and I would hope for them to develop some proficiency in time, truth be told, I would probably be the primary user. Is this a legitimate way to go about it? This purchase would be out of the question at the normal price, but at the discount…
Just want to be on the up and up about it. If purchasing, would I need to set up an Adobe ID for my child, or could I register the software with my own ID?
Hi rsach – in fact students, teachers, and staff of virtually any age or level could potentially be eligible to receive the discounts of up to 80% off on these versions…
In other words, it is exactly as laid out in the article above.
For the answers to your remaining questions, please see this earlier comment exchange above with Jane.
Wow, it’s so fantastic that i was able to find this page. I am a student and about to buy my first ever CS5.5 design premium. A majority of the questions i had have been already answered in the comments, and in the article itself.
But some info that i found hard to find is the difference between the Student and Teacher edition vs the Educational edition. Is there any big difference other than the obvious price difference? So if i wanted to be a cheapskate and get the Student & Teacher and not worry about missing out on anything on the Educational edition? I know it has the exact same programs/features, but what makes it cost $600?
Welcome Eliezer, if you qualify for Adobe’s Student & Teacher Editions – meaning you’re a student, educator, or staff member who meets the eligibility requirements – then there is no reason not to get those vs. the higher-priced Education versions, which are intended for all others in the academic world, including the schools themselves.
In other words, everything else is the same in terms of software capabilities, licensing, and completeness.
Just for clarity, one can purchase educational Photoshop CS5 Extended but then must re-purchase the next version up (with a new serial number) rather than upgrade. Is this correct? My guess is that Adobe wants to verify that one is indeed still in education.
Also, if one purchases the Educational Photoshop CS5 Extended (since one can only get the Extended version in educational) can it be downgraded to standard Photoshop CS5 commercial version in upgrade after one completes their studies?
Indeed it can be confusing – so here’s another way of looking at the picture:
1. Adobe’s education versions cannot be upgraded from one to another. Meaning, you can buy a new academic version outright at the 80%-off price, but you can’t then upgrade that to a future academic edition at an even-further-discounted price.
2. However, a student or teacher can upgrade to a full commercial version from their education version at any time, even (or especially) when no longer in school… They will receive the regularly-discounted upgrade price available for commercial products.
3. For qualified education customers looking to buy any new product release, sometimes it’s cheaper to do #1 (purchase a new student edition outright), and sometimes #2 (upgrade your older student edition to a commercial version), depending. Obviously if you’re no longer in school, you’d always choose #2.
4. Note however that Adobe recently changed their future upgrade policy for CS6 and this looks to impact academic upgraders who’d like to do #2 from older releases. They have not to date made any announcements regarding availability of CS6 Student & Teacher editions.
5. You’re right that the only education version offered is Photoshop CS5 Extended – however all Extended products can later be upgraded to Photoshop standard versions (current price is $199).
Hope that helps clear it all up! Feel free to ask further questions if not.
So, if I read the reply correctly one cannot go from Photoshop CS5 Extended educational to Photoshop CS6 Extended educational. However, it really isn’t an issue as, for $199 one can still upgrade to commercial Photoshop CS6 (or $349 to upgrade to commercial Extended).
If this is true it kind of sucks for teachers who teach through several upgrades, need the Extended version, and must pay $150 more each time for commercial than they would for the Educational version.
Well, close – that’s half right! The first half of what you said is perfect.
For the second half, teachers that teach through several successive releases (e.g., CS4, CS5, and CS6) can just purchase a full new Photoshop Extended Student & Teacher Edition for each new version, at $199 apiece!
(That’s 80% off the regular price that everyone else pays, and 43% off the normal Extended upgrade price.)
Hello! I still have a Student copy of PS from well over 10 years ago for Mac from while in college. I’m now running PC. Am I able to upgrade to Photoshop CS5 for Windows from my old original Mac copy??? Thanks for your time!
Hey there Nick, please see the four comments just above yours for a review of the complete rules on Adobe Student Edition upgrades – thanks.
None of the above 4 answers address if it is possible to go from original Mac version to upgrade PC… Just that it is acceptable to upgrade.
If you want to change your platform from a PC to a Mac (or vice versa), that is a separate question regardless of whether you have a student edition or any other version…
There are two ways to change your operating system with Adobe software:
1. Do a “crossgrade” from one platform to the other, which sets up a permanent switch for you between the two operating systems. This is free if you are running Adobe’s most recent version of the software (even educational), otherwise it requires upgrading to the latest commercial release.
2. Upgrade what you’ve got to a volume (“business”) license – this will allow you to run CS5.5 on both platforms, Windows and Mac OS. It usually costs a little less to upgrade to a volume license than to a regular commercial version.
A third option would just be to buy the Student Edition for the new platform if you still qualify for Adobe’s discounted education pricing.
For some people there is also the possibility of using virtualization or multi-boot programs to run a complete Windows environment separately on their Mac computers, which doesn’t involve Adobe at all.
So, my daughter is a student and we want to purchase this software for her to use, but it would have to be installed on our computer – is that ok? We will pay with our credit card, since we are purchasing it for her, but then we must, I assume, create the Adobe ID in her name and validate using her student card.
Is it ok that it will then be installed on a computer that she uses but doesn’t own? I just want to be clear before we go ahead that all this is fine, or whether we need to think again. Many thanks, Daj
Great questions Daj, thanks for asking… Please see this series of 4 questions and 4 answers, and that should help – thanks!
Hello, I’ve recently just ordered a student version, and I was wondering if you could clarify the use of up to two computers. I read some of the older comments, but I’m still a bit confused on how it would be handled in certain situations
Such as perhaps a situation where it’s already installed on one laptop and desktop. Then when I buy a new desktop, and I no longer intend to use the old desktop, can it be simply be uninstalled from the old and installed to the new desktop, or is it considered to be used on three computers in this case?
Does reformatting the computer with it installed count as used twice? Once when first installed before reformat, and the second would be installing after reformat.
Sorry if these questions seem rather odd.
Thank you.
Hey there, all your examples would be no problem at all, with any Adobe product including the student edition… You’d need to deactivate the software before you move it or reformat your disk drive – and then you’d be fine. Just follow our instructions here:
How to Move Your Adobe Software Between Systems or Reinstallations
I purchased the Creative Suite 5.5 Student Edition for Christmas as my student ID would expire at the end of the year. Now it seems Identit-E won’t accept my ID even with the year 2010–2011 clearly showing (that is why I hurried to buy it before my ID expired).
I finished my classes earlier in the year but still had my ID as I am on a lottery list for acceptance into the next program. Anyway…they won’t accept my ID, so I had the other student in our family send his ID and report card. They won’t accept his information saying that I am the registered owner because I paid for it. No one is registered – they put it on HOLD.
The software will only be loaded onto the one and only Mac we have at home. Can you give me some insight as to what my next step should be? Thanks for any help you can give.
Greetings Stephanie, sorry for your difficulties. One nuance about Adobe’s education editions is the validation process, which takes place after the purchase… So it sounds like they are raising an issue over when you are validating it (with an expired ID) versus about when the product was actually purchased.
Since you’re no longer a student right now, and if you’ve exhausted all other options on pleading your case with Adobe Customer Service, then it sounds like your only real choice with what you bought may be to submit it for a full refund (which you should have no problem receiving back) – and then see what your next step might be for the coming period…
Note for future reference that all Adobe Student & Teacher Editions have to be purchased in the name of the current student who will solely be using them, although they can be paid for by someone else like a parent, because oftentimes students don’t own credit cards.
Also, there are other documents that can accepted as proof of eligibility, besides a student or school ID – although that may be too late for your case now.
Hope this helps!
I bought Acrobat X Pro for school. Now that I have it, I do have a concern. Because I only have an iPad, I do all of my schoolwork on the computer in my office at work. Will it still work, or am I going to have to get a computer for home too?
Hi Josh, that’s a smart question – and you’ll find the answer in the comment response to Jane just above.
I am in need of CS badly, but I am hesitant to buy because I have a problem. I regularly use two computers. That shouldn’t be a problem as you can install on two systems, but I have both a Windows and a Mac. Can digital editions be downloaded for both for one price? Also, when I get rid of my Windows computer, can I install it on another Mac?
Yes Garrett, there is a way that you can buy or upgrade Adobe Creative Suite so that you can run CS5 on both Windows and Mac OS flexibly.
And yes, once you own it you can easily go from that to just running two installations on the same operating system again.
Hope that answers it for you!
So if you can’t upgrade the student edition, would that mean that someone who wanted to update to a .5 release would have to buy the product all over again? (e.g. someone wanted to update from CS5 to CS5.5)
Welcome Hunter, although it’s true that you cannot upgrade from one student edition to another, all owners of education versions (even if no longer qualified as students or teachers) can upgrade what they have to a full commercial version of Creative Suite at Adobe’s discounted upgrade price – which can be less than the price for a new education version anyway…
In other words, all owners of a Student & Teacher Edition (including CS5) can upgrade to CS5.5 for a far, far lower cost than buying the product all over again.
The only qualification is that the version you are coming from must be CS3 or later currently to get the low upgrade pricing to CS5.5… And Adobe has said recently that anybody who wants to upgrade to CS6 in the future must be running CS5 or later at the time when CS6 is released.
I will be purchasing CS5.5 to run on my PC at home. However, I will be using a Mac in the graphics arts lab at school. Can I transfer the data between systems to work on the files both at home and at school??
Hello Chris, good news – yes, for the most part Adobe’s project and data files are cross-platform, with a few caveats depending on the application… But generally speaking you should be okay.
I purchased the CS5.5 Design Premium Student & Teacher Edition. I will begin courses at the University in September, but in the meantime wanted to learn by myself. Before I open it, I wanted to know if I qualify as a user for this product or not.
Hey there Kris,
If you’re not an enrolled student now, then you wouldn’t be eligible to validate it now…
So in order to qualify, you have to either be a current student, or already have the tuition bill for your future studies.
If neither of those, then you could hold the software and wait until September, but there may be a new CS version out by then. Instead you might want to return the product – and you should be okay if you purchased it recently: see Adobe’s Refund & Return Policy.
In the meantime, you could download and run the free trial version, which works the same as the full release for 30 days. And there are plenty of free CS5.5 tutorials to get you started.
Hope this information helps you out!
Thanks for the quick answer. I just have another question. I am enrolled at a University, but I am only taking German courses. Does that count?
I do have a Student ID of the University. Thanks!
Hello again Kris, if you have a currently valid school ID, then you should be fine for the validation process. If not for some reason, then you can always return it as mentioned earlier.
And as far as subject material or language of the courses you are taking, that doesn’t matter – Adobe only cares if you are a real enrolled student, teacher, or education staff member – at almost any level of institution.
Good luck!