With one year wrapped up and a new one just beginning, it seemed a perfect time to put together a review of the best and most-shared posts published here since our site launched in 2009 (over 11 years ago now!), including some very popular free books.
These are the top posts that consistently have the highest readership on our site, month after month, covering all major Adobe software products… They’re broken out by topic below in case you’ve missed any, or are new here – so bookmark, share, and enjoy!
Free Adobe Books
- Download Adobe CC Design Basics, Free! New 243-Page Book
- Get the New 51-Page Guidebook to Learn After Effects Free
- Learn Animate Free – Download 59-Page Guidebook + Assets
- Download Now: The Illustrator New Features Guidebook
- Learn Adobe Dreamweaver CC + CS6 – Download 79-Page Book
- Free! Download 30 Adobe Books at No Cost, Learn All Products
Creative Cloud (CC)
- New CC 2021 Release Now Available – What You Need to Know
- Compare Versions: What’s New in the 2021 Release vs. CS6?
- Are Adobe CC Files Backwards Compatible with CS6?
- The 10 Most Common Myths About Creative Cloud
- What’s the Difference Between CC for Teams vs. Individuals?
- The 14 Ultimate Adobe Keyboard Shortcut Cheat Sheets
- Here’s How You Can Save 6% on Your Creative Cloud Subscription
Adobe Photoshop
- Download Free 214-Page Book on Photoshop & Digital Design
- The New CC Photography Plan – Get PS + LR for Only $9.99/Month
- The Complete Guide to What’s New in Photoshop, from CS to CC
- Download Free Photoshop Textures: Get Custom New Collection
- Photoshop Playbook: The 25 Most Helpful Photoshop Tutorials Ever
Adobe Lightroom
- Download Free New Book on Photography, Lightroom, Photoshop
- Two Free Books! Get the Lightroom Quick Start Guides (134 Pgs)
- Photoshop vs. Lightroom vs. Elements – What’s the Difference?
- Adobe Launches the Lightroom Mobile App for iOS, Now Shipping
- The Differences Between Lightroom 6 vs. CC – Which to Buy?
Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Acrobat DC Is Here: What’s New and What’s It All About?
- Compare Versions: Differences Between Acrobat DC vs. 2017 vs. XI
- Download 3 Free eBooks: Acrobat DC, XI, X How-to Tutorial Guides
- Over Two Hours of Free Adobe Acrobat DC Video Tutorials
- Free Book on Printing in Acrobat, Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator
Students & Teachers
- How to Save up to 70% with Adobe’s Education Versions
- Download Free Adobe CS6 Courses for Students & Teachers
- Adobe Offers Big Discount on Creative Cloud for Education
- What Are the Limitations of Student & Teacher Editions?
Direct Download Links
- Creative Cloud 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018 Direct Download Links
- Direct Download Links for Adobe Acrobat DC 2020
- Photoshop/Premiere Elements 2021 Direct Links
- Direct Download Links for Lightroom 6/CC
- Adobe Captivate 2019 Direct Download Links
General How-to’s
- How to Join Adobe’s Creative Cloud for Free – and Get Bridge CC for Free
- How Many Computers Can You Install and Run Your Adobe Programs On?
- How to Move Adobe Software Between Systems, or from Windows to Mac
- How to Legally Transfer Adobe Products Between Two Parties or People
- How to Download Complete PDF Manuals & Doc. for All Major Adobe Tools
- How to Work 10X Faster with Adobe Stock and Creative Cloud Libraries
Everything Else
- Watch Over 350 Free Courses & Tutorials from Adobe MAX – Free Access!
- Download 6 Fantastic Free Books to Boost Creativity & Inspire Your Best Work
- Why You Should Never Buy Adobe Software on eBay or Amazon Marketplace
- Get Adobe Stock for Free and Download 500,000+ High-Quality Assets
- All Current Top Adobe Coupon Codes & Discount Promotions, Updated Weekly
What’s missing? Anything that you’d like us to cover? Any burning questions you’ve got on Adobe applications? Just let us know in the comments below and we’ll get you answers…
It’s been a great eleven years so far, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2021 – Happy New Year!
Keep up with the latest on Adobe software — follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our RSS feed… You can also enter your email and have new articles sent directly to your Inbox. We are reader-supported; when you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Good Evening,
Thank you so much for your kind offer to help resolve this issue, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards – Robert
Sure Robert, glad to help. Our direct manager contact at Adobe got back to us right away, and said she has asked the support team to follow up with you to assist.
Please let us know if this issue isn’t resolved for you shortly. Thanks!
Hi Jim,
Thanks so much for all you do, and for your assistance with this.
One of Adobe’s support reps emailed on Oct 30th, indicating that the account had been deleted and to contact him with my information and the best time to reach, except it went to my old yahoo account, instead of my gmail account that had the problem.
I emailed back with my contact info that evening, explaining that I would be using my Gmail account as my Yahoo account had been compromised last year.
He emailed back the morning the 31st, stating that If I wanted to make a purchase, to let him know which subscription I wanted to purchase, and they would place an order under the same account with the US registered address. Given their past performance and the steep penalty for cancellation if the order wasn’t processed in US Dollars with a US address, I decided to test the waters first with photography plan and then upgrade to the full creative cloud if everything was Ok.
Upon signing in, I discovered that my confirmation code was still in Spanish, my credit card was still on file, and that they were still trying to charge me in Euros… which came to over $67/mo.
Is it just me or are you not getting a warm fuzzy over this either? Thanks again for your help and understanding on this, and I look forward to hearing from you on this.
Best Regards – Robert
Thanks for circling back with the followup, Robert – and we’re sorry to hear it isn’t resolved yet… Regrettably there’s little further we can do, and would suggest getting back to Adobe directly via email, chat, or phone. We would also politely explain your frustration that it’s taking this long to get done, and so request a supervisor’s involvement to make sure it the process is completed successfully. Also to waive any possible cancellation fees because it was never your intent to cancel your subscription. Good luck!
Hi,
Thank you for your help on this and all you do.
Best Regards – Robert
FYI Creative Cloud is 49.99€ + 21% VAT = 60.49€ / $67.70 USD
Sure, glad to help.
And regarding price, you’ve still got the math wrong. You have to calculate pre-tax pricing in both countries/regions to have an accurate comparison, because tax (government VAT/GST) is always built into the quoted price in Europe and Australia, but is added afterwards (and never built into the quoted price) in the U.S.
So we show Creative Cloud All Apps as 59.99€ in France for example, with VAT always included. Backing out the VAT of 20% gives a pre-tax price of 49.99€, which equates to $55.49 at recent USD/EUR exchange rates and compares to a cost of $52.99 pre-tax for the same plan in the U.S.
Obviously the company is not going to change the price in euros every day to compensate for the never-ending fluctuation in exchange rates – but when comparing apples to apples, the product is pretty close to the same price in both countries, give or take a few dollars depending on current rates.
However, now that you’ve moved to the U.S. and are no longer a resident of the E.U., switching your plan over makes sense so that don’t pay the ~20% VAT, but would be subject to (lower) state and local taxes in the U.S. instead.
Hi,
I updated my payment information twice on Thursday night, and sent my billing information to the Adobe rep Friday night. Since there was no response this morning and no change to the account, I chatted with another Adobe Rep who after an hour had the menu of cloud options showing in USD, but the Cart still showed the cost in Euros. as well as my Old credit card as the payment method.
He advised me that even though he saw the two credit card updates, that I would have contact Adobe during the week, as he was not able to complete the order for me and asked if my payment method was a US credit card which it is.
When I originally placed the order with Adobe in May of 2019 for Creative Cloud under their special intro offer for the 1st year; the bank flagged it as being from Europe, as a result I had to call the bank to explain what happened and, then call adobe a day later to place the order.
Despite my best efforts, my account was charged the European price of 36,29€ which when converted to dollars is $40.62 USD /mo, and was cancelled as it would have cost me a lot more in the long term.
If the money was the same or even close I wouldn’t care; given the circumstances, perhaps management at Adobe would be will fix my account, allowing me to keep my gmail business account and give me the first year introductory monthly subscription plan I originally opted-in for.
Can you provide the name and contact information for who I would need to speak with at Adobe?
Thanks again for your kindness and help on this, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards – Robert
PS.: wish I could send you a screen shot; but this is what Adobe’s Shopping Cart now looks like…
Annual Plan, paid monthly 60,49€ /mo
Subtotal 49,99€ /mo
VAT 21% 10,50€ /mo
TOTAL 60,49€ / mo
incl. VAT
Unfortunately, there’s nothing further we can do… We simply don’t have that power – only Adobe can change such things and manage your payments. We wish we could do more for you!
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your efforts.
Best Regards – Robert
I changed computers. I had Acrobat Pro 8 downloaded on old computer. I’ve deleted it from the old computer and am ready to download to the new computer. BUT…I cannot find a direct link to get the download. I have my serial number. Please advise and send a link for the download in your response.
Thank you.
Hello Nannette,
We used to have a direct download link for Acrobat 8, but that version is too old now (circa 2006) and no longer available – sorry.
I had to re-install Premiere Pro CC 2018, and was using version 12.1.2 (I’m in the middle of multiple projects and collaborations with editors on 12.1.2 – cannot upgrade to PP 2019 due to computer age), but thus far can only find and reinstall 12.0.0 through adobe. Do you know where to find the update to 12.1.2? It must exist somewhere!
Thanks!
Well, the only two possible places to find it are via the CC Desktop app:
How to Install Previous Versions of Your Creative Cloud Apps
…or via the direct download links:
All Adobe CC 2018 Standalone/Offline Installers for Windows & macOS
(But we can tell you for sure that the direct download links are the 12.0 version and not the 12.1.2 version.)
I have been a long time user of Photoshop CS3. I just had a computer crash and tried to reinstall CS3 via their download file. Installation went well until I tried to activate. In less than a month as you know, they removed all activation servers for CS3. Now I’m stuck. Would buy Cs4-5 or Cs6 just to keep my Photoshop work alive. Is there ANYTHING I can do to get rolling again. I don’t want to but their CC. I can’t afford it. Please help if you can. Thanks! Mike
Hey Mike,
Really wish we could help, but it’s out of our hands… CS3 is from 2007 and Adobe hasn’t offered CS sale or upgrade of any kind for years now… It has been EOL for a long time. Adobe used to offer replacement CS3 installers, but that stopped a while back:
More info: Adobe Software Support Guidelines
We’d suggest contacting Adobe directly to express your feedback. They may be able to offer you something, though we can’t be sure or make any promises:
http://www.ContactAdobe.com/
As you may know, the Creative Cloud Photography Plan is $9.99/month. Do you think it’s too much to pay for the current releases of both Photoshop and Lightroom, plus Lightroom Classic? (including all related mobile apps and workflows, as well as ongoing upgrades)
It’s been a while now so some may have forgotten, but these best-of-breed professional tools used to cost over $1,000 upfront just to get in the door, not including upgrades… That equates almost 10 years of use of Creative Cloud compared to the old model! It’s like someone still using Photoshop CS4 from 2008 for a decade, rather than getting to use the latest Photoshop CC version all that time.
Sorry we can’t help further, but best of luck to you!
Hello, I need the direct download links (offline installers) for the new 2020 releases of Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and premiere pro.
Could you please help me?
Thank you very much :-)
Hi Walther,
Good question. Please see:
How to Get the New Adobe Creative Cloud 2020 Direct Download Links
I have a copy of the Lightroom 2 app, in its original box. I don’t believe it was ever used. Someone wants to buy it from me, but wants to ensure it hasn’t been used. Since I have its serial number, is there some way I can determine if it has been used?
Hey Bob, the only way would be to check with Adobe directly:
http://www.ContactAdobe.com/
You can ask them the same question, and confirm if there have been any activations with that serial number.
Hi there. I’ve got an old Mac Pro 2.1 (Piked to 64bit) that will only run to OSX 10.11 El Capitan. I can’t update to the 10.11.6, as it crashes the system. I downloaded the trial versions of Adobe CC 2017 – Ai, ID and PS – from your website, and they work perfectly.
I’d like to keep them working and have 5 days left before the trial ends. I’ve tried to pay for them, but only get referred to the CC 2020 suite, where the desktop app doesn’t even work on my Mac. The outcome of 30 minutes on the phone to Adobe was ‘buy a new Mac’. Can you help me please?
Regards to all
Steven
Welcome Steven, if you are a current subscriber to Creative Cloud, you don’t have to use the 2020 releases of the apps… You can use older versions if you wish.
In other words, becoming a paid member should solve your problems. You are not forced to upgrade to the newest versions.
If that doesn’t work out for you, for some reason, then you can get your money back with no questions asked (within 14 days):
How to Exchange, Return, or Refund Adobe Software Products
Hope that helps!
Hey,
Could I get a direct download link for audition cc 2019 12.1.5?
Thanks
Here are all the available offline installers for the CC 2019 release:
Adobe CC 2019 Direct Download Links: Creative Cloud 2019 Release
They are for the initial 2019.0 release, which came out in fall of 2018. Adobe has not provided updated 2019 installers from that point.
If you need a more recent version, try the 2020 release instead:
How to Get the New Creative Cloud 2020 Direct Download Links
Hello, I need the direct download links (offline installers) for the new 2020 releases of the newest version.
Could you please help me?
Greetings Yakup,
Please see:
How to Get the New Adobe CC 2020 Direct Download Links
I didn’t post my question here, because there are some specific personal details, so I prefer by email & already sent it using contact form…
Thank you
Hi ProDesignTools! I really love your website. It’s so helpful as i download Adobe installers here, since i always encounter problems installing Adobe products on my PC. Now i wonder if you also have a working download link for Illustrator CS5? I have a membership, but the latest versions don’t work well for me these days and i would like to use CS5 again.
I hope you can help me with this. Thanks!
Hello Ressan, please see this important update on the availability of CS + CC direct download links:
Adobe Limits Software Version Downloads, Including Some Direct Links
Hey, I’m looking to get the Adobe CC 2019 downloads. Are those still available?
Hi James, yes! Here they are:
All the New Adobe CC 2019 Direct Download Links, Now Available
Hi. I am receiving duplicates of your emails, and the ‘unsubscribe’ link does not direct to the right page.
Can you please amend your list so that my email address only features once, please?
Thanks for your message. We’ve never heard that before, and technically it’s impossible for a single address to appear more than once because the email field is set as a unique key on the database.
Could it be that you have another email address that is forwarding all messages automatically to your current one, so that it appears you are receiving the same correspondence twice to the same address? Can’t think of any other explanation.
Hi. Yes, i think that you are right in that I have an email forwarder at work. However, it does look like I will have to unsubscribe to resolve this issue with thee duplication.
Can you direct me where I can unsubscribe, please? The link at the base of your emails does not direct to the page to unsub.
OK, so if you are receiving two emails then they will each have separate and distinct unsub links at the bottom… We’ve double-checked and those links should work fine to unsubscribe – just make sure you click the right one that you want.
Otherwise, post back here with the email address that you wish to remove and we’d be happy to do it for you. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Cariñoso saludo a todo el equipo de prodesigntools.com.
Por favor me ayudan con la siguiente inquietud: He estado trabajando con Adobe Captivate Versión 9 y hace poco tuve la posibilidad de explorar un poco el Captivate 2019 Versión 11 y veo algunas cosas nuevas y muy novedosas, pero también pude observar que con respecto a la versión 9, le faltan algunas herramientas interesantes en la parte de interacciones, por mencionar algunas: Word search (sopa de letras), Who wants to Be a millonaire (algo así como quien quiere ser millonario) entre otras.
Podrian decirme ustedes como expertos en estos programas, por que de la ausencia de estas posibilidaes en una versión más nueva.
Muchas gracias.
Hola Luis, thanks for your comment and question. Unfortunately we cannot answer that, as only Adobe decides and controls which features will be in each release… We’d suggest you contact Adobe directly and/or submit your product feedback to them here:
Adobe Feature Request and Bug Report Submission Form
@ProDesignTools
Muchísimas gracias.
Hello,
i have downloaded adobe animate 2019 and i didn’t get the file which i wanted but it is a corrupted one.
please try to fix it…
Thanking You,
Aarman
Sorry, not sure; did you receive any error(s) or other messages?
If so, what are they exactly – and did you try googling that to find a solution?
Just tested those 2019 direct links and all the downloads above check out 100% fine for us…
Nobody else has reported any issues, so we’d definitely need more detail in order to help you out.
You could also try downloading again, perhaps using a different browser or another computer or Internet connection.
Hey,
Please I need photoshop cc 2014, because I tried your adobe cc 2014 collection but it doesn’t work and thank you.
Sorry, Adobe pulled the installer for Photoshop CC 2014, so it is no longer available now… See:
Adobe Limits Software Version Downloads, Incl. Some Direct Links
However, other CC 2014 direct links above do still continue to work. And the standalone/offline installers for newer releases of Photoshop – like CC 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 – can be obtained here:
Adobe Creative Cloud Direct Download Links for Windows & macOS
Hope that helps.
Hi, do you have adobe muse for Big Sur?
Sorry – because of major changes Apple made in macOS version 10.15, the installation of any Creative Cloud apps older than CC 2019 is not supported on Catalina and newer versions…
For more information, please see this Adobe help page with further details:
Why Don’t My Adobe Apps Work in macOS Catalina 10.15?
CC 2018 was the last major release of Adobe Muse, which means that unfortunately it won’t run on macOS Catalina or Big Sur.
You rave about 70,000 free Adobe Stock images and you give a big Blue button to ‘Download’ them, but that link doesn’t allow you to do any such thing. You’d have wade through all the images yourself and individually select which ones you want.
Very misleading, and a waste of time.
You can’t be serious? To try to download the entire Adobe Stock Free Collection at once would be over 300 Gigabytes…! Virtually nobody has space for that on their disks or devices – and even if they did, how would they then efficiently “wade” through that massive set and find exactly what they want?
Far, far better to have the entire collection stored and displayed online with powerful search & discovery capabilities, and then quickly download what you need, whenever you need it – 100% for free – and use it forever:
http://www.FreeAdobeStock.com/
Further, the online Adobe Stock service (including the free category) is natively integrated into Adobe tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and other Creative Cloud apps – thus streamlining and speeding your workflows.
So yes, the button indeed says “Download,” because you can instantly search and download any of the free assets you want, at any time. Most people think it’s terrific. Sorry to disappoint, but so far you’re the only one. 🤷
Hello,
I know it’s old, but it still works for me… I bought the digital version of Dreamweaver CS5.5 a long time ago… I remember coming to this site to redownload it because I bought a new computer. Do you still have a link that I could download it again… I replaced my computer and need to install it on the new one… OR, is there an easy way I could copy some of the install files from my old computer? Thanks so much!!
You’re in luck, Mike! From 2011:
Adobe CS5.5 Direct Download Links, for Windows and Mac
Be aware that they may not run on newer operating systems or there may be issues; for example, they won’t even install on the latest versions of macOS, which no longer support 32-bit programs.