How to Join Adobe’s Creative Cloud for Free

Having originally launched almost seven years ago, by this time you’ve heard about Adobe’s fast-growing Creative Cloud, you’ve dispelled the all-too-common myths surrounding it, and perhaps are considering subscribing to CC now that over 12 million of your colleagues already have…

You probably also know that Adobe stopped development of the older “CS” releases back in 2012, and that there have been thousands of new product features, enhancements, and perform­ance improvements added to CC since Creative Suite ended, as well as integral new services.

But did you know that no matter what you do, you can sign up right now for a zero-cost class of membership that never expires and provides free benefits for life?  Anyone can have this free level currently in 83 countries worldwide, even if you still use the older tools instead, or even if you use no other Adobe products or services at all.  No credit card is required.

Here is all of what you get completely free (on Windows or macOS), permanently:

1. Two gigabytes of cloud space for storing, syncing, and sharing your files online (same as Dropbox).  The content of your Adobe project/data files (like PSD, AI, INDD, or PDF) can be intelligently viewed in any browser, in application-specific ways… Viewers (incl. clients and non-Cloud members) can easily turn layers on and off, display relevant metadata, make comments, optionally download the files, and more – all without needing any other tools.
2. Completely free download and use of the full desktop version of Adobe XD for Windows or Mac. XD stands for “Experience Design,” and is Adobe’s popular new all-in-one UX/UI solution to quickly design websites, mobile apps, and more. With the new Starter Plan, you absolutely get Adobe XD for free – and not a temporary trial version, but a permanently-working version.
3. Full integrated use of Adobe’s new family of mobile apps (over a dozen strong!), enabling you to sketch, draw, paint, create layouts, edit photos and make videos on your tablet or smartphone. Now powered by CreativeSync technology, your assets and apps are connected across your desktop computers and mobile devices, so you can do great work anywhere.
4. A lifetime license for Adobe Bridge CC, their flagship desktop media browser and powerful digital asset manager that allows you to efficiently locate, organize, manage, preview, and batch process your content files – including most image, vector, audio and video files. Easily view and manage Photoshop PSD, Camera RAW, Illustrator AI, InDesign INDD, Adobe XD, Acrobat PDF, Flash SWF, and many other types of files and documents, all without paid programs. (Yes, it’s totally free!)
5. Unrestricted use of Edge Web Fonts, a vast collection online fonts served forever to any website(s) of your choosing. Now over 800 free hosted typefaces to choose from!
6. A full non-expiring license for Adobe Edge Animate 1.5 – you can download and use this version of the EA desktop application to create interactive and animated web content with HTML5 technology.
7. Game Developer Tools to build, optimize, and deliver web and mobile games – including free Adobe Scout and Adobe Flash C++ Compiler.
8. Free PhoneGap Build capability to create a mobile app with HTML, CSS and Java­Script, and then deploy it to a wide range of devices.
9. No charge get started with Typekit professional fonts: choose two online font families from nearly 1,000 available to use on a single website. You can also sync more than 280 great fonts to use in your favorite desktop programs, including CC trial apps, older versions of the Creative Suite, and even non-Adobe applications.
10. Free for one mobile device: Edge Inspect (formerly Adobe Shadow) to easily preview your work live on your device from the desktop in fast, remote-controlled fashion.
11. Integration of Behance’s community and portfolio capabilities, allowing you to seam­lessly create content, seek feedback, showcase and distribute your work. Behance now has over 10 million members receiving 70+ million project views per month, and is a fantastic way to get exposure from like-minded creatives.
12. Access to free Adobe Story screenwriting software to turn your ideas into screenplays and scripts (available for a limited time).
13. Free use of Adobe Spark, an integrated web and mobile solution that enables you to easily create and share visual content – like posts for social media, creative graphics, web stories, and animated videos.
14. The opportunity to get 10 downloadable assets completely free from Adobe Stock.
15. Plus… fast and easy access to the free trials of all the new CC 2018 tools and services.  Even if you previously ran an Adobe trial in previous years, you still receive a fresh new 7-day tryout period with the latest CC release. And every time Adobe does a major upgrade to the software going forward (expected to be annually), you’ll get another new free trial.

How to get all this?  Well if you already have an Adobe ID then all it takes is confirming the free signup. And if you don’t have an Adobe ID yet, then it’s just six fields to fill out and no credit card needed:

Special: Legally download dozens of free Adobe books for a limited time!

Creative Cloud: Compare Free vs. Paid Memberships

If you later decide to join the Creative Cloud as a full paying sub­scriber, then you’ll keep all of the benefits of the Free level of member­ship above – plus add all of the following:

• Full access to the complete Adobe CC 2019 toolset, including Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat DC Pro, Dreamweaver, Animate (formerly Flash Pro), After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, Character Animator, Muse, Dimension, Typekit Portfolio, and much more.
• Use of the latest creative technology from Adobe with ongoing upgrades included as soon as they become available – you can always run the most recent product version.
• You also have the ability to download, install and use older releases like CS6 Master Collection (together on the same machines as CC) if you want or need to.
• Now included for all paid CC subscribers is Adobe Portfolio (upgraded from Behance ProSite), which gives you a quick and intuitive way to create a beautiful portfolio website to show off your work, without having to write a single line of code.
• Access to 100 GB of online storage and other services from Adobe, such as free Creative Cloud Training produced by industry-leading partners.
• Full access to new and additional products that were never available through traditional perpetual licenses, including Dimension, Experience Design (XD), Character Animator, and Fuse.
• An upgrade to Adobe Spark with Premium Features, which lets you create and share branded stories using your own logo, fonts, colors, templates, themes, and more. This by itself is a US$9.99/month value.
• You can install all the desktop programs on up to two of your computers, and easily move the software between different systems as needed.
• Flexible and budget-friendly payments through monthly or yearly subscription options.

And if you ever stop or cancel your paid subscription, you will still retain all benefits of the Free membership for life.

What is Adobe Creative Cloud? (In Under Five Minutes:)

From: Learning the Adobe Creative Cloud by Chad Chelius at Lynda.com

Do you have any further questions on what Creative Cloud is about, or how the free membership compares versus the paid/complete membership?  Check out our extensive Creative Cloud FAQ, or just ask them below and we’ll get you answers fast!

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See Also

• The 10 most common myths about Creative Cloud
• What are the differences between Adobe CC vs. CS6?
• Download free Adobe books (choose over 30 titles)
• How to save 60% with the Adobe education editions
• Free download: Get 10 high-quality Adobe Stock images
• Don’t need full Cloud? Get PS + LR for $9.99/month
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