KI 0955 What is Adobe Creative Cloud?

2020-12-10 (updated 2025-03-20)

The Adobe programs Acrobat Pro, Dreamweaver, FrameMaker, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Photoshop and Premiere Pro can (only) be purchased as subscription licenses through the Adobe Creative Cloud service/platform.

This means that we do not buy the program and own it, but pay an annual subscription fee for each user. The user is then registered as the "owner" of that license and can use the included program(s) on any computer. The user must install the Adobe Creative Cloud program/platform, and through it gets access to the program(s) they have a license for. (See KI 0993 Installing Adobe Creative Cloud for more information.)

The Creative Cloud subscription also includes additional services such as additional fonts and data storage in Adobe's cloud.

The user can use the latest version of the program at any time. The license/subscription is renewed once a year, in December/January (the renewal date is formally 10/12, but users retain access for an extra month, i.e. until 10/1).

Please note that Adobe Acrobat Reader, the program needed to read and print PDF documents, still is free and does not require any license.