About Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a comprehensive suite of applications designed for creative professionals, but its utility extends far beyond the arts. For faculty members, determining whether they need Adobe Creative Cloud depends on their specific roles and tasks. Here is a guide to help faculty members decide if Adobe Creative Cloud is right for them.
When Adobe Creative Cloud is Needed
- Design and Multimedia Courses
- Graphic Design and Digital Art: Faculty teaching courses in graphic design, digital art, or multimedia production will find Adobe Creative Cloud indispensable. Applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are industry standards for creating and editing visual content.
- Video Production: For courses involving video production, Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effect offer powerful tools for video editing and motion graphics.
- Research and Publication
- Data Visualization: Faculty involved in research that requires sophisticated data visualization can benefit from Adobe Illustrator for creating detailed and scalable graphics.
- Publication Design: Those who need to design and format academic journals, books, or conference materials will find InDesign invaluable for professional layout and typography.
- Interactive and Web Content
- Web Design: Faculty members teaching web design or managing departmental websites can use Adobe Dreamweaver for coding and Adobe XD for designing user interfaces and experiences.
- Interactive PDFs: Creating interactive PDFs with forms, multimedia elements, and advanced layouts is made easy with Adobe Acrobat Pro and InDesign.
- Marketing and Communication
- Promotional materials: Faculty involved in creating promotional materials for their departments or programs can use Photoshop and Illustrator to design brochures, posters, and social medial graphics.
- Presentation: For creating visually engaging presentations, Adobe Spark and InDesign offer advanced design capabilities.
When Adobe Creative Cloud May Not Be Needed
- Basic Document Handling
- Reading and Annotating PDFs: Faculty who primarily need to read, annotate and share PDFs can rely on a PDF reader. These tools are sufficient for basic document handling and do not require the full Creative Cloud Suite.
- Simple Document Creation: For creating simple documents, Microsoft Office may be more appropriate and cost-effective.
- Limited Design Needs
- Occasional Design Tasks: Faculty who only occasionally need to create simple graphics or edit images might find free or less expensive alternatives like Canva or GIMP sufficient for their needs.
- Administrative Tasks
- Form Filling and Basic Editing: For tasks like filling out forms, basic PDF editing, and document signing a standalone PDF editor may be adequate.
For information and use cases for a PDF Reader or editor, check out About PDF Readers and PDF Editors : Marquette University ITS (mu.edu).
For Students
Visit Raynor Library for Creative Cloud software on Windows computers, iMacs or MacBook Laptops. Also, Adobe.com offers Creative Cloud academic discounts for personally-owned devices.
For Departments: Subscribe to Creative Cloud
Creative Cloud is an annual subscription, and the contract year begins in August. Subscriptions automatically renew each year - unless IT Services is notified before August. There are two types of subscriptions: a device subscription and a named subscription. Device subscriptions are for shared and lab computers. Everyone else must buy a named subscription.
When ordering, identify which type of Creative Cloud Subscription: named or device.
- Named subscription -- $142.00
- Device subscription -- $188.85
Use an Internal Billing Form (IBF) for new Creative Cloud annual subscriptions. List the subscription type—named or device—in the IBF Form (Campus Access only). Email the completed IBF to mfstransfer@marquette.edu. The Purchasing Department reviews the IBF and submits it to IT Services for installation.
NOTE: If the subscription is to replace a former faculty or staff member, provide the name of the former employee in the IBF and follow the instructions above. TechSquad for installation.
For Departments: Buy PDF Editors or Photoshop Elements.
Foxit Editor Pro (Recommended PDF editor to replace Adobe Acrobat Pro)
Adobe no longer sells perpetual licenses for Photoshop Elements. Photoshop users must obtain a subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.