Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) is Adobe Inc.'s suite of professional applications for media creation. It includes popular products such as Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Adobe InDesign CC and more. The Creative Cloud suite supersedes Adobe's previous Creative Suite applications. Orchard no longer provide support or reinstallation of Adobe Creative Suite products, and all users of these products are urged to upgrade to Creative Cloud.
One of the main differences between Creative Suite and Creative Cloud is the licensing model. Whereas previously you would pay a one-off licence fee to purchase a single Creative Suite version e.g. CS6, Creative Cloud employs a subscription model, where you pay a monthly fee and receive any new versions as they come out. While this does result in an ongoing cost for the use of the applications, it also means that it is easier to stay up to date with the latest features without being hit with a sudden, large bill for a newer version.
Oxford University does not have an Enterprise licence for Creative Cloud, meaning that there is no campus-wide licence and each subscription must be paid for separately by the unit that requires it. There are two types of Creative Cloud subscription under what is called our Value Incentive Plan (VIP) agreement.
Named-user subscriptions are assigned to an individual via their University email address, and are probably the subscription that most Orchard users would need to purchase. They allow the user to install and run the Creative Cloud applications on up to two devices, although only one of the devices can be in use at any one time, meaning it cannot be used to share a single subscription between two people. They also come with an amount of cloud storage for saving and sharing your work.
Device-based subscriptions apply to all users of a single computer. They are most commonly used in lab situations where multiple people, for instance students, will need to use the software on one device. This type of subscription does not come with any amount of cloud storage from Adobe, and can only be used on a single machine.
You can purchase named-user subscriptions of either the full suite of CC applications, or a single application, It is generally more cost effective to purchase the whole suite if you require any more than one CC application. The exception is InCopy CC, which costs less than other apps. Please note that under Orchard it is only possible to purchase and install single app Named-user subscriptions. Single app is not currently available for device-based subscriptions.
The following single app subscriptions are available for named-users:
InDesign CC
InCopy CC
In order to purchase a subscription you should ask an administrator in charge of the purchasing for your unit to contact your local IT support staff, making it clear which subscriptions you wish to have and which users or devices they are intended for. More information for administrators can be found here.
If you have a named-user subscription, you will be sent an email inviting you to join a particular VIP team. If you do not have an Adobe ID, you will be asked to create one using your University email account. Once you have created an Adobe ID, you will be able to sign into an installed Creative Cloud application on your computer and it will be licensed for the duration of your subscription.
Device-based licences must be assigned to the device by your local IT Support Staff.
All of the apps available in the full suite of Adobe Creative Cloud are available in the Orchard Software Centre. You can go to the Adobe Creative Cloud category or the category with the latest versions e.g. Creative Cloud 2017 on the right hand side of the Software page of the Orchard Software Centre. Click the Install button under the app you require to start the download and install (if the Install button is not available you may have run out of space to perform the install. Contact your local IT Support Staff for help). You will be warned that you need a subscription, otherwise they will install as a 7-day trial. In order to use the applications beyond the 7 days, you must purchase a subscription. If you have a named-user subscription, you can sign in with your Adobe ID when you open a Creative Cloud app. If a device licence has been assigned to your computer, the applications will work for all users of the computer without sign-in.
Support for the applications is provided by your local IT Support Staff.
