Adobe switched its Creative Cloud products license from device-based (per installation) to name-based (one personal license per person) in 2019. ETH’s previous device-based license expired on November 30th, 2019.
ETH staff can order the IT Shop product «Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps» that contains all Adobe Creative Cloud applications including Acrobat DC and costs Fr. 70.– per year and license. There is a version for computer labs and shared devices. Order «Adobe Creative Cloud SDL for Labs CC DC» if you need to setup a device that doesn’t have an assigned user. A fixed IP address is required that will be registered with Adobe.
Upon ordering Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps a personal account is registered with the user’s name at Adobe. The @ethz.ch address (i.e. ETH_username@ethz.ch) and NOT the regular institute email address, is used for logging in with Adobe. The ETH email password is entered on an ETH Zürich AD federation server for authentication. See disclaimer for data protection details when ordering the product.
The only Adobe software installer you will find on your IT Shop drive after ordering will be for a preconfigured Adobe CC Desktop App. You will be able to use it, after logging in, to install the Adobe software you need, uninstall it if necessary and keep your applications updated. Please read the installation instructions in IT Shop for details.
The new license (login) can be used with previous installations of Creative Cloud 2018 software but it is recommended to uninstall all old Adobe software and to use the Adobe CC Desktop App to install current versions. Home use on private devices for ETH work is still allowed.
Please note that ETH Zurich does only offer limited cloud services by third-party vendors for official use. Thus access to Adobe cloud storage and all Adobe online services that store data in the cloud (including Adobe Lightroom) has been limited as far as possible. You will have to accept a data protection and cloud service disclaimer when ordering the Adobe product in IT Shop because it is not possible to completely deactivate Adobe’s cloud features.
We encourage you to look for alternative software if possible. Adobe is notoriously difficult to deal with and feels like they can dictate prices and licensing conditions to their customers with relative impunity given their strong market position.