Adobe Renewal and Free PDF Readers

Each year Penn State needs to renew the license for all users of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Creative Cloud. Some action is required from you and your supervisors, if you still need access to these applications. 

In mid-March, you should receive a notice from Adobe.com regarding "Your administrator has altered some permission settings for All Apps" or "Your access to All Apps – Pro Edition – Faculty/Staff has changed".

Please remember that Adobe Reader and/or Adobe Acrobat are the ONLY PDF readers/editors to be used. Please do not download other PDF editors of any type as we have seen many PDF editor downloads causing compromises. If you can't find either Adobe product, please reach out to Ag IT for assistance.

If you need Acrobat Pro:

1. Visit Penn State Software Request (https://softwarerequest.psu.edu). The site will ask if you are a member of Penn State, or Penn College.
2. Select Penn State.
3. Sign in with your Penn State account.
4. Click the Reorder button under Adobe Acrobat.
5. You should then get an email from Adobe about what to do next - Ignore this email.
6. Once you get the email, the new license is activated, but you likely already have Acrobat installed on your computer. Just open it and log in to the application with your Penn State account.

If you Need Applications from Adobe Creative Cloud Suite:

(such as Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom, After Effects):

1. Refer to this How To: Request & Install Adobe Creative Cloud Suite Products
2. You will need to have a conversation with your supervisor about your need for these applications. Your supervisor will need to approve your license within IIQ.
3. Once you are approved for this license, you should be able to open Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, login and either access or download the applications you need. *Remember that these applications are very large and can take up a lot of hard drive space.*

March 2026