Using Adobe Software for Faculty & Staff

Adobe Acrobat

This software is essential for creating, editing, and managing PDF documents, as well as providing a suite of web-based creativity tools and templates. It is the institute’s standard for handling PDF files and is required for over 70% of employees.

Adobe Express

This software offers a collection of web-based, template-driven tools for quickly creating professional content such as flyers, web pages, business cards, and enhanced images. It is ideal for users seeking fast, polished results without the steep learning curve of Creative Cloud Pro apps. While Express provides a more structured, “plug-and-play” experience, Creative Cloud Pro serves as a blank canvas, offering greater creative freedom for advanced users.

Adobe Creative Cloud is Adobe’s premier suite for digital content creation, offering over 20 tools, including Acrobat Pro DC, and specialized applications for various creative tasks: image creation and editing (Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom), audio and video production (Audition, Premiere Pro), and web content design and prototyping (Dreamweaver, XD), among others.

For more information about Adobe Creative Cloud, please refer to Adobe’s Creative Cloud website.

Your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription includes a storage component to store your Adobe Creative Cloud assets. If you are leaving BCIT, it is your responsibility to migrate any assets to another Adobe user or account before your subscription ends.

Adobe Cloud Storage is managed entirely by Adobe and is not a BCIT system. Adobe enforces a 90-day retention policy for files associated with inactive subscriptions. After this period, all inactive data is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. To avoid losing your saved data, ensure you migrate your Adobe assets before your subscription ends. Since Adobe Cloud Storage is not managed by BCIT, IT Services cannot assist with recovering lost data.

For more information on migrating your Adobe assets, please refer to Adobe’s File Transfer documentation.

All Adobe subscriptions for Faculty & Staff are valid annually from October 1st to September 30th, regardless of the initial subscription start date. Once a subscription expires on September 30th, you can request a renewal if continued access is needed. The following section provides instructions for renewing an existing subscription or obtaining a new one.

1. Refer to the section above to identify the Adobe product you need access to
2. Navigate to the appropriate request form depending on what product you’d like to request a subscription for:
   Adobe Acrobat for Employees
   Adobe Express for Employees
   Adobe CC for Employees
3. If necessary, log in using your usual BCIT login credentials
4. Review the information about the software and subscription on the request form
5. Click on the Request button on the right-hand side of the page
6. A confirmation prompt will appear on the screen. Verify that your name is listed in the “Request for” field, then click the Request button to submit your request
7. Once the request has been submitted you will receive a few system generated notification emails to keep you informed throughout the process.  Within 72 hours, you should receive an email from Adobe indicating that your Adobe subscription is ready for use.

Note: During peak periods, such as the start of a term, confirmation emails from Adobe may take up to 72 hours to arrive. This process is managed entirely by Adobe and BCIT IT Services cannot expedite it.

Check your BCIT-issued device to see if Adobe Acrobat is already installed.

1. Click on the Start button on your taskbar
2. In the search field, type “Adobe.” If Adobe Acrobat is already installed, it will appear as a tile below the search results
   

If Adobe Acrobat is not installed, please refer to Installing BCIT software on BCIT computers

After installing Adobe Acrobat:

1. Launch Adobe Acrobat
2. A sign-in screen will appear. Enter your @bcit.ca email address in the email field and click Continue

3. You will be redirected to the standard BCIT login screen. Login with your usual BCIT credentials and follow any MFA prompts as normal
4. Adobe Acrobat should now be signed in and ready for use

1. Navigate to adobe.com/express
2. Click the Sign in button on the top-right corner of the page
3. A sign-in screen will appear. Enter your @bcit.ca email address in the email field and click Continue

4. You will be redirected to the standard BCIT login screen. Login with your usual BCIT credentials and follow any MFA prompts as normal
5. You should now be signed into your Adobe account and can begin using Adobe Express

Check your BCIT-issued device to see if Adobe Creative Cloud is already installed.

1. Click on the Start button on your taskbar
2. In the search field, type ‘creative’.  If Adobe Creative Cloud is already installed, it will appear as a tile below the search results
   

If Adobe Creative Cloud is not installed, please refer to Installing BCIT software on BCIT computers

After installing Adobe Creative Cloud:

1. Launch Adobe Creative Cloud
2. A sign-in screen will appear. Enter your @bcit.ca email address in the email field and click Continue

3. You will be redirected to the standard BCIT login screen. Login with your usual BCIT credentials and follow any MFA prompts as normal
4. Adobe Creative Cloud should now be signed in and ready for use

For detailed instructions on how to download or install apps, refer to the vendor’s guide:  Download and Install Creative Cloud apps.

With automatic validation, this issue should not occur. However, if you do encounter this message, follow the steps below.

1. Open a new private or incognito window in your browser to ensure it forgets any saved settings
2. Go to www.adobe.com
3. Click on Sign in at the top-right corner of the page
4. A sign-in screen will appear. Enter your @bcit.ca email address in the email field and click Continue
5. You will be redirected to the standard BCIT login screen. Login with your usual BCIT credentials and follow any MFA prompts as normal
6. Launch your Adobe software (Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Creative Cloud)
7. It should automatically launch with no sign-in (since you are signed in from the active website)
8. Close the website

This issue arises when you attempt to use Adobe software without a valid subscription

To obtain a net-new or renew your Adobe subscription lease refer to How to request an Adobe subscription

This issue typically occurs when your Adobe subscription has expired.

All Adobe subscriptions are valid annually, from October 1st to September 30th, regardless of the initial start date. Once your subscription expires on September 30th, you can request a new subscription if continued access to the software is needed.

To obtain a net-new or renew your Adobe subscription lease refer to How to request an Adobe subscription

Adobe relies on the username, email address, first name, and last name BCIT has on file. Any changes to this information will disrupt your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, affecting all users, including full-time students, flexible learning students, and BCIT employees.

Example problem

1. Data provided to Adobe on account creation is “Wilma Slaghoople, wslaghoople1@my.bcit.ca,”
2. Adobe will use the email address of wslaghoople1@my.bcit.ca to confirm your identity when logging in. Everything works.
3. You change your name and official BCIT email address to “Wilma Flintstone, wflintstone1@my.bcit.ca”
4. Adobe still thinks your email address is wslaghoople1@my.bcit.ca, but BCIT’s data has changed to wflintstone1@my.bcit.ca and you are unable to log in to Adobe applications.

Fix

1. Contact the BCIT IT Service Desk at and let them know you have had a recent email address change and are unable to authenticate using Adobe products.
2. An IT person will update your records for our Adobe access to match your updated email address and everything will work correctly again.