U students now have access to free Adobe software, including Photoshop and Lightroom.
But Tiffany Swenson worries most students don’t know about this.
“It’s really just a lack of awareness,” Swenson said. “We want people to know these resources are here and they are available to them.”
To inform students, Swenson organized Adobe Day at the U for today, Sept. 16 starting at 10:30 a.m. The event will have games, contests, download stations and three-hour classes taught by Adobe experts in the Marriott Library plaza.
Sahithi Chagandi, a graduate student in computer science, didn’t know about the free Adobe products, but is now excited to download them.
“I had no idea, but I think it’s great,” Chagandi said. “As students, we can’t afford much, but we need access to a lot of tools to help us throughout our education. If those products are available for free, then it makes everything easier.”
Andy Cheung, a sophomore in bioengineering, said having access to free Adobe products is important for U students.
“It helps us do our work, our projects, and it’s just helpful overall in school and later in our careers,” Cheung said.
Jasmin Davis, a member of the University Information Technology’s Office of Software Licensing at the U who came up with the idea for Adobe Day, said one of the main goals of the event is to make students and faculty aware of the software available to them.
Davis said the university worked hard to establish a campus agreement with Adobe partly because John Warnock, the co-founder of Adobe, is an alumni of the U.
“Something we hope this event will be is a catalyst to showcase Warnock’s legacy at the university,” Davis said. “We hope one day he’ll come here and do a keynote address for the students.”
Although the event’s main goal is to bring awareness to students, there are several students who knew about the offer before coming to campus. Ryan Wagner, a freshman in entertainment arts engineering, is one of them.
“It’s great having it, especially in my major,” Wagner said. “I had the trial version, but nothing compares to the full.”
According to the University Information Technology website, students are eligible for the products if they are enrolled in at least one credit awarding class and a degree granting program.
Margaret Witbeck, also with the U’s Office of Software Licensing, said the event will highlight the licensing agreement with Adobe so students and faculty know what to expect when they download the products. The free software is only available to each individual downloader for one year.
“We want people to know it can be fun too,” Witbeck said. “Licensing can be fun.”
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