JGU's current license agreement for Adobe products ends on November 22, 2025. Due to significant price increases and low usage figures, the university will no longer be able to obtain a new campus license in the future.
Information for Students
What does this mean for your studies?
- Adobe programs will no longer be available in the computer labs as of 22 November.
- The associated Adobe training courses will no longer be offered and have already been canceled for the winter semester.
Your Options After 22 November 2025
Using Alternative Programs
- We have already licensed and purchased many alternative programs. You can use these free of charge.
- You can switch to the programs immediately! You can find a thematic overview of all alternatives on our website: https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/adobe-alternatives/
- Using the ZDV apps, you can assign most programs to the computers in the computer pool rooms.
- The three important programs Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator are being replaced by the Affinity programs. You can also download these to your private computer for your studies:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/affinity-programs/ - We have purchased and licensed PDF‑XChangePRO for the PDF program Acrobat Pro. This is also available to you free of charge:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/program-pdf-xchange-pro/
Training
In the past, we offered training for the Adobe programs Photoshop and InDesign. With a short survey, we want to determine the need for training for the alternative programs from Affinity.
Take the survey and give us feedback on how you have used Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator so far in your studies. The survey takes a maximum of 2 minutes:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/BkhXmgWdDT
We know that switching from familiar programs always involves a certain amount of effort. The selected alternatives were deliberately chosen because they cover most Adobe programs and require a short training period.
Information for employees
What does this mean for you?
- All paid Adobe programs are affected by this decision.
- As of 23 November 2025, you will no longer be able to use Adobe programs with the existing campus license.
- We will then centrally uninstall the software, including all programs, from the computers managed by the Central Data Protection Administration (ZDV). You do not need to take any action yourself.
As of 22 November 2025, employees have two alternatives
- Use alternative programs
We have already purchased and licensed professional programs for all common application areas. These are available to you immediately free of charge. Find out on our website which programs you need for your work and switch before November:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/adobe-alternatives/ - Continue licensing Adobe programs
If you continue to rely on Adobe programs for your work, you can purchase a new license through us. This individual license must be financed by your respective institution; billing is handled by the ZDV. Since the conditions depend heavily on the number of licenses ordered, we request your order via the following web forms:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/adobe-licensing/
Important information about the transition is available on our website
- Alternative programs that you can already use:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/adobe-alternatives/ - We have purchased and licensed PDF‑XChangePRO for the PDF program Acrobat Pro:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/program-pdf-xchange-pro/ - Three important programs, Photoshop, InDesign, and InDesign, are being replaced by the Affinity programs: https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/affinity-programs/
- Order Adobe individual licenses: https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/adobe-licensing/
We will support you during the transition
We know that the transition will mean additional work for you. Our goal is therefore to make the switch to alternative programs as smooth as possible for you.
- Even before the campus license expires, you will have the opportunity to try out and directly use the new alternative programs; we have already purchased and licensed all programs.
- In a weekly question and answer session, you have the opportunity to ask questions about the planned migration, alternative products, licenses, and costs. We cannot answer specific application questions about individual programs in this format.
Every Tuesday from 10:00 to 11:00 AM and every Thursday from 2:00 to 3:00 PM.
BBB room: https://bbb.rlp.net/rooms/ens-mkb-x60-ags/join - Initial training offers for Affinity’s alternative programs are already available on the university’s continuing education portal.
- Affinity Publisher (alternative to InDesign)
- Further courses are in the planning stage.
- We have answered the most important questions for you:
https://www.en-zdv.uni-mainz.de/adobe-transition-frequently-asked-questions/
If you have any further questions, please contact directly: softwarelizenzen@zdv.uni-mainz.de.
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