All University of Waterloo community members are entitled to a free licensed copy of ChemDraw under the university campus license. For additional information, please check these instructions on the PerkinElmer site.
To license and install ChemDraw:
Go to Perkin Elmer Informatics Site Subscription and search "University of Waterloo" in the "Search for Institution" box.
Under "Register to download the latest version of ChemDraw" click the blue "Register" button.
If you already have an account with PerkinElmer, use the "Click here to log in" link just under "Welcome to User Registration."
If you do not have an account with PerkinElmer:
Create a new account
Verify your email address
Make sure the email address you use is of the form your WatIAMuserid@uwaterloo.ca
Log in to PerkinElmer.
You will get a message that says, “This site says…Member registered successfully in the PerkinElmer Download Center. You will receive an email to create your password for the PerkinElmer Download Center.”
You will then receive an email from perkinelmer@flexnetoperations.com entitled, “Welcome to PerkinElmer Download Center!”
Activate your account by clicking on the provided link. On the "Password Finder" page, enter the email address you registered with, it is displayed in the verification email if you don't remember. Then create a new password, Not your WatIAM password. You will have to enter it twice and then click "Submit."
You will be taken to the “Password Finder Thank You” page. In the green banner, click on “attempt to login.”
You will be taken to the “Product Information” page. Follow the instructions at the top of the screen to uncover your Activation Code.
Copy your Activation Code and paste it into a local document for safekeeping.
Hover over the download symbol to the right of the Activation Code and click on “Download” in the popup to go back to the initial screen.
You can download your software from here, but you will first have to download a downloader. "Allow" the Flexera software to be installed on your machine and it will mediate the download of your ChemDraw installer (.exe file).
There are installers for multiple platforms as well as some documentation available. You can check the box next to whichever ones you want before starting the download.
Once you have completed the download, double-click the ChemDraw installer. You will be presented with a small menu. Click “Install software.”
The ChemDraw Professional Install Wizard will start. It takes a second for the installer to prepare; when it is ready, the PerkinElmer Software Activation dialogue will appear.
Enter your PerkinElmer credentials (name and email address as registered when you created the account in the steps above) and your Authorization Code. If you have forgotten or misplaced your Authorization Code, you can retrieve it by logging in at PerkinElmer Download Center Login or by looking in the local document you saved it in previously.
Once you have authorized the install, you will get a notification popup that you have successfully activated ChemDraw Professional. Click "OK."
You should now be able to click the “Next” button in the Wizard.
Scroll down to the bottom of the agreement to enable accepting the terms. You are encouraged to note the highlights of the agreement before installing, especially the paragraph entitled “License” which outlines how many copies you will be able to activate at a time.
Even with the default installation location, the Wizard will allow you to choose which software you would like to install. ChemDraw (mandatory), ChemScript, and Python 3.2.2 (required for ChemScript) are currently available.
If you choose to install Python, a Python installer will also run.
Having trouble installing?
The Flexera downloader doesn't always work. If you are unable to download multiple files using the Flexera downloader, download one package at a time.
Uninstall McAfee. We had one instance of a student running Windows 10 where McAfee blocked the authorization popup. The software would install but could not be used.
Issues or Concerns?
Please contact the Science Computing Helpdesk.