Adobe Acrobat Pro DC alternatives - Windows
The Adobe Acrobat Pro DC alternatives for Mac is available here: Adobe Acrobat Pro DC alternatives - Mac
Changes to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Licensing
The University of Waterloo has a site license for Acrobat Pro DC which allows all full-time employees to use the software free of charge. For more information see Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
For non-full-time employees, the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC licensing model is a subscription-based model, which means University of Waterloo departments/units have to purchase a subscription for Acrobat Pro DC. Please review the Campus Adobe Options.
Do I still need Adobe Acrobat Pro DC?
Many commonly used features of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC are available in other applications UWaterloo employees already have access to (e.g. Microsoft 365) or are freely available (e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC). Alternate, less expensive applications may also be available for purchase. Please see the list of alternatives below.
You may still require Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, if you:
create and/or edit fillable PDF forms
make remediations for accessibility (i.e. adjust tags or reading order)
need to edit content directly in a PDF document (Note: edits can be made to some files using Microsoft Word)
PDF Studio 2022 Professional
PDF Studio 2022 Professional is a full-featured PDF editor that maintains full compatibility with the PDF Standard. It is available for purchase at a discounted rate for UWaterloo employees via OnTheHub (limit of 10). To purchase more than 10 licenses, contact SHI (Canadian reseller). For feature lists and how-to’s, see the PDF Studio User Guide and Knowledge Base.
Note PDF Studio doesn’t have an auto-tag feature, like Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. Tags must be created in the original authoring application or manually in PDF Studio. If a PDF is required to be accessible and will be heavily edited, either to adjust the content or add fillable form fields, it is recommended to continue to use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.