Manage trials and special offers

Applies to enterprise.

As a system admin on an active ETLA contract, discover and self-start product trials and special offers in the Adobe Admin Console. Give users access to explore new tools, control distribution, track adoption, and convert them to paid licenses later.

Activate one or more trials or special offers for selected users and evaluate adoption before purchase.

Activate a trial or a special offer

Each trial or special offer has specific eligibility criteria. When an offer becomes available, Adobe sends an email notification to all system administrators of eligible orgs. Once available to the org, any system admin can activate the trial or offer from the Admin Console.

  1. Go to the Trials and special offers page in the Adobe Admin Console to view available trials and special offers. This page displays all offers your organization is currently eligible for.

    If you have questions or need assistance, contact your Adobe Account Manager. Learn how to view your account manager’s contact details.

  2. Select Get started to learn more about an offer.

  3. A dialog box appears with offer details, including duration, number of licenses, and any included storage or services. In this dialog, you can:

    • Review the offer details
    • Turn on or off automatic assignment
    • Choose to notify users via email
    • Accept the terms by selecting Agree and activate trial, or Confirm
    Tip

    While you can assign licenses manually, allowing users to self-start the trial through automatic assignment helps gauge interest and guide purchase decisions. Email notifications further drive awareness and user adoption.

Manage your trial contract

Activating a trial offer creates a new contract that remains separate from existing contracts in your organization. In contrast, special offers are added to eligible contracts already available within the organization. Once you activate a trial or special offer, you can manage it from the Products page in the Admin Console like any other product. Learn more about managing product profiles.

You can also use the Account page to view trial contract details, add contract administrators to help manage user access, and view details of your Adobe account manager. Learn about managing your contracts and agreements.

Manage user access

You can choose how users in your organization access the trial product. Adobe offers flexible options to suit your organization’s needs.

Empower users to self-start the trial (Recommended)

The self-start option gives users immediate access to trial products without requiring manual license assignment or approval. It’s the most efficient way to onboard users, reducing administrative overhead, accelerating access to Adobe tools, and encouraging early engagement with the product.

During trial activation, you have the option to automatically notify users via email of the available trial. If you choose not to use the system email, we recommend communicating the offer access via another method for awareness of the opportunity.

There are two ways to allow users to self-start the trial:

Enable automatic assignment

Users are automatically granted access when they request it, no admin approval needed. You can configure auto-assignment to target users in the specified domains or directories. Learn how to manage auto-assignment rules.

Enable product access request
Users can still request access through eligible Adobe apps, but an admin must manually approve or deny each request. Learn how to manage product requests.

Assign multiple users at once

For organizations that prefer a more hands-on approach, bulk assignment allows administrators to quickly provision access to trial products for multiple users at once. This method is ideal for onboarding targeted teams or departments efficiently. To add multiple users, you can use any of the following methods:

Assigned users receive an email with instructions to access the product and begin using it immediately. 

Assign users individually

Manual assignment gives administrators precise control over who receives access to trial products. This method is useful when onboarding a small number of users or when access needs to be granted selectively. Each assigned user receives an email with steps to get started. Learn how to assign users individually.

Track trial adoption

Monitoring trial engagement helps you assess product interest and make informed decisions before committing to a purchase. You can track how many users were provisioned during the trial using the license assignment report available in the Adobe Admin Console.

To understand how users interact with assets such as folders, files, and libraries, learn how to use Content Logs. These logs provide insights into usage patterns and engagement levels across your organization.

Additionally, Audit Logs offer visibility into key contract-related actions, including trial start dates, license assignments, and admin activity. They help you monitor important events throughout the trial period.

Convert to a paid offer

To ensure uninterrupted access to Adobe apps and assets, work with your Adobe account manager to convert your trial to a paid offer before it expires. If the trial expires before conversion, your organization enters a short grace period with limited access. This temporary buffer is designed to minimize disruption while you finalize the transition.

Since each trial is a separate contract, consider converting multiple trials together to avoid creating several small ETLA contracts. Once converted, reassign users to paid licenses to maintain continuous access. For assistance, contact your Adobe account manager. Learn more about the contract expiration stages.

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