Use offline Help in Adobe products

When you are connected to the Internet, and you select Help in your Adobe product, your web browser opens the product's Help page on the Adobe website.

To view your product's Help when you are not connected to the Internet, download the Help PDF for your Adobe product on your computer.

Note:

You can also configure your product to open the PDF on your computer when you select a Help menu choice or press F1.

Important: The Help PDF is the version of the product Help that released with your product. It is possible that it's not the most up-to-date version. Product Help available on the Adobe website is the most up-to-date and is periodically updated to include information even after the product has been released.

Download and use the Help PDF for your Adobe product

  1. Before you begin downloading the Help PDF, ensure that you are connected to the Internet.

  2. Find the Help PDF (English) for your Adobe product from the following table.

    To download the Help PDF for a language other than English, see Help PDF in localized languages.

    Product
    Link to latest Help PDF (English)
    Acrobat Adobe Acrobat Help
    After Effects
    Adobe After Effects Help
    Animate Adobe Animate Help
    Audition
    Adobe Audition Help
    Bridge
    Adobe Bridge Help
    Dreamweaver
    Adobe Dreamweaver Help
    Elements Organizer Adobe Elements Organizer Help
    Extension Manager Adobe Extension Manager Help
    Illustrator
    Adobe Illustrator Help
    InCopy
    Adobe InCopy Help
    InDesign
    Adobe InDesign Help
    Lightroom Classic Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Help
    Lightroom  Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Help
    Media Encoder
    Adobe Media Encoder Help
    Photoshop
    Adobe Photoshop Help
    Photoshop Elements
    Adobe Photoshop Elements Help
    Prelude
    Adobe Prelude Help
    Premiere Elements
    Adobe Premiere Elements Help
    Adobe Premiere Pro
    Adobe Premiere Pro Help
    Adobe Premiere Express Adobe Premiere Express Help
    Adobe XD Adobe XD Help
    SpeedGrade Adobe Speedgrade Help
    Adobe Reader Adobe Acrobat Reader
  3. Right-click (or Control-click on macOS) the link to the Help PDF.

    Note:

    To download the Help PDF for CS6 or earlier versions of your product, see the Previous versions section.

  4. Select the option to save a linked file.

    Note:

    Depending on which web browser you use, this option could be called Save Link As, Download Linked File As, Save Target As, or something similar.

  5. Follow your web browser's instructions to download the PDF file to a location of your choice on your computer.

  6. View the PDF using Adobe® Reader® software.

    Download Adobe Reader if it's not already installed on your computer.

Use the Help PDF from within your Adobe product

You can configure your product to open the downloaded Help PDF when you select a Help menu choice or press F1.

Copy the downloaded Help PDF to the appropriate location on your computer, as applicable to your operating system and language.

Important: Ensure that you don't change the default filename of the downloaded PDF file.

Note:

If the folder structure Adobe\PDF\pdf does not exist within the "Documents" or "Public Documents" folder, create the required folders before copying the PDF.

Creative Cloud, Acrobat, and Elements products:

  • Windows 7
    C:\Users\Public\Documents\Adobe\PDF\pdf\
  • Windows 8
    C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Adobe\PDF\pdf\
  • Mac OS
    /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/pdf/

Example: /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/pdf/photoshop_reference.pdf

Creative Suite CS6 products:

Important: Copy CS6 Help PDF inside Adobe\PDF\pdf\cs6\ folder to make it work with CS6 version of Adobe products.

  • Windows 7
    C:\Users\Public\Documents\Adobe\PDF\pdf\cs6\
  • Windows 8
    C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Adobe\PDF\pdf\cs6\
  • Mac OS
    /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/pdf/cs6/

Example: /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/pdf/cs6/photoshop_reference.pdf

Note:

If the folder structure Adobe\PDF\<locale>\pdf does not exist within the "Documents" or "Public Documents" folder, create the required folders before copying the PDF.

For example, to download the Help file in French language, create the folder structure as Adobe\PDF\fr\pdf. To download the Help file in German language, create the folder structure as Adobe\PDF\de\pdf.  

Creative Cloud, Acrobat, and Elements products:

  • Windows 7
    C:\Users\Public\Documents\Adobe\PDF\<locale>\pdf\
  • Windows 8
    C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Adobe\PDF\<locale>\pdf\
  • Mac OS
    /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/<locale>/pdf/

Example: /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/de/pdf/photoshop_reference.pdf

Creative Suite CS6 products:

Important: Copy CS6 localized Help PDF inside Adobe\PDF\<locale>\pdf\cs6\ folder to make it work with CS6 version of Adobe products.

  • Windows 7
    C:\Users\Public\Documents\Adobe\PDF\<locale>\pdf\cs6\
  • Windows 8
    C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Adobe\PDF\<locale>\pdf\cs6\
  • Mac OS
    /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/<locale>/pdf/cs6/

Example: /Users/Shared/Documents/Adobe/PDF/de/pdf/cs6/photoshop_reference.pdf

After installing the PDF:

  1. Disconnect from the Internet.
  2. Quit and relaunch your product.
  3. Select Help > [product name] Help or press F1 (Windows) to open the Help PDF stored on your computer.
Note:

If your computer has an Internet connection, selecting Help or pressing F1 opens the online help even if you install the PDF. Disconnect your computer from the Internet to ensure that the PDF launches correctly when offline.

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Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

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The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online