Project Aqua frequently asked questions

Project Aqua is a creativity app for kids 5-12 to use with their parents, designed to spark imagination and build confidence through art. Available on iPhone and iPad, Project Aqua gives kids access to professional creative tools with step-by-step tutorials and activities take their art to the next level. It’s built just for kids, and completely ad-free.

Project Aqua is currently available for iPhone and iPad. You can download the app and start creating today at aqua.adobe.com.

Project Aqua works on all iPhones and iPads running iOS 17 or later. For the best experience, make sure your device is up to date.

Project Aqua is currently available in the United States and Canada, in English, Spanish and French.

Yes, you can download the free app and access thousands of templates, brushes, stickers, and more.

No, a parent or guardian must create their own Adobe account, then set up profiles for each child within the Project Aqua app.

Project Aqua doesn't integrate with learning management systems. A parent or guardian must set up each account. Use of the app should take place under their supervision. We'll continue improving the app and plan to offer a version suited for classroom use in the future.

It seems that you’re trying to create an account for your child. This is not the way Project Aqua works! Project Aqua accounts are managed by a parent or guardian. Just sign up with your own name, email, and date of birth. You’ll manage everything from your account.

Most creative tools in Project Aqua can be enjoyed offline. However, you’ll need an internet connection for the following:

Logging in or signing up
Creating and saving child profiles
Adding Magic to a creation
Accessing new items in the Shell Shop
Seeing your current Project Aqua credit count
Using 3D creation features
Viewing the Spotlight gallery
Syncing creations to the cloud

No. Adobe does not use any content created in Project Aqua to train its generative AI models.

During setup, you’ll create a parent profile. From this profile, you can:

View all artwork made by any child profile.
See which child created each piece.
Edit or delete any artwork .
Manage child profiles from a single parent account.

To help keep kids safe, Project Aqua also:

Prevents child profiles from sharing creations outside the app.
Automatically blocks photos that contain recognizable human faces .
Project Aqua is ad-free and designed with privacy and safety in mind. Learn more in our privacy policy.
Learn more about our approach to responsible AI in our generative AI user guidelines.

At this time, there isn’t a way to delete just your Project Aqua account—or to delete the parent profile without deleting the entire Adobe account.

To delete your Adobe account: You can delete your Adobe account directly from the Project Aqua app in Settings. This will remove all data associated with Project Aqua, as well as data from other Adobe services linked to that account. Learn more about how to delete your Adobe Account.
To delete child profiles: From the parent profile, you can delete individual child profiles from the app. This permanently removes all artwork and data associated with that profile.

All free Adobe accounts include 5GB of Creative Cloud storage by default. Project Aqua uses this storage to safely save your artwork. If you’re running low on space, you have two options:

Free up storage: Go to adobe.com/files to manage and delete files you no longer need.

Upgrade your plan: Increase your storage by upgrading your Creative Cloud plan. Learn how here: Upgrade Creative Cloud storage

Starting bonus: Each new parent or child profile begins with 10 magic credits and 30 shells to kick off their journey.

Magic credits: After the starting bonus has run out, every profile refills to 5 magic credits per day. Each credit can be used to add magic to one image, or make one 3D creation. Credits refill daily and don’t roll over to the next day. Every profile can earn more credits (3 per day) after the daily 5 magic credits have been used up, by having a parent share a creation with friends and families via share functions available to parents.

Shell rewards: Completing daily activities earns you 3 shells per day. Shells can be redeemed for brushes, stickers, backgrounds, and magic filters in the Shell Shop. Shells are earned and redeemed per profile, and shells cannot be shared or transferred between profiles. Any items you unlock with shells are only available in the profile that redeemed them. In addition to daily activities, you can earn shells by completing Quests. Each quest card provides simple instructions and shows the corresponding shell reward. Once the quest is complete, the shells are added to your profile's shell count.

At this time, magic credits and shells cannot be purchased—they can only be earned through activities in Aqua.

Only parents can share or export content in Project Aqua.

To share individual creations: Open a creation in your gallery, tap the Share button, then select Send to create a shareable link.

To share a museum gallery: Go to Your Galleries, tap the three dots on the gallery you want to share, and choose Share to create a shareable link.

To download your artwork as an image, open the creation in your gallery, tap Share, then choose Download Image.

Issue: If your child is signed in with an Apple Child account (a parent-managed Apple ID), certain website restrictions may be turned on by default. These restrictions can sometimes block Project Aqua from connecting and cause errors in the app. This happens when Parental Controls > Web Content is set to “Only Approved Websites.”

Workaround:

Open the Settings app on your iPad.

Go to Screen Time (or Parental Controls).

Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Web Content.

Select either Limit Adult Websites or Unrestricted Access.

You must be 13 or older to register for an Adobe ID.

You don't need to create an Adobe ID for your child. Parents should create an Adobe ID using their own name, email, and date of birth.

You’ll be able to create profiles for your children inside the Aqua app.

The Apple account on the device is an Apple child account (parent-managed), and Apple parental restrictions are preventing the creation of an Adobe ID.

Parents should select Continue with Email and use their name and email address.

Aqua accounts are managed by parents/guardians. You’ll be able to create profiles for your children inside the Aqua app

Project Aqua frequently asked questions

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