Adobe is at the heart of most businesses, especially creative agencies running on apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Premiere Pro, to name a few.
The problem with Adobe is that it's expensive, especially if you're a cash-strapped startup and you have to purchase multiple subscriptions. When added to the other tools and expenses, subscription fees devour cash flow.
Small businesses get around purchasing multiple subscriptions by sharing Adobe cloud credentials with teammates to save costs. Agencies might also have to provide freelancers and contractors temporary access to Adobe services they don't have.
If you are sharing Adobe Cloud account credentials, using a password manager can mitigate the risk of unauthorized sharing and access. TeamPassword is an affordable password management solution for teams to share company credentials securely and efficiently. Sign up for a 14-day free trial today!
Important Disclaimer
It's important to note that sharing Adobe credentials is against the company's terms of use, so there is no feature within the Adobe suite to share a single account with coworkers.
Adobe's terms of terms state under section 6.2 (C):
You must not misuse the Services or Software. For example, you must not: enable or allow others to use the Services or Software using your account information;
However, we understand there are circumstances where you need to share an Adobe account, so this article demonstrates how to do this securely.
Adobe Services That Agencies Use Regularly
Adobe has a massive suite of creative tools and software, but most agencies often use five core products.
Instead of purchasing each separately, it's cheaper to subscribe to the All Apps Business package and share access with teammates. You'll need to calculate how many packages you need for internal teams and possibly an extra one for freelancers to use.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat allows agencies to create, edit, share and sign PDF documents. Adobe Acrobat is essential for sending client proposals, reports and requesting e-signatures for service agreements.
Photoshop
Photoshop is one of Adobe's most popular products because it allows creatives to work with many pixel-based designs, including images, webpages, logos, proposals, and more.
Illustrator
Illustrator is arguably one of the most popular and widely-used vector-based design programs. Creatives use Illustrator to design logos and other graphics.
Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro is an advanced video editing suite agencies often use to create professional video content. Agencies sometimes use Premiere Pro with After Effects to enhance VFX and motion graphics.
XD
Adobe XD is a popular UI/UX design software agencies often use to design websites, applications, and other digital products.
The Challenges of Sharing an Adobe Account
Two Device Limit
Adobe allows you to sign in to Creative Cloud on two devices. So, effectively you can share a single Adobe account with two teammates.
If you sign into a third device, Adobe will forward you to a webpage displaying your three devices and prompt you to sign out of one.
It might be easier to manage the two-device limit if you're working with remote teams spread across different time zones since employees work at different times.
But, if you're working in the same office, using the same Adobe credentials might require some communication to prevent overlap.
Sharing Adobe Credentials Safely
Adobe Cloud accounts often contain sensitive client and company data. You must protect this information by ensuring that you share passwords safely with coworkers!
Sharing Adobe credentials (or any passwords for that matter) via email, spreadsheets, messaging apps, or digital notepads can expose your company to cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
How to Share an Adobe Account Safely
While we can't help with Adobe's two-device limit, we can provide a solution for sharing credentials safely, including with freelancers.
A password manager is the best way to share passwords safely with coworkers. TeamPassword offers a 14-day free trial for you to try-before-you-buy!
Once you have signed up for a TeamPassword account, you can follow these step-by-step instructions:
- Invite your teams to TeamPassword, so everyone has a separate login.
- Add the Adobe Creative Cloud account(s) you want to share to TeamPassword.
- Create groups for each Adobe account to share credentials. You can put all the Adobe accounts into one group, but this might cause confusion.
- If you have two employees per Adobe account, you can pair teammates to share access to a single set of credentials.
- Team members can log into Adobe Cloud using one of TeamPassword's browser extensions.
You can also create a separate TeamPassword account and group to share passwords with freelancers.
What is TeamPassword & How Does it Work?
Companies can use TeamPassword to store and share all of your company's passwords. Team members can also use the password manager to save individual credentials for email, Slack, cloud services, and other personal logins.
Keeping all of your company's passwords in one secure password manager allows you to mitigate password attacks and other security vulnerabilities.
Built for Teams Startups, Small Businesses, & Agencies
Most enterprise password vaults are simply too expensive, with many features small businesses don't need.
We designed TeamPassword because we recognized that many startups, small businesses, and marketing agencies often share passwords among coworkers using unsecure methods.
Rather than provide you with services you don't need, TeamPassword focuses on simple, secure, and efficient credential sharing. Our minimalist UI means you can onboard new team members in minutes, maximizing your team's productivity.
Here's how TeamPassword increases security and productivity with a robust password management solution for small businesses, startups, and agencies.
Sharing Access via Groups
Create groups to share access with coworkers in TeamPassword. You can set these groups up however you like, by department, project, client, etc. You can also create separate groups for different teams with access to the same credentials—like employees, clients, and contractors.
If someone or an entire group no longer needs access, you can remove them with a single click!
Employees can also use TeamPassword for their other company passwords that they don't need to share. When you create new credentials, TeamPassword gives you two Share with options:
- Only Me (Private)
- Choose one of your groups
Login From Any Device
Instead of manually entering a username and password, team members use TeamPassword's browser extensions (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) or mobile app (iOS & Android).
Stronger Passwords
Reusing credentials and weak passwords are two password mistakes small businesses often make. TeamPassword's built-in password generator lets you create strong, unique credentials for every account—mitigating several security vulnerabilities!
Generate passwords from 12-32 characters using letters (uppercase & lowercase), numbers, and symbols. You can also use our password generator to create unique usernames, enhancing your credential security!
When you reset passwords, TeamPassword automatically updates the credentials for all users so employees can keep working without disruptions.
Two-Factor Authentication
TeamPassword's two-factor authentication (2FA) requires a six-digital Google Authenticator code before a team member can log in. Each employee can also generate security codes so they're never locked out of their TeamPassword account.
If someone manages to steal an employee's TeamPassword credentials, 2FA prevents attackers from a full breach.
Activity Log & Email Notifications
TeamPassword keeps track of every user's action with a date and time log. You can also set up email notifications for instant alerts to sensitive TeamPassword actions, groups, or credentials.
The activity log is also helpful for investigating data breaches, unauthorized access, and sharing.
Why You Should Use a Password Manager to Share Credentials
Most data breaches happen as a result of password attacks and poor credential management policies. Using a password manager reduces the risk of exposing passwords to attackers while giving companies control over sharing and access.
Here are 5 most common password attacks that a password manager can help prevent:
- Phishing is a social engineering attack and one of the most common methods criminals use to steal employee credentials. Hackers use spoofed communication to trick employees into sharing their credentials or sensitive information.
- Hackers use automated bots on login pages during a brute force attack to try username and password combinations until one works. Most applications use Google reCAPTCHA and 2FA to minimize these attacks, but using random usernames and passwords significantly reduces the likelihood of a brute force attack.
- If your company reuses passwords, you're exposing yourself to a credential stuffing attack where hackers use stolen credentials to log into other applications and services using the same username and password combination.
- A dictionary attack is why you should not rely on team members to create passwords! Most people use familiar password phrases like pets, children, street names, etc. Criminals can research this information through employee bios and social media accounts, building a "dictionary" of information on victims. They add these terms to algorithms that effectively use a more focused brute force attack.
- A man-in-the-middle-attack (MitM) is where hackers intercept data (including passwords) as it's sent from one system to another. Common MitM attack methods include unencrypted WiFi networks or HTTP websites.
By using TeamPassword's password manager, companies can significantly reduce the risk of these common attacks.
Try TeamPassword for Free
Ready to test TeamPassword with your team? Sign up for a 14-day free trial to experience the security and efficiency of working with TeamPassword!
