Technology

Your new PDF editing software - Foxit PDF Editor+ for Education

Why Foxit?

The University's new Adobe agreement is smaller than the agreement that ended on August 4. That budget was directed to Creative Cloud for Enterprise, where creative work is required for instruction or assigned responsibilities. Licensing Acrobat Pro additionally at the scale of identified need is beyond what the University can fund. Acrobat Pro costs several times as much as Foxit in total. By switching to Foxit, every person with an identified need for PDF editing can be licensed.

A limited number of Acrobat Pro licenses remain. These are strictly reserved for confirmed technical or functional limitations that no alternative solution can serve. Review the Adobe and Foxit PDF Editor Features Comparison to see how the two applications compare feature by feature.

What your Foxit license includes

You can edit text and images, combine and organize documents, convert PDFs to and from Office formats, run OCR on scanned files, redact content, and create fillable forms. You can fill out forms and apply your signature to documents directly in Foxit.

Foxit's separate cloud e-signature service, which routes documents to others for signature, is under review and not part of this initial deployment. The comparable Adobe service was not available to University users.

Guidance and support comes with this change. Foxit's layout and toolbars are similar to the interface of Microsoft Office products, which will feel familiar. There are many help articles available to assist in making the switch from Adobe Acrobat Pro to Foxit for specific PDF tasks. A training course is also available. 

Getting access

You can request access to Foxit through the PDF Editor request form. Once you have been granted a license, you can review our other articles, such as Foxit PDF Editor+ - Installation and Login, and How to make Foxit your default PDF Reader, to begin working with Foxit.

Student access

Foxit student licenses are being prepared and are not yet available. Student access is included in the University’s agreement at no cost to students. 

If Foxit cannot serve your needs

You may fill out the request form if your work depends on a documented capability in Adobe Acrobat Pro that Foxit does not provide. Requests are evaluated against the specific capability required. You will be notified if you are approved for an Acrobat Pro license based on your request.

PDF accessibility remediation

Foxit includes tools for PDF accessibility remediation. Initial evaluation has found those tools sufficient for standard remediation work, with evaluation of advanced cases continuing.

Additional Information About Foxit PDF Editor +

How to Get Help

Technical assistance is available through the Illinois State University Technology Support Center at: