Whether you're designing a website, editing videos for a capstone, composing music, or just trying to make something beautiful — you don't need to pirate Adobe or settle for free trials. Carnegie Mellon gives you the professional creative suite, plus access to makerspaces, performances, and galleries that most schools charge extra for.
Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, and more) is free to use on campus computer labs and Virtual Andrew lab machines.
Free in computer labs and virtual labs; a take-home named-user license costs faculty/staff about $250/year.
Free Adobe Express for quick graphics, social posts, and document design, available to all students through a web browser.
Use free in-browser or request a free license; licensed for educational use only.
Free borrowing of audio/video, photographic, and sound-recording gear such as digital cameras, video recorders, microphones, and projectors for anyone on the Pittsburgh campus.
Hunt Library basement, room A29. Standard loan is two overnight periods; present CMU ID.
Enrolled CMU students get free general admission to eight Pittsburgh cultural venues just by showing their student ID, including all four Carnegie Museums.
Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, The Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory, National Aviary, Phipps Conservatory, and Heinz History Center. Present valid CMU ID at the door.
CMU's contemporary art institute presents free exhibitions and public programming in the Purnell Center for the Arts on campus.
No admission fee. Gallery is periodically closed between exhibitions, so check the site for hours.
A non-profit, student-run art gallery at CMU showcasing student work, with free exhibitions and openings open to the public.
Corner of Margaret Morrison Street and Forbes Avenue. Openings are free with refreshments.
The School of Drama's Studio Series and Impulse Festival productions are free to attend; reservations open online at noon the day before each show.
Studio Series and Impulse Festival shows are free with very limited seating. Subscription Series productions are ticketed with student/faculty/staff/alumni discounts.
The School of Music hosts 250+ events a year, including many free student recitals, chamber music, and the free Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series at Kresge Theatre.
Many recitals and concerts are free and open to the public; check individual event listings.
Free open hours give any CMU student access to IDeATe's 3D printers, laser cutters, and wood shop in Hunt Library, even without taking an IDeATe course.
Academic year: laser cutters and 3D printers Mon–Fri 5–6pm; wood shop most Fridays 2–4pm. Hunt Library A-level.