How to obtain free software:

Autodesk Revit 2013, Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2013, AutoCAD 2013 (PC and MAC version), Autodesk Sketchbook Designer 2013, Autodesk 3Ds Max Design 2013, Autodesk Maya 2013, and many others.

You are able to download the Revit software to your home computer at http://students.autodesk.com.

You need a Triton email address to download it for free. You were assigned a Triton email address automatically when you registered for courses. Your email address is the first letter of your first name, the first seven letters of your last name @students.triton.edu. For example, if I were a student my email address would be fheitzma@students.triton.edu. If your last name is less than 7 letters, just use whatever letters you have. For example, if your name is Dan Jones, you email address would be djones@students.triton.edu.

If you do not have a Triton email address, you may go to http://ralph.triton.edu/stu_session to create an email account. After you click on the "Create an Account" button, an email account will be created in 12 hours. You can access it at mail.google.com/a/students.triton.edu  using your password, which will appear on the screen. Your default password is first letter of your first name, the first three letters of your last name and your last four digits of your social security number, all typed together.In order to run Revit Architecture 2013 at home, you will need a Windows PC at least 2 Gb of memory. 

Once you have a Triton email address, do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer at your own personal computer or laptop (not a Triton College computer)

2. Go to http://students.autodesk.com

3. Register on this "Student Engineering and Design Community" web site as a student. To do this you must have a Triton email address ending in "__@students.triton.edu"

4. Under “How do I sign up” on the left side of the page, click on “new member registration page.”
Fill out the online form and click “submit”

5. You will receive a registration confirmation email from Autodesk. Use the information contained within the email to complete the registration process. They are just checking to make sure that the email address is yours by sending you a test email.

6. Click on the "Download Software" link on the upper right corner of the screen.

7. Select the software you want to download. Select "Free Software," then "Autodesk Revit Architecture," then "Other Products," then "Autodesk Revit," Pull down the "Choose your Version" dropdown list and select "2013," then pull down Language and select "English," then pull down "Operating System" and pick Windows 32/64 bit." Click "Next."

8. Write down the Serial Number and Product Key. They are specific to your copy of the program. You will need them to authorize your software after you download it. Then click on "Install Now," or if you want to install the program on your computer later, select "Download Now." It will download the software to your computer. Once it is downloaded, you will need to install it and then follow directions for authorization. If the software is not both "authorized" and "activated," you will not be able to save or print your drawings. If you are having trouble, send an email to the Autodesk student site describing your problem. Most problems occur due to forgetting to write down the serial number and Product Key number. The Autodesk staff is very helpful but sometimes slow in responding, so be patient. If they do not get back to you in a day or two, send them another email.

You are allowed only one download per computer per student per year. The free program will expire after 14 months. If you continue to be a student after the program has expired, you may download a fresh copy.

 

Adobe Acrobat

To obtain a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to http://www.adobe.com
Note that the professional version of Acrobat which allows you to create Adobe PDF files from your file is not free (it costs $449.00 from Adobe), although as a matriculating student you are eligible to purchase it from one of the student discount software sites for $98.95. The student discount software companies are Academic Superstore (http://www.academicsuperstore.com/), and JourneyEd (http://www.journeyed.com) There are others out there as well and all have very competitive prices.

 

Sketchup

To download a free copy of Sketchup 8, go to http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/download/gsu.html
You do not need a Triton email address for this.

Follow directions.

 

Google Earth

To obtain software to enable you to view the earth's surface in detail, go to http://earth.google.com/

Follow directions.

 

Paint Shop Pro

Paint Shop Pro started out being a Photoshop competitor, but has morphed into a picture-editing tool with their latest edition, PaintShopPro X4 Ultimate. Free trial version is good for 30 days. Cost for a licensed version of Paint Shop Pro X4 Ultimate is $39.99. It does everything that Photoshop can do. Photoshop CS6 student edition is $228.95 from JourneyEd.