ChemDraw

All University of Waterloo community members are entitled to a free licensed copy of ChemDraw under the university campus license. For additional information, please check these instructions on the PerkinElmer site.

To license and install ChemDraw:

  • Go to Perkin Elmer Informatics Site Subscription and search "University of Waterloo" in the "Search for Institution" box.
  • Under "Register to download the latest version of ChemDraw" click the blue "Register" button.
    • If you already have an account with PerkinElmer, use the "Click here to log in" link just under "Welcome to User Registration."
    • If you do not have an account with PerkinElmer:
      • Create a new account
      • Verify your email address
        • Make sure the email address you use is of the form yourWatIAMuserid@uwaterloo.ca
      • Log in to PerkinElmer.
  • You will then receive an email from perkinelmer@flexnetoperations.com entitled, “welcome to end user portal”
  • In the email, click "Create Account". You should see a browser tab with the title "List Entitlements"
  • In the left-hand sidebar, click "List Downloads"
  • Underneath "Downloads", click "ChemDraw Professional"
  • On the "Download Packages" page, click "ChemDraw Professional"
  • Download the correct ChemDraw installer for your operating system (Windows or Mac)
  • Run the ChemDraw installer. Optionally select a location and click "Continue"
  • The ChemDraw Professional Install Wizard will start. It takes a second for the installer to prepare; when it is ready, the PerkinElmer Software Activation dialogue will appear.
  • Enter your PerkinElmer credentials (name and email address as registered when you created the account in the steps above) and your authorization code. You can see your authorization code on the list entitlement page on Perkin Elmer.
  • Click "Activate"
  • Once you have authorized the install, you will get a notification popup that you have successfully activated ChemDraw Professional. Click "OK."
  • You should now be able to click the “Next” button in the Wizard.
  • Scroll down to the bottom of the agreement to enable accepting the terms. You are encouraged to note the highlights of the agreement before installing, especially the paragraph entitled “License” which outlines how many copies you will be able to activate at a time.
  • Even with the default installation location, the Wizard will allow you to choose which software you would like to install. ChemDraw (mandatory), ChemScript, and Python 3.9 (required for ChemScript) are currently available.
  • If you choose to install Python, a Python installer will also run.

Having trouble installing? 

  • The Flexera downloader doesn't always work. If you are unable to download multiple files using the Flexera downloader, download one package at a time.
  • Uninstall McAfee. We had one instance of a student running Windows 10 where McAfee blocked the authorization popup. The software would install but could not be used.

Issues or concerns? Please contact the Science Computing Helpdesk.