Frequent Q & A

Downloads are different from computer to computer and from PC to Mac, depending how your system preferences are set up. For the most part downloads end up on your desktop or in your downloads folder. Look for the file name of the download in your account area on LayerCake’s site. Start by looking on the desktop, if it’s not there, search for your downloads folder, they’ve also been known to hide on your PC’s C drive or the main hard drive of a Mac. When all else fails, go to the search function, on you PC click “Start” in the “Search programs and files” box at the bottom, place the file name and hit enter. On a Mac, look for the little magnifying glass in the upper right of your screen, that’s Sherlock, put the name in and hit enter to search. When you find it, open the file and resave it in a place where you can find it.

Don’t think about LayerCake collections as needing to be installed, they are not software applications or programs. LayerCake collections are image files, just like your own images. The simplest thing to do is to make a folder called “LayerCake” and place it on your computer where you keep your favorite images. When you purchase a new LayerCake collection, drag the collection folder from your DVD, or the from where on the computer it was downloaded, into the new LayerCake folder you created. Now you’ll always know where you LayerCake collections are filed. Check out “Organizing your files” in our tutorials under “Basics” We’ll show you how to use Adobe Bridge to organize your files like you never thought possible!

No new software to learn! LayerCake collections were created to work with any version of Photoshop CS, Photoshop Elements and or any application that opens layered files. We know how difficult it is to learn and use some of the new album software on the market today, but not LayerCake. You can work with your images and build amazing albums using nothing more than the Photoshop skills you already have.

LayerCake collections work best with any CS version of Photoshop on a Mac or a PC. They will also work with any version of Photoshop Elements on layered files or backgrounds. The one incompatibility issue is that Photoshop Elements is not capable of loading actions or styles such as our famous Buddy Action sets that will cut holes in matts, color type and add image effects with filters. However with the drag and drop capabilities of Elements, you can still create many of the same effects manually.

All layerCake elements and backgrounds are large, high-resolution 300 dpi tiffs and jpgs. Masked elements collections are compiled on large 20” X 24” layered tiff pallets. In many cases when you drag one of our elements onto your image, it’ll be much larger than you need it to be, simply because most people’s images are 240 dpi or lower in resolution. Once you place an element on your photo, change it into a smart object which will prevent it from losing resolution as you upsize and down size the element. (see “Using Smart Objects” in our “Basics” tutorials). Our backgrounds are 300 dpi jpgs. Why jpgs, don’t they degrade? Yes if you resave the background many times over as a jpeg. The best process is to save the original jpg and re-save a copy as a tiff file. Now you can save it as many times as you want without loosing detail and resolution. A little tip about 300 dpi. 300 dpi is the resolution necessary for litho printing, such as in the printing of brochures on a printing press. Most high-end color printers such as Epson’s require 240 dpi images for best quality output, so LayerCake collections are more than enough to give you picture perfect high-resolution output.

In some cases we bundle with our background collections sets what are called “Actions” and “Styles”. Actions and styles are presets for adding special effects to photos, coloring type and dingbats, cutting holes in mats and a lot of commonly Photoshop processes that we turned into “one click” buttons. They’re very creative and save you a lot of workflow time in creating your own templates, building albums and unique portrait backgrounds. Actions and Styles are specifically created for a CS version of Photoshop and are easily installed if you follow our “Working with actions” tutorial located in “Basics”. Actions and Styles will not work with Photoshop Elements or any non Adobe application.

Layercake collections are royalty free just like purchasing from Getty, Corbis or iStock. As the purchaser, you are allowed to use them, change them and resell them as part of your saleable project work. You are not allowed to resell them in their original state, or give them away to a friend or colleague to use on their projects. Your LayerCake collections can be used on as many of your computers as you deem necessary and can be used by people other than yourself on your projects, in your home or office. LayerCake collections are not transferable to any party other than the original purchaser. All LayerCake collections are copyright protected.

We have an extensive and growing list of tutorials on this website that answer most of the common questions. If there is a tutorial you’d like us to create, please inform Alan a Alan@LayerCakeelements.com. We have the greatest support there is, so if you need some “Real Person” help on using our collections, a rarity these days, don’t hesitate to call Alan Mayer at 818 952 0202. If you have problems with an order or have questions on collections, email or call Harry Kerker, Harry@LayerCakelements.com or call him at 818 542 3500.