...TO USE ALL OF OUR PRODUCTS:

To use all of the Photobacks products, you will need any version of Adobe Photoshop CS or Elements software (Windows or Mac). For best results, we recommend using CS2 or higher or Elements 7 or higher. We do not sell this software directly, nor are we affiliated with the operation of any other software company or their products. For more information on these softwares, see the following links from Adobe:

• Adobe Photoshop CS
• Adobe Photoshop Elements

While other softwares may recognize Adobe's .psd file format, we do not recommend the use of or provide support for other softwares (except as noted below for specific Photobacks products).

...IF YOU WANT TO SHOOT GREEN SCREEN:

While you do not have to use a green screen (or chroma key) to use our digital backgrounds, shooting against a green screen when possible can be extremely beneficial for digital background extraction and replacement, because the solid green color is so easy for software to recognize and remove. And, while Adobe Photoshop does have some great tools for removing green screen, the following softwares are dedicated to the process and solution, which means they can really save you a lot of time and hassle! Here are our recommendations for your review, and again, we do not sell these softwares directly:

• FXHome PhotoKey
• Green Screen Wizard
• Digital Anarchy Primatte Chromakey

Note, all of our Digital Backgrounds are in the .tif file format and will work with these softwares, however you will still need Adobe Photoshop CS or Elements to use all of our template and action files. Also note, since Photoshop CS and Elements have tools for background removal and replacement of any background, including green screen, purchasing an additional software is not necessary. However, if you plan to shoot a lot of green screen, we definitely recommend enjoying the benefits of a dedicated green screen software.

...IF YOU WANT SOME MORE AWESOME TOOLS:

Some companies sell additional tools that you can use along side of or inside of Photoshop (called Photoshop plug-ins) that can help you perform specific tasks with greater ease than with just the tools in Photoshop. When it comes to removing and replacing backgrounds, the following masking tools can give you a great advantage. Note, for the use of our products, you will still need to have Adobe Photoshop CS or Elements with these tools:

• Topaz Labs Topaz ReMask

Note, Adobe Photoshop CS and Elements do include tools for background removal and replacement and masking of any image, and we do offer video tutorials for these tools, however since the process can be complicated depending on your original photo, the "extra" tools listed above can be extremely beneficial in achieving faster and better results than just with Photoshop alone.

...IF YOU CAN'T SEE THUMBNAILS OF OUR FILES:

When you open a folder with Photobacks templates in Windows (not Mac), you may not see a preview image icon, or thumbnail image, for each of our files, as you would with other image files in thumbnail view. This is due to the .psd file format and its compatibility with the Windows folder environment. However, there are several ways to preview our template files before opening them in Photoshop. One of the best ways is to use a free image viewer software, such as the one you can download at the following link:

• FastStone Image Viewer

You can also preview all of our files by using Adobe Bridge software, which was most likely included with your version of Adobe Photoshop CS, or by using the Organizer in Adobe Photoshop Elements. Adobe Photoshop CS5 and higher users can also use Mini Bridge from directly inside of Photoshop.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER SOFTWARES?

At this time, we do not recommend nor support the use of any other softwares with our products. Other softwares, such as Corel PaintShop Pro or Adobe's Lightroom may be able to open some of our files, but they do not offer the tools necessary to manipulate the files as described above and as we've designed them for best results. In some cases, other softwares can be used in conjunction with the softwares listed above, but you would still need to have one of the softwares above to start. For more information on using Photobacks products, please see our FAQ.

WHAT ABOUT UPGRADING PHOTOSHOP, CHANGING FROM ELEMENTS TO CS, OR SWITCHING FROM A PC TO MAC?

No problem at all! All of our products are designed to work the same in any of the versions of Photoshop software recommended above, on a Windows PC or Mac. This means, should you upgrade your Photoshop software or change your computer, you will not need to repurchase our products. For more information on using Photobacks products, please see our FAQ.