The FAQ Page

Here you will find answers to some of the most Frequently Asked Questions that I receive each week. Please read this page carefully before e-mailing me with your queries as you may find what you are looking for right here! I will continue to update this section as soon as get time. Thank you for your patience ...

Question : I can't navigate your site. What's wrong with the menu system?
Answer : The drop-down menu at the top of each page requires your browser to be JaveScript-enabled. Make sure that you haven't disabled this feature and that your browser does support it. The menu should be compatible with most modern browser versions on both Windows and Mac systems.

Question : Cybia used to be 100% freeware but now you are also selling products. Why?
Answer : Basically I need the money to continue supporting the site! Although the freeware downloads will always be the main focus here, without the extra funding then I will no longer be able to pay for the ever-increasing running costs. As more and more visitors arrive, so my bandwidth and other requirements increase and it's not cheap to pay for all these commercial hosting options. If I didn't continue paying for the upgrades necessary then the site wouldn't be able to cope with the demand and it would close permanently.

Question : Why are your commercial products sold on other sites and not directly here?
Answer : It's the easiest option for me at the moment. As my time is very limited then I cannot support direct online ordering myself right now. Selling through other merchant sites saves me a lot of time as I do not have to worry about processing or distributing the orders myself. Although it does mean that I only receive a fraction of the profits!

Question : What is the Renderosity site and how do I order your products from there?
Answer : Renderosity is a fantastic website and community dedicated to computer graphics. Although it's main focus is on 3D products (Poser in particular), it also supports and sells many other 2D and 3D resources. I have a "Store" there which sells most of my digital products. You will need to sign-up with Renderosity for a free account so you can log-in to the site and start ordering products. The site is very well supported so you can buy with confidence!

Question : Why do you offer alternative links to Share-It for some your products?
Answer : Share-It is an established online service which provides software developers with the opportunity to sell their products online. I have setup Share-It links for some of my 2D products to offer an alternative ordering method for customers who may not be familiar with the Renderosity site. The product versions are exactly the same from both sources, so you can choose whatever purchasing method suits you best.

Question : How much money do you make from your products?
Answer : Not a lot, I assure you! I can just about pay for my current hosting fees but it's still not enough for the next-level of upgrades that will be needed in future. So I will continue to make new products and hope that they will generate some additional income to cover the extra costs involved.

Question : Why don't you update Cybia every day like other websites do?
Answer : This isn't my day-job so I have to work on my products and website in my very limited spare time during the evenings. Please bear in mind that everything you see on here I have to create by myself from scratch. I do not have a team of webdesigners behind me or anyone to help create the downloads or answer my e-mails. So that's why progress is always very slow. This is a one-man-show!

Question : Why is there so little information on each of your pages?
Answer : Again this is down to lack of time so I only include the most basic details to begin with. I do my best to update the pages with additional info if needed though, or provide extra reference material through download files. Also I try to keep this site as compact and easy to browse as I can, so that's another reason I like to keep the pages very simple!

Question : I think your products are poor quality. Why don't you do better?
Answer : I'm sorry if anyone is offended by my limited skills but I always try my hardest to produce the best that I possibly can. I'm no expert with computers, I'm no programmer, I'm no web-designer. I just learn these things as I go along! I enjoy making these things and hope that others find them useful too, but I understand that they won't be suitable for everyone or live up to their high standards. My downloads are always pretty basic and I can in no way compete with the large companies and professional developers.

Question : I can't find your freeware downloads. Where are they?
Answer : You will find various products that are labelled as "Freeware" within each section of the website. On each relevant page there will be a button link labelled "Download" which you need to click on. This should make your browser bring-up a dialog and ask you if you want to "open" the file or "save" it to disk. Choose the "Save To Disk" option to start downloading.

Question : After I downloaded a file it doesn't do anything. What am I missing?
Answer : You will need to "uncompress" all the files from within the ZIP or SIT file download before you can start using them. This requires you to use a compression utility such as WinZip or Allume Expander. There are lots of other alternatives available too. Please read the documentation that comes with each download for more specific information about which folders that you should uncompress the files to.

Question : What's the difference between the ZIP download and the SIT one?
Answer : If you are using Windows then download the ZIP version. If you are using Mac then get the SIT instead. In some cases (such as texture packs) just a ZIP version is offered which should be compatible on both Windows and Mac systems.

Question : Why don't your downloads come with proper setup.exe installations?
Answer : The first reason is to limit file sizes as ZIPs are more compact, taking less bandwidth from this site plus making downloads faster for dial-up users. Secondly, users can see exactly what they are installing when unzipping files rather than letting a setup.exe automatically install unknown files onto their system.

Question : Do you fully support the Mac platform?
Answer : I always do my best to offer Mac versions of my downloads whenever possible, but I actually know very little about this operating system so I'm limited to what I can do. Plus I only have an old iMac to work with so I'm way behind with the hardware and software required to keep upto-date. I'm a Windows user myself.

Question : Why don't you release Mac versions the same time as the Windows editions?
Answer : Everything is originally created on a PC and it takes time for me to transfer and convert the Mac versions, so rather than delay both OS releases then I simply upload the Win editions first and then the Mac ones follow as soon as I get chance to finish the conversions. Sorry for any delays!

Question : Any plans to support Linux at all?
Answer : Maybe. Maybe not! I have used Linux very briefly in the past but I currently don't have access to such a system to work with. Again my knowledge is very limited here so I don't know how well I'd be able to support it anyway. But I will certainly keep it in mind for the future.

Question : Which versions of Windows do you support?
Answer : I currently use XP Home Edition but my downloads should also work fine with Win95/98/ME/2000. I do not think they will work with Windows 3.1 or lower and I do not support DOS either.

Question : How do I install and use Photoshop plug-in filters?
Answer : Hmm, this is by far the question that I get asked the most and requires a more in-depth answer than I can provide here. I will write a tutorial on this subject as soon as I get chance, but in the meantime the quick answer is that you simply uncompress all the plug-ins from the ZIP or SIT file into the "Plug-Ins" folder of your host application.

Question : Can you provide support and help for all other graphics applications?
Answer : I often get asked very complex questions regarding the use of major packages and although I am happy to give helpful advice whenever I can, please remember that I am not a 24-Hour technical support for the whole graphics industry! I have limited time to answer all my mail so please try to keep questions brief and to the point. If your query is related to any of my Cybia products then of course I will do my very best to provide as much information as possible, but if it's something about other software then please be aware that I may not have all the answers.

Question : I have a question but you may think it's stupid. What should I do?
Answer : Never be scared to get in touch as I'm very friendly and easy to deal with! I always do my very best to reply to all the messages that I receive. And don't worry about asking simple questions as we all have to start somewhere!

Question : I e-mailed you some time ago but haven't yet received a reply. Why not?
Answer : There could be several reasons. Either I have a backlog of mail and haven't yet got around to replying to them all, maybe I haven't yet figured out an answer and am still looking into it further, or your message may have got accidentally deleted as possible spam. Please be aware that due to the thousands of spam and virus mails I receive each week, I have to employ quite strong filtering methods to keep the nasty stuff out of my inbox! Never, EVER send me any attachments in your e-mails, not even images, otherwise they will probably get automatically deleted.

Question : I received an e-mail with a virus that seems to be labelled from Cybia. Why?
Answer : It is quite common for virus messages to "forge" a sender's address in order to make it appear as if they have been sent from someone you know. Be assured that they have NOT been sent from me! I notice that a lot of popular sites get targeted in this way, with variations of their domains being inserted into the "from" fields. If you ever receive a message like this then just delete it right away without opening. Do NOT bounce it back to the sender as it will just go to the innocent domain owner and not to the person who sent it to you!

Question : Does any of your software or downloads contain any Adware or Spyware?
Answer : Absolutely NOT, I assure you. Spyware is one of my pet hates so I will never employ such techniques and you can rest assured that all downloads at Cybia are free from all nasties!

Question : Is your freeware really "free"? What's the catch?
Answer : Yes, it's free to download and free for you to use for as long as you like, no restrictions, no time limits, install it on as many computers as you want. You can use it for your own personal work at home or for business use too. There are no payments required, ever! No nag screens, no requests for donations, no registration necessary. No catches whatsoever! The reason I create these products is because I believe in contributing to the excellent online graphics community that I have enjoyed being part of over the years.

Question : So does that mean there are no rules at all then?
Answer : Not quite! If you want to re-distribute any of my downloads, either on your own website or CDRom, then all I ask is that you contact me first and ask for permission. All files MUST remain intact and unmodified, so you are not allowed to repackage and pass them off as your own work or bundle with other products. That's only fair. Also, if you want to offer the downloads from your own site then you MUST host the files on your OWN server and not link directly here. You may however place links to the HTM pages on my site, but not to the download ZIP's themselves. Thank you.

Question : Do you allow magazines to include your software on their cover CD's?
Answer : Yes, I am always pleased to see my downloads being distributed on magazine cover CD's so please feel free to go ahead and include whatever you want! If you need anything specific or have any questions then just ask and I'll do my best to provide you with whatever you need.

Question : Can our School, College or Uni use your freeware downloads on our courses?
Answer : Yes, please feel free to use whatever you want from this website. I am always happy to support educational establishments as I know how limited their funds are!

Question : Can you make me a custom plug-in to create a specific effect that I need?
Answer : Probably not! I'm not much of a programmer actually so I'm limited to what I can produce. But please feel free to make suggestions and I will make a note of them for future reference and ideas.

Question : I like your website style. Can you design a complete site for me too?
Answer : I'm no web-designer either. I just learn these things as I go along! So I'm probably not the best person for the job. Plus my time is always limited and it takes a considerable effort to create a whole website, so I could never commit myself to taking on such a large task at this time. Sorry.

Question : Do you design logos and graphics for other websites?
Answer : Sometimes. Again please bear in mind how little time I have to work on such projects so I cannot accept many of these requests right now. But feel free to ask and if I am interested then I will certainly give it serious consideration. And no, I don't usually do these for FREE either so please don't expect me to offer my valuable time for nothing!

Question : I have a website that I think you may be interested in. Will you link to me?
Answer : Let me know the URL and I'll take a look. If I feel it is suitable to mention here then of course I'd be more than happy to add your link. But it must be something relating to the themes of this site and I retain the right to refuse links that are of unsuitable content. I personally review all sites before adding any links here.

Question : Will you put my banners or pop-up adverts on this website?
Answer : Sorry, NO. This is a banner-free zone! I specifically want to keep my webpages clean and free from any annoying advertising junk material. So I do not allow any kind of banners or pop-up advertisements.

Question : Is there any way that you will advertise my products on here then?
Answer : I have removed my "Review" section for the moment due to lack of time, but I am more than happy to test any demos you may have and may be able to mention some of the best products on this site in future. Remember that it may take some time before I can review new products though. Also do NOT send me any demos via e-mail as they will get deleted. If you want me to take a look at anything then please send me your website URL and any links where I can download the demos for myself. Thank you.

Question : Why don't you have a forum here so that users can get further support?
Answer : There isn't yet a forum directly at Cybia but maybe I will set one up later on. I do however already have a general graphics forum site started at www.studiotools.co.uk where you can ask questions and find further support for various products..

Question : I've signed-up for your newsletter but haven't received anything yet. Why?
Answer : The newsletter normally only gets sent out once a month and sometimes it may get delayed a while if I'm busy or there's no news to report! So please be patient if you haven't received anything yet.

Question : What's in the newsletter? Is it full of junk and advertising?
Answer : The main purpose of the newsletter is to keep you posted on what's happening with the Cybia website and my products, so it will contain details about any updates released here. Also if I come across any news from other graphics sites that I think may be of interest to my visitors then I may also mention this too, but I assure you it won't be junk advertising stuff! The only thing that I can't guarantee is the newsletter host (in this case YahooGroups) automatically inserting header or footer adverts, which is how these free lists are normally funded. Remember, you can be removed from the list at any time if you no longer wish to receive the newsletters.