Guide — LayerMate

Guide

Getting the most out of LayerMate.

A walkthrough of setup and the features you'll actually use day to day. Everything below happens in the desktop app — nothing here needs an account except downloading it in the first place.

Getting started

Four steps to a scanned library.

1

Install and open it

Run the installer from your downloads page — it installs like a normal Windows program, with a Start-menu entry and desktop shortcut. No terminal, no setup wizard beyond the standard installer screens.

Your browser may warn that the installer "isn't commonly downloaded," and Windows may show a blue SmartScreen prompt. Both are normal for new, independently-published software — click "Keep" / "Download suspicious file" in the browser, or "More info" → "Run anyway" in Windows, to continue.

2

Add your folders

On first launch, pick the folder (or folders) that hold your 3D models. You can add more anytime from File → Add folder to library — LayerMate crawls every subfolder automatically, so pointing it at one top-level "3D Prints" folder is usually enough.

3

Let it scan

A progress bar shows count, percentage, and an ETA while it indexes. Files are parsed in an isolated background process, so a single corrupt or oversized model gets skipped and logged instead of stopping the whole scan.

4

Browse, search, and filter

Every file gets a real thumbnail — either pulled from the file itself (3MF/G-code) or rendered locally when there isn't one. Use the search bar, the file-type chips, or the Creators tab in the sidebar to slice a large library down fast.

Day to day

What you can do from here.

LayerMate's tags section with a tag added to a file

Duplicate finder

Click Duplicates in the toolbar to find files with identical contents, regardless of filename. Each group marks a "keep" copy — remove the extras with one click, or open either file's location first to double-check.

LayerMate's print queue filter with a queued file

Print queue & printed tracking

Right-click a model (or open it) to add it to your print queue, and mark it printed once it's done. Two chips at the top — To print and Printed — filter to each list, and both are included in the CSV export.

LayerMate's right-click menu with Open file and File location options

Open or reveal a file

Double-click a card to open the file with whatever app your OS has associated with it — same as double-clicking it in Explorer. Right-click for "File location" instead, which reveals it without opening anything.

Creators

The sidebar's Creators tab groups your whole library by designer, pulled automatically from each file's metadata where available — click one to see just their work.

LayerMate's toolbar with the Export CSV button

Export your library

Export the whole library — names, paths, sizes, dimensions, tags, print status, and more — to a CSV whenever you want a spreadsheet copy or a backup of your organisation.

Sharing

Using it from other devices on your network.

LayerMate quietly serves your library to the rest of your local network while it's running — File → Copy network address gives you a link like http://192.168.1.42:3111 that any other PC or phone can open in a browser to browse the same library and download files.

By default, anyone on your network who has that link can get in. To lock it down, click Security in the toolbar, turn on a password, and set one — other devices will need to log in, while the machine running LayerMate always keeps full access with no password.

None of this touches the internet — sharing only ever happens over your local network, and it's off from anyone outside it by design.

Updates

Staying current.

The installed app checks quietly for updates shortly after launch and periodically while it's open — if one's found, it downloads in the background and asks whether to restart and install once it's ready. You can also trigger a check manually from Help → Check for updates. Every future release is included in your original purchase at no extra cost.

Still stuck?