Thanks for the response.  it seems like I am doing it right,  for z26.exe I have z26.mll layout in the MaLa folder.  I thought this is what the directions said to do.  There are no special graphics at this time.  MaLa does use the mame.mll for MAME but when I switch to z26 or any other emulator I have a layout made for it just uses the standard.mll.  Any ideas what I could have wrong?
Thanks.