Itunes cover art - back and forth

[alexxx]

Since I - like some others - am a control freak, knowing how it is best to keep my music collection organized, when I installed Itunes I deactivated the checkboxes "keep Itunes folder organized" and "copy documents in Itunes folder when added to the library".

Once my music was there, a large part of it was missing the cover art and I slowly added it - in Itunes.

Now I realize my mistake, of course: the cover art was not added to the original files, am I correct?
Do you know if it exists some way to pass the information (cover art) back to the original files?


thanks for your help...


alessandro

 

[GGJstudios]

If you manually add cover art to mp3 files in iTunes, it adds it to the file.

 

[Consultant]

If you manually add cover art to mp3 files in iTunes, it adds it to the file.

At least with previous version of iTunes, if you drag and drop cover art to the box in iTunes, it doesn't save it in the file

But if you get info on the file and drag and drop the art there, then it saves.

 

[Ice-Cube]

If you use the 'Get Album Artwork' function within iTunes to get your artwork then it doesn't get embedded. You need to copy, "Remove album artwork" and paste back for it to be saved.

 

[GGJstudios]

At least with previous version of iTunes, if you drag and drop cover art to the box in iTunes, it doesn't save it in the file

But if you get info on the file and drag and drop the art there, then it saves.

If you use the 'Get Album Artwork' function within iTunes to get your artwork then it doesn't get embedded. You need to copy, "Remove album artwork" and paste back for it to be saved.

For the past 2 years I've added artwork to files by doing Get Info in iTunes and dragging artwork to either the Artwork tab (for a single song) or to the Artwork box in the lower right corner (for multiple items). In every case, it embeds the artwork in the mp3 file, so that if I move the mp3 to another computer, the artwork goes with it. I've never used the "Get Album Artwork" feature because the artwork that iTunes downloads is of a much lower quality than that which I add manually.

 

[Libertine Lush]

This is a great thread; I didn't know dragging art was different from using "Get Album Artwork."

But if you get info on the file and drag and drop the art there, then it saves.

For the past 2 years I've added artwork to files by doing Get Info in iTunes and dragging artwork to either the Artwork tab (for a single song) or to the Artwork box in the lower right corner (for multiple items). In every case, it embeds the artwork in the mp3 file

Before I came across this thread, that's what I thought happens. But just to test it out, I dragged album art to the Artwork tab in the "Get Info" window. The art appears in iTunes, but when I look up the files in Finder, the icons remain unchanged--still a black square with the grey music notes.

Like alexxx, I'm part of that seeming minority of people who have disabled the "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" feature, though I've enabled "Keep iTunes Media folder organized." However, I don't think either of those things should have any effect on whether artwork embeds in the file when dragging.

Am I overlooking something? Or are any of the previous posters incorrect?

Thanks.

 

[GGJstudios]

This is a great thread; I didn't know dragging art was different from using "Get Album Artwork."

When you buy music from iTunes, the artwork is stored in a separate folder, not in the file. If you move the file to another computer, it has no artwork. If you manually add artwork, it stores it in the file.

Before I came across this thread, that's what I thought happens. But just to test it out, I dragged album art to the Artwork tab in the "Get Info" window. The art appears in iTunes, but when I look up the files in Finder, the icons remain unchanged--still a black square with the grey music notes.

The Finder problem is a separate issue. Just because Finder doesn't display the artwork in the icon doesn't necessarily mean the artwork is not stored in the file. Even with the artwork stored in the file, Finder is sometimes slow to display the icons and has to be refreshed or even restarted before it will show the icons.

Like alexxx, I'm part of that seeming minority of people who have disabled the "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" feature, though I've enabled "Keep iTunes Media folder organized." However, I don't think either of those things should have any effect on whether artwork embeds in the file when dragging.

I don't have either of those checked. I manage my library file and folder structure, rather than let iTunes do it. I prefer my organization to iTune's method. This has to do with where the files are stored. I doubt it has anything to do with artwork, but never having selected those options, I don't have first-hand experience with how iTunes behaves with those options selected.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

The art appears in iTunes, but when I look up the files in Finder, the icons remain unchanged--still a black square with the grey music notes.

This is a brand new bug that appeared with iTunes 9.2

 

[GGJstudios]

The art appears in iTunes, but when I look up the files in Finder, the icons remain unchanged--still a black square with the grey music notes.

This is a brand new bug that appeared with iTunes 9.2

It's not a bug in iTunes. The icons are displayed by Finder, not iTunes, and not everyone has the issue:

​

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

It's not a bug in iTunes. The icons are displayed by Finder, not iTunes, and not everyone has the issue:

View attachment 231615​

I realize that, but the iTunes update has definitely changed something. I've tried on 3 different macs, the artwork in the finder broke after installing iTunes 9.2. Try copying a file to the desktop and see if the artwork stays.

 

[GGJstudios]

I realize that, but the iTunes update has definitely changed something. I've tried on 3 different macs, the artwork in the finder broke after installing iTunes 9.2

The iTunes update didn't touch your mp3 files. It only updates the iTunes software and your iTunes library. Finder displays the icons (or doesn't display them) even if you don't have iTunes installed on your computer. If you have manually added the artwork, rather than letting iTunes store it in a separate folder, then the artwork is in the mp3 and Finder should display it. If you "Get Info" on a mp3 file from Finder (not iTunes), it should display the artwork, if it's been added to the file.

​

Again, if it were an iTunes 9.2 bug, everyone using 9.2 would have the same symptoms, which is clearly not the case.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

I know it hasn't changed the files, if I view the same files on a mac that hasn't updated to 9.2 yet, the artwork is shown in the finder. I did a test before and after upgrading itunes on my GF's mac, the finder also stopped showing the artwork only afterwards. Can you tell me what happens if you copy and paste one of your mp3s to the desktop? On the 3 macs I have access to the artwork disappears.

 

[GGJstudios]

I know it hasn't changed the files, if I view the same files on a mac that hasn't updated to 9.2 yet, the artwork is shown in the finder. I did a test before and after upgrading itunes on my GF's mac, the finder also stopped showing the artwork only afterwards. Can you tell me what happens if you copy and paste one of your mp3s to the desktop? On the 3 macs I have access to the artwork disappears.

Are all the Macs that show the icons running the exact same version of Mac OS X as those that don't?

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Yes 10.6.4. This morning my GF's mac still had 10.6.3 and iTunes 9.1.1 so I updated to .4 first to see if it had something to do with it, but everything was fine until I installed the new iTunes.

 

[GGJstudios]

Yes 10.6.4. This morning my GF's mac still had 10.6.3 and iTunes 9.1.1 so I updated to .4 first to see if it was had something to do with it, but everthing was fine until I installed the new iTunes.

My guess -- and it's only a guess -- is that if you had installed 9.2 first, the icons would have displayed with 10.6.3 and iTunes 9.2. Since Finder is what handles displaying the icons, I would suspect 10.6.4, rather than iTunes, which has nothing to do with how Finder displays file icons.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

I'm just confused as to why with 10.6.4 + iTunes 9.1.1 the finder was fine but iTunes 9.2 somehow broke it. I have not had the chance to try 10.6.3 + iTunes 9.2.

 

[Libertine Lush]

If you manually add artwork, it stores it in the file.

The Finder problem is a separate issue. Just because Finder doesn't display the artwork in the icon doesn't necessarily mean the artwork is not stored in the file. Even with the artwork stored in the file, Finder is sometimes slow to display the icons and has to be refreshed or even restarted before it will show the icons.

A day and reboot later, despite having manually added album art to a few albums via the "Get info" method, no art appears in the icons of the mp3s. When I "Get Info" on the mp3s, still no art shows in the window. I do seem to recall this working before.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

There is something definitely wrong with iTunes 9.2. Threads are starting to pop up about this issue and it's present on 10.6.3 and 4 but also 10.5.8. How they managed to mess up the finder with an iTunes update I do not know

http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2464851&start=15&tstart=0

 

[Libertine Lush]

http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2464851&start=15&tstart=0

Read through it all. Now it does seem to be an iTunes bug.

 

[GGJstudios]

There is something definitely wrong with iTunes 9.2. Threads are starting to pop up about this issue and it's present on 10.6.3 and 4 but also 10.5.8. How they managed to mess up the finder with an iTunes update I do not know

http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2464851&start=15&tstart=0

Read through it all. Now it does seem to be an iTunes bug.

The part that doesn't make sense is, if it's an iTunes 9.2 bug, everyone should be experiencing the same problem, but they're not.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

I suspect the majority of users don't often delve into their iTunes folder, so they wouldn't even know there was a problem. Also, the folder may seem unaffected as it is with one of my libraries, but if I copy a file to the desktop for example, the artwork disappears from the finder.

 

[GGJstudios]

I suspect the majority of users don't often delve into their iTunes folder, so they wouldn't even know there was a problem.

But I do, and all the icons show perfectly, as always. I haven't been able to reproduce the problem at all.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

But I do, and all the icons show perfectly, as always. I haven't been able to reproduce the problem at all.

Can you tell me if it still works if you move a file to the desktop for example? I just tried a clean install of 10.5.8 and I'm getting the same problem as on 10.6.4.

 

[GGJstudios]

Can you tell me if it still works if you move a file to the desktop for example? I just tried a clean install of 10.5.8 and I'm getting the same problem as on 10.6.4.

Works the same way on the Desktop. However, mine is a mp3 file and yours is m4a. I tested and found that's the difference. The icon in Finder doesn't show artwork for .m4a files on my system, but it does for .mp3.

​

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Ah just my luck. I have about 5 mp3's the rest is all Apple lossless. Thanks for the input.