Cover Art: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:53, 9 July 2011

Information for the latest build of MC16 (thanks to Alex B)

MC can automatically link external cover art if the image file's name and path matches with the set cover art location option. The available options in "Tools > Options > File Location > Cover Art" are as follows:

1) In a specified folder

- in a single dedicated cover art folder (you can set the folder if you don't want to use the default location) - the filename must match the Album Artist (auto) - Album rule, for example: The Beatles - Abbey Road.jpg or Multiple Artists) - Moulin Rouge (Music From Baz Luhrmann's Film).jpg

2) In the same folder as the file (as Folder.jpg)

- in the music file's folder - the filename must be Folder.jpg

3) In the same folder as the file

- in the music file's folder - the filename must match the Album Artist (auto) - Album rule, for example: The Beatles - Abbey Road.jpg or Multiple Artists) - Moulin Rouge (Music From Baz Luhrmann's Film).jpg

If the filenames and locations are correct you can use the "Tools > Cover Art > Quick Find In File / Cover Art Directory" menu command for linking the image files if they are not already linked for some reason.

Alternatively you can link any image file by using the "Tools > Cover Art > Add From File..." command. In this case the filename does not matter - for example, Oxygene-1977.jpg will work.

You can also drag and drop any image file from Windows Explorer to the expanded cover art display in Action Window when one or more audio files are selected. More info about this method: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59513.msg415474#msg415474

A third option would be to use the excellent "Tools > Cover Art > Get From Internet..." tool.

The above information is correct is for ripped and other music files, not for physical Audio CD discs.

For physical CDs you can use only a separate cover art folder i.e. the naming/location option 1) or link the images by hand. You can link the CD cover art and after that change the cover art location option for music files if you prefer to do that. MC will remember the CD cover art links as long as you use the same database.

Information for older versions -------

Media Center can automatically download your album cover art, and display it while listening to your music.

Automatically Get Cover Art after Ripping

To set automatic downloading of cover art after ripping a CD, go to Tools > Options > CD and select "Get cover art from internet after ripping".

Cover Art Submission (changed at about MC 12.0.470)

Cover art can be automatically submitted to the database. You can turn this feature on or off under Tools/Options/General/Online Metadata.

Set the Cover Art Path

To modify where your cover art is saved, go to Tools > Options > File Location.

Save Cover Art in the file (when possible)

You can save Cover Art in the file itself as a tag. Not all file formats will allow this. For those that do, the file size will increase.

Go to Tools > Options > General and check "Save cover art inside tags when possible".

If your file format is mp3, you must set the modify the mp3 settings to include id3 tags. Go to Tools > Plug-in Manager > Input > MPE Plug-in and select Configure. For details about these options, see Save File Properties (id3 tags) in Disk Files.

The FLAC format does not allow embedded cover art with the current FLAC plug-in. Your only option is external cover art.

Saving Cover Art Next to Files

Thanks to Alex B for this information.

MC has two options for storing the cover art in the file folders (Tools > Options > File Location > Track Images Location):

Next to file ([Artist] - [Album].jpg) and Next to file (Folder.jpg)

I prefer the "Artist - Album" naming system because I don't like the idea of having thousands of identically named files on my HDs.

Both systems work. If you change the option MC will place new cover art files accordingly.

Using folder.jpg (the Microsoft way) can create a problem when a single folder.jpg is in the same directory as many music files. If they don't have embedded cover art, the folder.jpg may be displayed for all.

MC cannot automatically move the old cover art files all at once, but there is a workaround. If you have the music files in the Artist\Album folder structure and have used the old MJ/MC standard (Artist - Album.jpg) for naming the cover art files you can move most of your cover art files by taking the following steps. (You may need to manually move a few files afterwards.)

1. Make a new empty library with the Library manager

2. Import the cover art files from the current cover art folder into this new library.

3. Use the Fill Properties From Filename tool with this rule in the filename dialog: [Artist] - [Album]. Uncheck the Directories check box.

4. Use the Rename files From Properties tool for moving the cover art files.

Directories - Base Path: The base path of your music files

Directories - Rule: [Artist]\[Album]

If you use a different rule for your music files you may be able to edit this. Be aware of multiple disc and multiple artists albums or other special cases.
You can also use [Album Artist] instead of [Artist] in steps 3 and 4.

Filename Rule:

Uncheck the check box (this keeps the old filenames and can be the safest option)

or

Folder.jpg (write the exact filename in the dialog box. This renames all cover art files as "Folder.jpg".

5. After moving the files check the "Filename (path)" field for any errors and move manually the files that need special treatment.

6. At this stage you can change back to your regular library and do the following steps:

Select all audio files (or the files you like to include)
Right-click > Image > Remove Cover Art (don't let MC delete the disk files)
Right-click > Image > Quick Find In File / Cover Art Directory.

Remember to back up your MC library and the cover art folder before starting the process.

Which files are missing cover art?

Media Center comes with pre-made smartlists, one of which is to display all files that are missing covert.

In the tree, select Playlists, then Smartlists
If Smartlists does not exist, right-click on Playlists and select Create Stock Smartlists
Select the Missing Covert Art Smartlist.

Get Cover Art for Selected Files.

Right click on file(s) in the content pane.
Select Image and choose from the available options on the menu.

Play/Show (first file)	This plays the image in full screen mode. It will play the image for just the first file if more than one track is selected.
Add From File	Browse to the file on your hard drive. Use this if the image isn't stored in your Cover Art directory.
Quick Find in File/Cover Art Directory	Automatically looks through your default Cover Art directory for the image, and links it to your file.
Get from Internet.	* Download (if missing). Use this for files that have no Cover Art. It's a good option for when multiple files are selected, because it will not overwrite any files that already have Cover Art. Download (always). If you have the wrong Album Cover associated with a file, use this option. Use already downloaded cover art. Select a Tolerance level.
Get from Scanner.	Automatically get an image from your scanner. You may have to first select your scanner.
Select Scanner.	Select your default scanner.
Paste from Clipboard(image or URL)	See "Copy to Clipboard".
Copy to Clipboard(first file)	Copy an image to the clipboard, and quickly paste it as another file's Cover Art.
Remove Cover Art	Removes links to Cover Art, as well as Cover Art stored in the file's tags. You can also permanently remove the image from your hard drive by clicking 'Yes' in the dialogue box that appears when you select this option.

You can also quickly view which files have cover art by adding the "Image File" header to the columns in the content pane list. Just right-click on any header in the list, go to "Columns to Show" and select "image file".

High Resolution Cover Art

Thanks to Alex B for this information.

I suppose something like 800x800 would be enough for high resolution cover art if there is no intention to enlarge the displayed images (this is possible in a slideshow). The scanner software used must have a descreen option when printed images are scanned in a high resolution. The printed screen pattern produces usually a nasty moiré effect without descreening.

MC has native support for single image file, which is linked to a music file or placed inside the file's tag area. Actually that is not an album image but a track image. MC can find it automatically if certain conditions exist. Instead you can manually link one image file to a single track or to several tracks (e.g. to all tracks in one album).

MC has also native support for importing image files to the media library, e.g. your digital camera images. You can tag them as you like. With MC you can show image files in slideshows when playing music files. I use that capacity for playing and showing my albums.

I want to have my albums complete in MC, including music, cover art, and printed information. Usually I scan several images: front, back, booklet, inlay, CD 1, CD 2, etc. I make them at least 800 pixels wide. If there is small printed text I make them bigger. So all text can be read if/when enlarged (you can pause the slideshow and enlarge an image). I also make a smaller version of the front cover, which is used as a usual track image. I store all images in the album folder.

I import those image files to MC and tag them. Because they have the same album tag as the music files the images become part of the album in the MC library. I can see them together in the All Media view. I can search for the album name and I get a list of the music files and the image files. If I send them all to Playing Now, MC displays a slide show during the album playback. I can also make playlists of them (incl. music & images).

I have not found tagging them too awkward. Importing and tagging the image files takes only some seconds. For example, you could do that just before listening to each album. Listening to an album takes usually at least 40 minutes.

When I play the whole album with images I don't usually include the small image in the playlist because the cover is included in the "Booklet 1" image. In this case the booklet spreads are 1600 pixels wide.

View Cover Art while listening to Music

Play files and then go to Playing Now. Make sure the Display Pane is visible (if not, double-click the horizontal splitter bar in Standard Mode). If the display plug-in is set to "none", your cover art will display by default. You can double-click on the image to quickly toggle between full screen and windowed modes. See Display Plug-ins for details.

More

These are Interact forum topics discussing cover art which may help in certain circumstances.

Alex B posted a complete list of his posts on cover art here.

Cover Art: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:53, 9 July 2011

Contents

Automatically Get Cover Art after Ripping

Cover Art Submission (changed at about MC 12.0.470)

Set the Cover Art Path

Save Cover Art in the file (when possible)

Saving Cover Art Next to Files

Which files are missing cover art?

Get Cover Art for Selected Files.

High Resolution Cover Art

View Cover Art while listening to Music

More

Navigation menu

Cover Art: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:53, 9 July 2011

Automatically Get Cover Art after Ripping

Cover Art Submission (changed at about MC 12.0.470)

Set the Cover Art Path

Save Cover Art in the file (when possible)

Saving Cover Art Next to Files

Which files are missing cover art?

Get Cover Art for Selected Files.

High Resolution Cover Art

View Cover Art while listening to Music

More

Navigation menu

Search