I just enabled the album art feature in WMP11 and got a lot of album art
automatically, which I see is added to the album folders as "system files".

If I wanted to add album art manually, are there any cons to having the art
embedded within each mp3 file in the album? I've got a lot of squeaky-clean
files that I don't want to mess up.

Thanks, Steve

If you use WMP 11 to embed that album art, the art will be reduced to
200x200 pixels in the process.

If you copy that art into the album folder as Folder.jpg, WMP 11 will reduce
the art to 200x200 pixels without any warning, without any opportunity to
opt out of the change, and without creating any backup.

If you're going to embed the image into the file, use WMP 10 or a
third-party tool. Do not use WMP 11. Once the art is embedded, I haven't
see WMP 11 screw with it - must be a bug; I'm sure WMP 11.5 or 12 will fix
that loophole.

No matter what, the safest route when working with your own album art in
WMP, only work with backup copies of your images.

Dale


"srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7596575D-A12B-422C-A910-AC45C9F8A00C@microsoft.com...
>I just enabled the album art feature in WMP11 and got a lot of album art
> automatically, which I see is added to the album folders as "system
> files".
>
> If I wanted to add album art manually, are there any cons to having the
> art
> embedded within each mp3 file in the album? I've got a lot of
> squeaky-clean
> files that I don't want to mess up.
>
> Thanks, Steve

Thanks, Dale.

I'm not concerned about WMP11s resizing effect on the album art (it wouldn't
be my original artwork, just "album art" that WMP did not find in the online
database).

I'm hesitant to "embed" album art directly into each mp3 file, which is what
WMP Help says is done when album art is added manually.

It doesn't sound like there's any way to "unembed" art added manually, and I
am wondering if there are good reasons not to embed the art into the
individual mp3s.

Thanks, Steve

"Dale" wrote:

> If you use WMP 11 to embed that album art, the art will be reduced to
> 200x200 pixels in the process.
>
> If you copy that art into the album folder as Folder.jpg, WMP 11 will reduce
> the art to 200x200 pixels without any warning, without any opportunity to
> opt out of the change, and without creating any backup.
>
> If you're going to embed the image into the file, use WMP 10 or a
> third-party tool. Do not use WMP 11. Once the art is embedded, I haven't
> see WMP 11 screw with it - must be a bug; I'm sure WMP 11.5 or 12 will fix
> that loophole.
>
> No matter what, the safest route when working with your own album art in
> WMP, only work with backup copies of your images.
>
> Dale
>
>
> "srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7596575D-A12B-422C-A910-AC45C9F8A00C@microsoft.com...
> >I just enabled the album art feature in WMP11 and got a lot of album art
> > automatically, which I see is added to the album folders as "system
> > files".
> >
> > If I wanted to add album art manually, are there any cons to having the
> > art
> > embedded within each mp3 file in the album? I've got a lot of
> > squeaky-clean
> > files that I don't want to mess up.
> >
> > Thanks, Steve
>
>

OK, I get it. I can grab an album art image and add it to the album folder
as folder.jpg and SmallAlbumArt.jpg -- works fine for my purposes. Thanks a
lot for the help.

Steve

"Dale" wrote:


> If you copy that art into the album folder as Folder.jpg,....

There's little reason not to embed the album art in the file though some
players won't handle large art. My truck MP3 player, for instance, won't
handle my 480x480 album art. I have to remove it before burning for my
truck - which I do in batch so it is only a couple keystrokes for a whole CD
of 175 songs or so.

To remove embedded album art, simply open the track in Advanced Tag Editor
and remove it from the Pictures tab. I'm going to post my album art tools
to my website shortly but it is a spare-time kind of project. In the mean
time, you'd be stuck with other third-party tools or using ATE, one track at
a time.

Dale

"srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8DEDB4F5-9B48-4139-A232-11494BC8F575@microsoft.com...
> Thanks, Dale.
>
> I'm not concerned about WMP11s resizing effect on the album art (it
> wouldn't
> be my original artwork, just "album art" that WMP did not find in the
> online
> database).
>
> I'm hesitant to "embed" album art directly into each mp3 file, which is
> what
> WMP Help says is done when album art is added manually.
>
> It doesn't sound like there's any way to "unembed" art added manually, and
> I
> am wondering if there are good reasons not to embed the art into the
> individual mp3s.
>
> Thanks, Steve
>
> "Dale" wrote:
>
>> If you use WMP 11 to embed that album art, the art will be reduced to
>> 200x200 pixels in the process.
>>
>> If you copy that art into the album folder as Folder.jpg, WMP 11 will
>> reduce
>> the art to 200x200 pixels without any warning, without any opportunity to
>> opt out of the change, and without creating any backup.
>>
>> If you're going to embed the image into the file, use WMP 10 or a
>> third-party tool. Do not use WMP 11. Once the art is embedded, I
>> haven't
>> see WMP 11 screw with it - must be a bug; I'm sure WMP 11.5 or 12 will
>> fix
>> that loophole.
>>
>> No matter what, the safest route when working with your own album art in
>> WMP, only work with backup copies of your images.
>>
>> Dale
>>
>>
>> "srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:7596575D-A12B-422C-A910-AC45C9F8A00C@microsoft.com...
>> >I just enabled the album art feature in WMP11 and got a lot of album art
>> > automatically, which I see is added to the album folders as "system
>> > files".
>> >
>> > If I wanted to add album art manually, are there any cons to having the
>> > art
>> > embedded within each mp3 file in the album? I've got a lot of
>> > squeaky-clean
>> > files that I don't want to mess up.
>> >
>> > Thanks, Steve
>>
>>

You don't have to add the SmallAlbumArt.jpg. WMP will handle it for you.

Dale

"srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8F1B0A14-5580-49B8-95AA-CB48E145DF97@microsoft.com...
> OK, I get it. I can grab an album art image and add it to the album
> folder
> as folder.jpg and SmallAlbumArt.jpg -- works fine for my purposes. Thanks
> a
> lot for the help.
>
> Steve
>
> "Dale" wrote:
>
>
>> If you copy that art into the album folder as Folder.jpg,....

Yep, I've been playing around some, screwed up, and already learned the hard
way on the one-at-a-time ATE removal thing (WMP11 also created folder.jpg and
albumartsmall.jpg files in the embedding process). Ouch! Think I'll stick
with the folder.jpg approach for adding missing art. Again, thanks for the
help.

Steve

"Dale" wrote:

>
> To remove embedded album art, simply open the track in Advanced Tag Editor
> and remove it from the Pictures tab. I'm going to post my album art tools
> to my website shortly but it is a spare-time kind of project. In the mean
> time, you'd be stuck with other third-party tools or using ATE, one track at
> a time.
>
> Dale
>
> "srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:8DEDB4F5-9B48-4139-A232-11494BC8F575@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks, Dale.
> >
> > I'm not concerned about WMP11s resizing effect on the album art (it
> > wouldn't
> > be my original artwork, just "album art" that WMP did not find in the
> > online
> > database).
> >
> > I'm hesitant to "embed" album art directly into each mp3 file, which is
> > what
> > WMP Help says is done when album art is added manually.
> >
> > It doesn't sound like there's any way to "unembed" art added manually, and
> > I
> > am wondering if there are good reasons not to embed the art into the
> > individual mp3s.
> >
> > Thanks, Steve
> >
> > "Dale" wrote:
> >
> >> If you use WMP 11 to embed that album art, the art will be reduced to
> >> 200x200 pixels in the process.
> >>
> >> If you copy that art into the album folder as Folder.jpg, WMP 11 will
> >> reduce
> >> the art to 200x200 pixels without any warning, without any opportunity to
> >> opt out of the change, and without creating any backup.
> >>
> >> If you're going to embed the image into the file, use WMP 10 or a
> >> third-party tool. Do not use WMP 11. Once the art is embedded, I
> >> haven't
> >> see WMP 11 screw with it - must be a bug; I'm sure WMP 11.5 or 12 will
> >> fix
> >> that loophole.
> >>
> >> No matter what, the safest route when working with your own album art in
> >> WMP, only work with backup copies of your images.
> >>
> >> Dale
> >>
> >>
> >> "srourke" <srourke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:7596575D-A12B-422C-A910-AC45C9F8A00C@microsoft.com...
> >> >I just enabled the album art feature in WMP11 and got a lot of album art
> >> > automatically, which I see is added to the album folders as "system
> >> > files".
> >> >
> >> > If I wanted to add album art manually, are there any cons to having the
> >> > art
> >> > embedded within each mp3 file in the album? I've got a lot of
> >> > squeaky-clean
> >> > files that I don't want to mess up.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks, Steve
> >>
> >>
>
>