Distinguishing embedded artwork from downloaded artwork. Possible or not?
I've read through just about every posting containing "artwork" and "extract" from the past few months, and I could not find the answer to a question on my mind, so I'll pose it here.
I understand that there is a difference between artwork that is manually embedded via a copy/paste or a drag-and-drop operation directly into an .mp3 file versus the artwork that is downloaded from Apple's servers via iTunes and stored as an .itc file in a cache inside the iTunes > Album Artwork folder. I also understand that there are likely pros and cons—technical trade-offs—between the apparent speed and flexibility provided by the downloaded artwork process, versus the more laborious, but more permanent embedding of artwork into the metadata of an mp3 file.
Before I recently issued the Get Album Artwork to the iTunes store, I already had a small percentage of my iTunes mp3 embedded with images. With the help of the downloaded images into the Album Artwork cache, I now, of course, have a much higher percentage of my tracks filled with artwork of one type or another, that is, the tracks are either drawing up the images which I had previously manually embedded in the mp3 filse, or the songs are now accessing the artwork inside the newly download artwork.
My question is this: Is there any easy way to tell if a track is displaying artwork that is embedded into an mp3 or if it is getting its artwork from an iTunes download?
Time-consuming though it may be, I am considering embedding all of my mp3 files with artwork instead of drawing upon the cached images in the Album Artwork folder, but, I really would like to be able to distinguish which files would need to be worked on (i.e., they use the iTunes downloads) from those which do not (since they already have the artwork embedded in them).
If it is at all possible to determine how to distinguish between those two conditions, it would then be ideal to have is a fast and painless way to grab those downloaded images and use them as the source material to be for embedded into the mp3 files—perhaps through an Apple Script or some Automator routine!
Any insights and guidance?
bowlerboy_jmb
I understand that there is a difference between artwork that is manually embedded via a copy/paste or a drag-and-drop operation directly into an .mp3 file versus the artwork that is downloaded from Apple's servers via iTunes and stored as an .itc file in a cache inside the iTunes > Album Artwork folder. I also understand that there are likely pros and cons—technical trade-offs—between the apparent speed and flexibility provided by the downloaded artwork process, versus the more laborious, but more permanent embedding of artwork into the metadata of an mp3 file.
Before I recently issued the Get Album Artwork to the iTunes store, I already had a small percentage of my iTunes mp3 embedded with images. With the help of the downloaded images into the Album Artwork cache, I now, of course, have a much higher percentage of my tracks filled with artwork of one type or another, that is, the tracks are either drawing up the images which I had previously manually embedded in the mp3 filse, or the songs are now accessing the artwork inside the newly download artwork.
My question is this: Is there any easy way to tell if a track is displaying artwork that is embedded into an mp3 or if it is getting its artwork from an iTunes download?
Time-consuming though it may be, I am considering embedding all of my mp3 files with artwork instead of drawing upon the cached images in the Album Artwork folder, but, I really would like to be able to distinguish which files would need to be worked on (i.e., they use the iTunes downloads) from those which do not (since they already have the artwork embedded in them).
If it is at all possible to determine how to distinguish between those two conditions, it would then be ideal to have is a fast and painless way to grab those downloaded images and use them as the source material to be for embedded into the mp3 files—perhaps through an Apple Script or some Automator routine!
Any insights and guidance?
bowlerboy_jmb
PowerMac G4; iMac G5; MacBook Pro., Mac OS X (10.5.7), Running Leopard, Tiger, Panther. LAN. Cloned LaCie FireWire drives as backups.
