Cover Art Resolution Issue

Question

Cover Art Resolution Issue

Hello,

I'm currently experiencing bugs in iTunes and I was wondering if anyone else is having the same problem? These are a concern for me a podcast producer so if we can can we make our voices heard by the iTunes Store team maybe they'll fix it?!

My podcast link (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/prismatic-sessions/) when opened takes me to the iTunes Store, but then I get a pop-up which says 'This content is not available in the UK Store'. Yet if I search for "Prismatic Sessions" in the search bar in iTunes it goes straight to it and allows it to be downloaded. - This is fustrating if you ask me, because it will put off potential listeners.....

i've also noticed my podcast artwork looks blurry all of a sudden, even in the Apple Podcast iOS app, this can't be right because my podcast artwork is uploaded at 1024x1024 so that it looks amazing on the retina / HD compatible displays. The iTunes Podcast Creators page suggests artwork of 300x300, but this is way too small in my eyes for the new displays we are now using. I've emailed reuesting it be changed to match the minimum res of Albums bought in iTunes which is 700x700.

The degredation in resolution could be my podcast host using an algorithm to automatically reduce my podcast art inline with the iTunes reccomendation. so I contacted them to bump it up but they won't, because they take iTunes podcast Creators pages as 'Gospel' and won't deviate from it unless iTunes make the changes...I've email iTunes about this as a suggestion and as a support ticket but it hasn't helped!

Can we get our voice heard so we can make the whole podcast experience better? I feel like i'm talking to a brick wall here! Plus...they need to fix their own iOS podcast app too!

Posted on Dec 6, 2012 12:59 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 28, 2018 1:15 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hi Roger,

I've updated my feed today so the lower image is the correct one, just waiting for the Store to update as I can no longer 'ping iTunes' from my host end. You say the image is 300x300, odd as I uploaded it at 2048x2048 originally, so I guess my host is downsizing the image. If its in the feed code itself saying the image is 300x300, then I can't do anything about it as my host doesn't allow me to access the feed itself, I can only use their upload and management tools.

You say the image looks ok, It's ok when it's on the iTunes Store but when it's on a retina display device it looks blurry and pixelated! I've tried to add a screenshot from my ipad (actually, pointless exercise, it'll only degrade the attached image to 600x450!)

The feed with no episodes is my old feed, which is no longer active but odd it's still listed in the store? I have no access to my old feed account since I deleted it (podomatic host) I did 'report a problem' in the drop down menu below it in iTunes 10 so it could be removed(this was quite a while ago now!) but in iTunes 11 the option has gone!

I'm hoping to get some voices made for my host so I can show them this. I've asked before but they stick to the Apple Podcast Creators pages recommendations with the cover art.

Regards,

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Answer 2

Aug 28, 2018 1:15 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Brilliant, thanks for the information Roger, i've also bookmarked the page for future reference. Looks like it's ok in the store itself then as I've just done as you have above. I'm thinking maybe the iOS app doesn't read the image data in the audio file, but only the 300x300 image in the feed as my minimix and episode images are all different. They show up differently in iTunes 11 but not in the Apple Podcast app. 🙂

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Answer 3

Aug 28, 2018 1:15 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Thankyou for you help guys, looks like it's a pretty simple feed modification for the feed cover art size, which in turn should improve the iOS Podcast app image across devices. At least there is something for my host to reference too now so hopefully the changes can be made.

With regards to the iOS podcast app:

I've just transfered my podcast to my iPhone 4S via iTunes after deleting the Podcasts app and thankfully its still accessible via the built in 'music' app, here it displays the individual and full resolution covers for each episode.

Unfortunately now, if you wanted to subscribe to a podcast via an iOS device, the iOS demands you install their 'Podcast' app (otherwise the user can't download the podcast)....which in itself is detremental to the whole podcast experience because it's making the user download a piece of software before being able to listen to the podcast! (Not to mention the bad reviews the app has had too) Before iOS 6 you could just download a podcast via the iTunes App and you could listen via the Music App. Now you have to download the Podcast App, then use the Podcast App to subscribe and listen through. I can see they've tried to consolidate everything into one place as a podcast library and player-come-one, but the way it worked before was much better. Easier to find in the iTunes Store, simply download into the Music App, then press play!

Your advise and help has been much appreiciated guys, and I hope this thread wil help many others too.

Kind Regards,

Connor

Message was edited by: PrismaticSessions Spelling corrections

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Answer 4

Aug 28, 2018 1:15 PM in response to Damian holt

Sorry for the delayed reply Damien.

I have contacted the Jellycast Support Team about the resolution issue, and unfortunately they're not going to change the automated image resize script on their hosting site for when we add podcast cover art. I embedded the image in the audio file at a higher resolution (1400x1400) but as others have said, this gets ignored for the top tier image (the main podcast image, which unfortunately no matter what resolution you upload it to Jellycast, the image gets downsized to 300x300. Very frustrating)

Here is my reply from Jellycast:

Hi Connor, This is something we've looked at in the recent past

and decided against implementing, I'm afraid - we feel

it's important that we work to the specs that all

RSS receivers and aggregators are expecting,

rather than simply switching to Apple's own dialect of RSS.

So there we have it, they wont make any changes to their system because of 'other' rss agregators. Annoying if you ask me because most mobile devices and now computers have ultra high resolution displays and this really damages the whole experience.

Because of this I've moved to a different host. Yo can see it here:

http://prismaticsessionsuk.podomatic.com

I've chosen this host for their free service, which is not bad at 500Mb storage and 15Gb bandwidth for free. Their premium packages are cheap starting at $9.99 (not sure what it is in GBP) per calendar month or it works out even cheaper if pre-paid for 12 months (Usually save $20-$40 depending on what promotion they're running)

It's made my podcast more universally suited to all aggregators, and I can now see my podcast cover crisp and clear on my iThings!

I'm still yet to list it on the iTunes Store as I'm waiting for my old feed to be removed first, as Podcast feed submissions get rejected if a Podcast with the same name already exists in the iTunes Store.

If you want RSS access, my new host don't allow modifiable access, but their back-end management facilities is really quite good, plus you get a landing page so people who don't use iTunes or iThings can still subscribe in their preferred manner.

I hope this has helped, I know it's not the news we wanted I'm afraid, hence why it's pushed me to another host if they're not prepared to move forward into the future.

Kind Regards,

Message was edited by: PrismaticSessions * Quoted text formatting error - corrected.

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Answer 5

Dec 6, 2012 1:08 PM in response to Community User

Apple has for some time recommended your artwork be 1,400 x 1,400 pixels.

Create a graphic for your podcast that is easy to recognize when scaled down to 50x50 pixels. Good art communicates the value of the podcast with a simple picture and a few words. Before you create your podcast art, go to the Podcast page in the iTunes Store, click on Top Podcasts, and note which art works best and why. We recommend a 1400 x 1400 pixel JPG for cover art. You can also use images at the episode level.

Regards,

Rob W

podCast411

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Answer 6

Dec 6, 2012 1:30 PM in response to Community User

The link to your podcast is

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/prismatic-sessions/id423786541

its feed is at http://trancenights.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/51

You also have a podcast (with no episodes) at

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/prismatic-sessions/id535900513

- its feed is not present on the server ( http://prismaticsessions.podomatic.com/rss2.xml )

Looking at the first one, which has three episodes in the feed (though only the latest one appears in the Store), the image in the Store is not the same as the one in the feed. It looks OK:

Presumably you've changed the image recently. If you did not change the image filename the Store (which caches the image) will have no way of knowing it's changed. If you did change the filename, it may take some time for the Store to change the dislayed image. The image referenced in the feed is 300x300:

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Answer 7

Aug 28, 2018 1:15 PM in response to Robert Walch

Hello Rob,

Thanks for the reply. Do you know where I can find this info so I can point my podcast host admins to it please?

Regards,

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Answer 8

Dec 6, 2012 1:52 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Regarding image quality: the original spec was for 300 x 300, later upped to 600 x 600 then 1400 x 1400 to accomodate the enlarged image obtained when you clicked the image at bottom left in iTunes 10. However in iTunes 11 there appears to be no way of enlarging the image, though there is with songs - you get only the tiny image at the very top when playing in the Store, and the Store's own image. At this size your images won't look any better than they currently. Whether the lack of the large image is another accidental omission to be fixed in an update remains to be seen.

The image seen when you subscribe to a podcast is entirely another matter, as these are not referenced in the feed but have to be actually embedded in the episode media files - please see this page. The episode I checked does have this embedded image, and clicking on the small image at the top of the window when actually playing it does produce the large image, which looks much better and is obviously a good size (your ISP can't change this because it's part of the audio file).

UPDATE: I posted the above before I saw your latest post. The image I posted was downloaded from the URL in the feed and is definitely 300x300 (the display here may shrink it slightly).

As you say, the 'Report a concern' link has been removed, despite the fact that the published instructions still tell you to use them. I really don't know what they think they are playing at. You could try emailing them at podcasts 'at' apple.com

The quote in Rob's post is from the Apple Podcasting Tech Specs page:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html#image for that section and

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html for the top of the page.

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Answer 9

Dec 6, 2012 1:58 PM in response to Community User

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html

This is the link.

More detailed info is at the bottom with regards to the image artwork tag

<itunes:image>

This tag specifies the artwork for your podcast. Put the URL to the image in the href attribute. iTunes prefers square .jpg images that are at least 1400 x 1400 pixels, which is different than what is specified for the standard RSS image tag. In order for a podcast to be eligible for an iTunes Store feature, the accompanying image must be at least 1400 x 1400 pixels.

iTunes supports images in JPEG and PNG formats with a RGB color space (CMYK is not supported). The URL must end in ".jpg" or ".png". If the <itunes:image> tag is not present, iTunes will use the contents of the RSS image tag.

If you change your podcast’s image, also change the file’s name. iTunes may not change the image if it checks your feed and the image URL is the same.

Spend some time developing an attractive, original image that represents your podcast well. Potential subscribers will see it on your podcast’s page and a much smaller version of the image in search results and feature placements. Make sure your design is effective in both sizes.

The <itunes:image> tag is also supported at the episode level. For best results, we recommend using the <itunes:image> tag at the item level as well as embedding the same art within the media file’s metadata. To embed art within an individual episodes’ metadata using iTunes, highlight the episode and select "Get Info" from the "File" menu. Click the Artwork tab. Then click "Add," navigate to and select the image file, and click "Choose."

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Answer 10

Dec 6, 2012 2:04 PM in response to Community User

PrismaticSessions wrote:

I'm thinking maybe the iOS app doesn't read the image data in the audio file, but only the 300x300 image in the feed as my minimix and episode images are all different. They show up differently in iTunes 11 but not in the Apple Podcast app. 🙂

I think this may be the case, but I dono't have an iOS device so I have no experience of their Podcasts app - onloyo that a lot of people are complaining about it. I have a feeling it streams the media - as when playing in the Store on a computer - because of the file storage issue (certainly it only requests part of the file at a time), and of course if that's the case it probably won't be able to access the image.

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Answer 11

Jan 4, 2013 7:35 AM in response to Community User

Hi, I use jellycast as my host also. Im in the process of designing a 1400x1400 image for both my podcasts. Did you place the iTunes image tag at item level or episode level or both? Were you able to upload the larger file on the jellycast management page? I've noticed it still recommends 300x300 and I'm sure when I 1st uploaded the original image a year ago it wouldn't accept it until I cropped it to 300x300.

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Answer 12

Jan 4, 2013 8:04 AM in response to Damian holt

There is no point in placing an 'itunes:image' tag within the 'item' tags for an episode: it will be ignored. Your image should be referenced in the top section of the feed, between the 'channel' tag and the first 'item' tag, and should take the form:

<itunes:image href="URL OF AN IMAGE FOR THE PODCAST" />

This image will appear in the iTunes Store (eventually) but will not appear when subscribing in iTunes. For that the image has to be actually embedded in the media file, as described in this page:

http://www.wilmut.webspace.virginmedia.com/notes/coverart.html

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Answer 13

Jan 4, 2013 10:02 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Using jellycast I don't actually have access to editing the feed. They simply give you fields to populate which I assume they then add all the tag references when uploading it to iTunes. I'm currently producing hour long dj mixes as enhanced podcasts in the m4a format. Each episode is track marked in chapters as a cd would be and each chapter has its individual artwork assigned to it. I have no issue with either of my podcast images at present(I post 2 different podcast feeds). They are viewable from web, in iTunes and the podcast app, however they are only 300x300 and I would like the possibility of being listed so am in the process of making 1400x1400. When i subscribe in iTunes to my podcast the image that gets displayed is the image I assign to it as an album cover which is as I intend. My 1st feed is http://djdamo.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/3

And the second is at http://djdamo.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/20

Where would I need to place the 1400x1400 image to ensure I can be eligible to be advertised on iTunes?

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Answer 14

Jan 4, 2013 10:30 AM in response to Damian holt

It has to be referenced in the tag I described above in order to display in the iTunes Store. There is an image correctly referenced in both feeds, though in both cases it is 300 x 300. I don't know how picky the Store is about this - my own podcast image, which has been up a long time, is 300 x 300 and the image still appears. You may need to replace the image with a larger one - if you do this, give it a different file name.

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