Conserving space by removing album art

Article

Conserving space by removing album art

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

Q: I own a 20GB iPod, and I have more music than I can fit on it. I recently added a few CDs to my library, and I noticed that the artwork I downloaded for them seems to be added to the iPod. I was wondering if the album art I have downloaded is in fact being transferred to my iPod, and if so, is it easy to take it off?

- Jeff

A: If your 20GB iPod is the type with a color screen, you’ll find the option to “Display album artwork on your iPod” in iTunes’ “Preferences” window (your iPod must be plugged in to see this).

However, unchecking this option will not do exactly what you’re asking. Doing so will prevent the tiny iPod-optimized versions of your album art from being transferred, but this is insignificant compared to the fact that the full-size, iTunes-displayed versions of the graphics are embedded in the audio files themselves - regardless of the album artwork setting in iTunes’ preferences. As a matter of fact, they’re there regardless of whether or not you even have an iPod with a color screen capable of displaying art.

Considering standard 300-pixel square album art images and an average song at 4 minutes, 128kbps, the proportion of your music library taken up by embedded album artwork is only about 0.7%. If you could recover this disk space by stripping the images out the songs as they transfer to a 20GB iPod, the capacity you would gain would only be equivalent to only an extra 30 songs or so. Since this is so insignificant compared with the 5000 songs a 20GB iPod will typically hold, we recommend that rather than fighting iTunes’ modus operandi, you take a look at our Guide to Synchronizing the iPod for a look at ways to best manage iTunes libraries larger than your iPod.

If you do decide that having album art isn’t worth the song capacity you lose, you always have the option to delete all art entirely, from both iTunes and the iPod. To do so quickly, simply highlight your Library, choose “Select All” from the “Edit” menu, and choose “Get Info” from the “File” menu. Then, simply un-check the album art box, and click OK. (Touch nothing else, or you’ll lose a LOT of tags!)

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy content from my iPod/iPhone onto my computer?

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Win)

Best Speakers?

Best Headphones?

Best Case?

Best In-Car Solution?

Best Battery Extender?

Find more answers in the latest publications in our Library. Free downloads developed by the editors of iLounge!

Ask iLounge Archives:

5-16-13: Remove old iCloud backup after restoring to a new iPhone

5-15-13: Setting up a ringtone in iTunes

5-14-13: Using a Wi-Fi hard drive with an iPad

5-13-13: Backing up and restoring an iPod classic

5-10-13: Can’t restore iPod touch without passcode

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

« Narrowing searches in iTunes 5

Applying promotional song credits to iTunes Music Store album purchases »

Comments

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.

Recent Reviews

New Deals

Shop for Accessories: Cases, speakers, chargers, etc.

iLounge

Article