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Give every album a cover

Embed each album folder's own image without giving the whole selection one album's picture. In about 15 minutes you will distinguish folder previews from embedded artwork, filter a copied selection, import its images and verify the saved result. You will also learn when resizing and online artwork lookup belong in separate steps.

  • Two copied album folders, each with a different, known folder.jpg.
  • A few copied local audio files whose writable tag formats support embedded artwork, such as MP3 with ID3v2 enabled.
  • The original audio and full-resolution images kept elsewhere.
  • Pending edits saved or discarded before using cover actions.

The images can be your own practice drawings. Check that each opens as a real JPEG; renaming an unrelated file to .jpg does not convert it. This lesson uses those local images and needs no live provider search.

1. Prepare a folder for each album

Use this arrangement, with a distinct picture in each album folder:

Practice/Harbour Lights/folder.jpg
Practice/Harbour Lights/01.mp3
Practice/Harbour Lights/02.mp3
Practice/Low Tide/folder.jpg
Practice/Low Tide/01.mp3

Open Practice with File → Change directory… and include its subfolders when loading. Wait for the file reads to complete. Resolve read errors instead of treating an unreadable file as proof that it has no cover. The opening-files guide explains the subfolder option and how to load another folder deliberately.

2. Identify what is actually embedded

Select one track and inspect the tag panel's cover window. A label Folder image / Not embedded in the file means OpenTag is showing an external image. The audio does not gain a picture merely because that preview is visible. Selecting files from different folders can also make the display differ from selecting one file.

A shared embedded image, Covers vary, No artwork and an artwork loading/error message mean different things. When uncertain, select one file at a time or inspect Edit → Manage covers…. Do not treat a failed image display as a confirmed embedded-cover count of zero.

3. Find only tracks without embedded pictures

Show the Filter with View → Show filter and enter:

"%_covers%" EQUAL 0

Wait for automatic application, or press Enter in manual mode. The query counts embedded entries, including pictures that are not Front Cover. It does not count folder.jpg beside a track.

Track snapshot Embedded pictures Folder image exists Matches filter
A 0 Yes Yes
B 1 Yes No
C 0 No Yes

The filter finds missing embedded art; it does not prove that a suitable source image exists. Check the copied folders before continuing. A track with only a back cover already has one embedded entry and will not match.

Choose Edit → Unselect all, then select only the intended visible practice tracks. A filter hides rows; it does not guarantee that an old hidden selection has been cleared. Read the selected-file count.

4. Import the image from each file's own folder

Choose Actions → Actions (Quick)…, then Import Cover from File. Set the controls as follows:

Setting Value
Image filename format %_folderpath%folder.jpg
Import cover as Front Cover
Delete existing covers Off

%_folderpath% is evaluated separately for every audio file and already ends with its native folder separator. The Harbour Lights tracks read Harbour Lights' image; Low Tide reads Low Tide's image. An absolute path chosen with Browse… would instead point every selected track to that one image, which is not this lesson's goal.

Choose Apply action, then read the result and all file errors. Importing writes immediately; a later Save tags is not required for the completed cover action. A missing or invalid image reports a warning; it does not download a replacement. Other selected files or later actions can still be processed, so inspect partial results before retrying.

5. Verify the written files, not only the old preview

Clear the filter to see the whole copied set. Select each practice file separately and inspect its saved embedded pictures. Check the correct album image, its type/description and the number of entries. If successful, the newly covered files no longer match the zero-cover filter.

With deletion off, import adds artwork while retaining the existing pictures. Rerunning on an already covered track can add another copy. Starting with the missing-cover selection avoids intentionally adding the same image to every already illustrated track. It is not a global duplicate-picture detector.

Leave Delete existing covers off in this lesson. Turning it on removes all previous embedded pictures, including back covers and booklets. To replace one chosen picture while retaining others, use Manage covers and its explicit plan, then OK. A batch of file writes is not one atomic transaction; inspect any failures and keep the original copies.

6. Shrink a test image only when needed

Keep the original full-resolution image. Select one successfully covered practice file, clear any filter, and inspect every embedded picture it has. Choose Actions → Actions (Quick)… → Adjust Cover and use:

Setting Value
Image format Original
Quality High (90 for JPEG)
Resize cover On
Size in pixels 600
Size policy Maximum size
Scaling Scale proportionally

Choose Apply action only if changing all embedded pictures in that file is intended. This action does not restrict itself to Front Cover. For a single selected image instead, use Manage covers… → Adjust… and confirm the planned list with OK.

Original dimensions Expected dimensions with these settings
1200 × 800 600 × 400
400 × 300 400 × 300

Maximum size keeps the longer side at or below 600 while retaining the proportions. Already small images are not enlarged. The separate folder image is untouched. Original format does not force JPEG or a square image; follow a player's actual requirements rather than assuming one size or encoding suits every device. Quality alone also does not force recompression of an already unchanged JPEG.

Inspect the saved dimensions and errors, then test the player if that is the intended destination. Successful storage does not prove its display supports this picture format, role or size.

7. Obtain missing source images as a separate decision

For a real album lacking folder.jpg, decide which release image is correct before importing it. Existing desktop commands Tag Sources → Covers: MusicBrainz… and Covers: Discogs… provide a covers-only lookup. Search one album, review its edition and displayed artwork, and inspect the Write cover art, Replace existing artwork and Save image to file choices. Save cover to … files writes the selected artwork immediately without changing the tag fields in this covers-only route.

Save cover as… saves the displayed online image to an external destination and is distinct from embedding it. An external image saved this way remains when the lookup dialog is closed. Network availability, provider credentials, release coverage and image choices can limit a lookup; a successful local import does not verify those remote services. See the Tag Sources menu and Tag Sources options before a live lookup.

8. Recover before moving on

Use Edit → Undo and read the operation label for recorded cover writes in the current desktop session. The import and adjustment are separate operations. Undo for tags is not a general deletion or restoration tool for external images. Keep the original audio and source pictures until you have checked the final result and any target player.

What you learned

  • A folder preview and an embedded image are different storage choices.
  • The cover-count filter asks about embedded entries, not sidecar existence.
  • Per-file folder placeholders choose each album's image; a fixed absolute path does not.
  • Import, adjustment, Manage covers plans and external-image saving have different write boundaries.
  • Repeating an import can add pictures; resize scope and online release selection deserve separate review.

Next steps