Saving album artwork from 'Search Internet for Picture'

[redwing]

Yeah I know you didn't and don't want to embed artwork to files. I'm only talking about links.

What I don't get is why some of your files show duplicate "links" - primary image linked to folder.jpg and secondary image linked to the same file but using "link to an organised copy of the picture (folder.jpg)" option - while other files show only a single link.

Is that the result of your saving artwork in that way using MB, or MB just shows it (duplicate links) without your saving?

One more question. MB's default option is "link to an organised copy of the picture (cover.jpg)". Did you change cover.jpg to folder.jpg in that option or just MB shows it that way?

[redwing]

I just tried again. Select multiple files, search internet for picture, and save it both to folder.jpg and "link to an organised copy of the picture (folder.jpg)". But it never creates duplicate links. Only one link for primary image. With that artwork saved, I tried it one more time with the same image. Again it doesn't create duplicate link for secondary image. So I don't understand how you got that duplicate links.

[captain_paranoia]

> So I don't understand how you got that duplicate links.

No, I don't either...

I'm replacing some of the low-quality artwork I had previously collected. So all I have done is get MB to scan my media source directories, and import them into its library. When I have changed the artwork storage settings, I have run the re-scan process. But almost every image I edit, I find duplicate links.

Are there any options to artwork scanning during library import? I've had a pretty thorough look through all the configuration options, but couldn't see anything specific, but it's possible I've missed something, or misunderstood what the setting means.

> Select multiple files, search internet for picture, and save it both to folder.jpg and "link to an organised copy of the picture (folder.jpg)".

I may have only ever selected one of those options (thinking they were mutually exclusive).

What I will probably do is delete the database and start again. I'll just start with a small section of my library, and figure out how MB works, and then when I've got to grips with MB, I'll import my entire library. I should have known better, as that is the advice I generally give for new users of MM; create a 'test library', ideally with a sacrificial set of media, so that any mistakes that are made whilst learning to use the tool don't damage your media (I've got backups, of course...). All tools have a learning curve, especially when they are as sophisticated as the likes of MB. I'm still very much on the curve.

Thanks again for your help.

[redwing]

Looks like there's such a functionality:
https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=746.0

But personally I've always used a single embedded artwork, so I have no experience with that setup.
Let me know how it worked out for you after you're done with your experiment.

[captain_paranoia]

Well, after an artwork re-scan, all the duplicate images seem to have vanished, leaving all albums with artwork to 'link to an organised copy'.

I had left the config setting to 'save as folder.jpg', so, when I saved artwork that didn't have an image, it left it as 'save to...'. Replacing existing artwork did a 'link to...'.

Changing the config setting to 'link to...' does as expected, and saves using 'link to...'.

I think I've got to the bottom of what controls I should use, but I'm still not sure how I managed to get all those duplicates. Maybe I must have had both 'save to...' and 'link to...' options set when I did the first import, and setting just one option and re-scanning artwork has fixed the dual image problem, which, in turn, has allowed the file to be saved. Though I'm not sure why it wasn't able to save the file, and why it touched the file.

MM allows you to add a number of artworks. My original ripping and scanning process created 'folder.jpg' and 'rear_cover.jpg' images in the album folder (with master artwork in an Artwork subdir, and rip report and track listings squirrelled away into a Riplog folder), and MM found and added both of those automatically during import, and made folder.jpg the default image. I never really found a way to select, oher than editing to change priority.

I may create a new, small test library to investigate the import behaviour.

Until then, thanks again for your assistance.

[redwing]

Glad to hear you sorted it out!

I think the linked thread in my previous post has something to do with creating the double links. I'm not sure the functionality is still maintained but the thread shows Steven actually implemented it to help a user make links to multiple artwork at once just by scanning.

Well, if you don't have the issue any more, you don't have to experiment unless you want to. Just see how it goes updating covers for your files.

[captain_paranoia]

> Well, if you don't have the issue any more, you don't have to experiment unless you want to.

I like to get to the bottom of problems, and share any solutions I find. The whole point of user forums, really...

I've tried creating test libraries with the three obvious combinations of artwork settings:

- copy picture to folder.jpg

- copy picture to same folder as music and name as folder.jpg

- both the above

None of these test libraries resulted in multiiple artwork images being detected.

So, sadly, in this case I haven't got to the bottom of how I ended up with multiple artworks.

[redwing]

Adding multiple artwork links by rescanning is working as Steven described as I just tried successfully but only with different image files like cover.jpg & folder.jpg.
With only one folder.jpg I wasn't able to reproduce it either with whatever combinations of options and steps. So your case will remain a mystery.