A widget for iTunes users.
If you’re like me, over the years you’ve been importing your favorite CDs into iTunes so you can burn custom CDs, feed your iPod, and listen to music at your desk. If you’re really like me, you can’t be bothered to scan and copy in the cover art that comes with those CDs. After all, there are better things to do with your time.
You have to admit that it’s kind of cool to see that album art on the music you buy from the iTunes Music store. And it looks extra cool displayed on your iPod. But is it work the bother for the music you copied from CD? I don’t think so.
Enter the Amazon Album Art widget. This Mac OS X Tiger widget can fetch album art for the currently selected or playing tune or album from Amazon.com and copy it to your iTunes music database. The result: a keystroke and two clicks gets you the album art without any scanning, copying, pasting, dragging, etc.
Here’s how I use it.
After installing the Amazon Album Art widget, press F12 to display your widgets. Open the Amazon Album Art widget and drag it to a good position on screen so you can keep it open.
Configure it for the first time by clicking the i button. The widget flips over to show its back side. Set options as desired:
- Preferred Amazon store enables you to choose the store. If you’re in the US, keep it set to Amazon.com; otherwise, choose the appropriate store from the pop-up menu.
- Search for lets you choose between Popular Music and Classical Music.
- Operating On tells the widget whether it should work on the currently selected song, the currently playing song, or the currently playing album. I set it for Currently playing album.
Set the checkboxes as necessary and click Done. Then press F12 to hide the Dashboard.
Play iTunes as usual. When a song plays that does not have album art, press F12 to open the Dashboard. The Amazon Album Art widget should already be displayed. Click the tiny iTunes button on the left side of the widget. It fetches the currently playing song and album and starts searching for art.
The art appears in the widget window. Click Set Album Art in iTunes at the bottom of the image. After a moment, the art is copied to the iTunes music database.
Can’t be much easier than that.
If you like this widget, click the Donate button on its back side to send a donation via PayPal to the author, Simon Whitaker. He only asks for 5 GBP (about $10). Do your part to support the work of programmers who create free software for the rest of us.
As for me, I was so pleased with the widget that I tried it just twice before I sent in my money. I’ll be filling in the gaps in my album art bit by bit as I listen to iTunes every day.
