Burning Discs


Burning a disc from iTunes is quite straightforward, as you will see from the information in this section.

Preparing Content to Burn

The first phase in the process is to choose the content you want to place onto a disc. You do this by creating a playlist. In Chapter 16, "Creating, Configuring, and Using Playlists," you learned everything you need to know about creating and using playlists, so I don't need to repeat that information here.

Note

If you choose to burn a playlist that contains more music than will fit on the type of disc you are trying to burn, iTunes will warn you about the situation. Then, you can choose to cancel the burn or you can choose to have iTunes burn the playlist across multiple discs.


One thing you need to keep in mind as you create a playlist for CD or DVD is the size of the playlist. Obviously, you can't put more music on a CD or DVD than there is room to store files on the disc. How large a playlist can be to be put on a disc depends on the format you will be using. If you are burning an Audio CD, you can get about 70 minutes of music on the disc. If you are creating an MP3 disc, you can store about 210 minutes on a disc. If you are creating a data DVD, you can store at least 5.2GB of files on a disc.

When you are creating an Audio CD, use the play time to judge the size of the playlist; keep it to 70 minutes plus or minus a couple minutes. For the other formats, use file size (for example, a CD can typically hold 750MB).

In any case, use the Source Information area to check the playlist to make sure it will fit on the type of disc you are going to create (see Figure 18.3).

Figure 18.3. This playlist contains 1.2 hours of music, which will be just right for a CD in the Audio CD format.


The name of the playlist will become the name of the CD or DVD, so if you don't want the current playlist name to be used, change it to be what you do want the CD to be called. (To do this, click the playlist name once. It will be highlighted to show you can change it. Type the new name and press Return or Enter.)

Preparing for a Burn Session

Next, configure the burn session during which you will create a disc by opening the Burning pane of the iTunes Preferences dialog box. Choose the format you want to use for the burning session by clicking the appropriate radio button (see Figure 18.4).

Figure 18.4. Because the MP3 CD radio button is selected, the next CD will be burned in that format.


Note

The exact amount of music you can fit on a disc depends on your drive and the discs you use. The best way to figure out a maximum limit is to experiment until you find the upper limit for your system and the discs you use.


If you choose Audio CD, there are two options you can configure. One is the gap between songs, which you choose by making a selection on the Gap Between Songs menu. Your options are None, which causes one song to begin immediately after the previous one ends; 1 second, which places 1 second of silence between tracks; 2 seconds, which places 2 seconds of silence between songs; and so on, up to 5 seconds. The other option is the Use Sound Check box. If you check this box, iTunes applies its Sound Check feature to the music that it places on a disc. (If you don't remember from earlier in the book, this feature causes iTunes to attempt to set the relative volume of the songs you play to the same level.)

Note

If your system doesn't include a DVD-R or DVD-RW drive, the third option will be just Data CD. If your system does include a DVD burner, this option will be Data CD or DVD.


To choose either the MP3 CD or the Data CD or DVD format, simply click the appropriate radio button.

Click OK to close the iTunes Preferences dialog box and prepare the burn session.

Burning a Disc

After you have selected the content and prepared the burning session, actually burning the disc is rather anticlimactic. You burn a disc with the following steps:

1.

Make sure the playlist you want to burn is selected.

Tip

If you are putting live music on a disc, make sure you choose None on the Gap Between Songs menu. Otherwise, the roar of the crowd will be interrupted by the silent gaps, which causes the live feeling of the tracks to be lost.

2.

Click the Burn Disc button. The drive that is configured on the Burning pane of the iTunes Preferences dialog box will open, you will see a prompt in the Information window, and the Burn button will go radioactive (see Figure 18.5).

Figure 18.5. iTunes is ready to burn.


3.

Insert the appropriate disc into the drive. If you selected the Audio CD or MP3 CD format, use a CD. If you selected the Data format, use a CD or DVD. iTunes will check the disc you inserted. If everything is ready to go, you will see the "Click Burn Disc to start" prompt in the Information area.

Caution

You may ruin the disc if you click stop before the burn process is finished.

4.

Click the Burn Disc button again. iTunes will start the burn process and will display information about the process in the Information area (see Figure 18.6).

Figure 18.6. The playlist Soundtracks is being put on CD.


When the process is complete, iTunes will play a tone to let you know. The CD will appear on the Source List and will be selected (see Figure 18.7).

Figure 18.7. The Soundtracks playlist has become the Soundtracks CD.


Tip

To stop the burn before it completes, click the Stop button. If you do this, the disc you are trying to burn might be ruined.

5.

To eject the disc, click the Eject button. You can then use the CD in any player or drive that is compatible with its format.

Labeling Your Discs

Now that you can create your own CDs and DVDs, you will probably want to make labels for them to keep them organized and to make them look cool. The good news is that iTunes can do some of this for you. The bad news is that it can't do all of it.

Caution

Any music you purchase from the iTunes Music Store should be backed up on a CD or DVD. You can download music from the iTunes Music Store only once. If something happens to that music on your computer, you will have to pay for it again to be able to download it again. To protect your investment, create a CD or DVD of all the music you purchase. The easiest way is to put the Purchased Music playlist on disc. If something happens to your computer, you can restore your purchased music from the back-up disc.


Printing Disc Labels

Unfortunately, iTunes can't help you print disc labelsyet. Hopefully, this capability will be added in a future version. For now, if you want to label your discs, you'll need to use a different application. You can use just about any graphics application to create a CD or DVD label and you can also use a word processor to do so. However, to make the process easier and the results better, consider investing in a dedicated disc label creator. If you use a Windows computer, there are many labeling applications available, such as AudioLabel CD Labeler. If you use a Mac, Discus will enable you to create just about any disc label that you can imagine (see Figure 18.8).

Figure 18.8. Discus is a good tool to create disc labels if you use a Macintosh computer.


To print labels, you'll also need a printer and CD labels to print on. For best results, you should use a color printer, but black-and-white labels can look stylish, too.

Note

To get more information about AudioLabel CD Labeler, go to www.audiolabel.com. To get more information about Discus, visit www.magicmouse.com.


Printing Disc Inserts

Fortunately, iTunes can help you create cool disc inserts so that you can label the jewel case in which you store your discs.

For best results, associate artwork with the songs that you put on a CD. When you create and print a disc insert, the artwork associated with the songs on the disc will become part of the insert. See Chapter 15, "Labeling, Categorizing, and Configuring Your Music," to learn how to do this.

To create a disc insert, perform the following steps:

1.

Select the playlist for which you want to create a disc insert; obviously, this should be the same one that you used to burn the disc you are labeling.

Tip

Most CD labeling applications contain templates for specific labels (identified by brand and label number) that you purchased. By choosing the right template for the labels you use, the labels you print will be the same as the labels you design.

2.

Choose File, Print. You'll see the Print "playlistname" dialog box, where playlistname is the name of the playlist you selected in Step 1 (see Figure 18.9).

Figure 18.9. Use the Print dialog box to choose the type of jewel case insert you want to print.


3.

Click the CD Jewel Case Insert radio button.

4.

Use the Theme pop-up menu to choose the type of insert you want to print. Some of the more useful options are explained in the following list:

  • Mosaic prints a mosaic of the artwork associated with songs in the playlist on the front and a list of the songs on the back. This is a color insert.

    Note

    If you choose a mosaic label and the songs included in the playlist have only a single piece of artwork (such as if they are all from the same album), that graphic will fill the front of the label.

  • White Mosaic is similar except is prints on a white background.

  • Single cover places a single graphic on the front; the graphic of the selected song is used. It also includes a list of songs on the back.

  • Large playlist doesn't include any artwork, but does place the list of songs on the label. As you can tell by its name, it is intended for large playlists that have too many songs to be listed on the backside of the other insert types.

5.

Click Page Setup. You'll see the Page Setup dialog box.

6.

Configure the page setup to match the paper you are using for the insert. If you are using paper designed specifically for this purpose, you might have to experiment a bit to know which selection best matches the insert paper you are printing on. Unfortunately, iTunes doesn't support specific CD insert paper by brand and insert number as a dedicated disc label application does. Maybe in a future version. . . .

7.

When you have configured the page setup, click OK. You'll move back to the Print dialog box.

8.

Click Print to print the insert.

7.

Cut or tear out the insert and place it in the jewel case. Prepare to be impressed!

Printing Song and Album Listings

In some cases, you might not want to label a disc, but instead you might want to create a listing of songs on playlists or even in your entire Library. iTunes can help you do this easily.

Tip

When you use the Album listing option, any artwork associated with an album appears on the list.


1.

Select the source for which you want print a listing.

2.

Choose File, Print. You'll see the Print "playlistname" dialog box, where playlistname is the name of the source you selected in Step 1.

3.

Click the Song listing radio button to print a listing of songs in the selected source or the Album listing radio button to print out songs grouped by their albums.

4.

Click Print. The listing will be printed to the printer you have selected (see Figure 18.10).

Figure 18.10. Printing song or album lists is useful to keep track of the music you have; in this case, I printed the album listing for a playlist.


The Absolute Minimum

Burning a CD or DVD is useful when you want to listen to music apart from iTunes or from your iPod or to back up your music collection on disc. It is a relatively simple process as you have seen in this chapter. As you burn, keep the following points in mind:

  • There are three types of discs you can burn with iTunes: Audio CD, MP3, and data discs.

  • To prepare your computer to burn discs, you use the Burning tab of the iTunes Preferences dialog box to check to see that you have a compatible drive.

  • To burn a disc, create a playlist containing the content you want to put on disc, configure the settings for the burn session, and then burn the disc.

  • If you can't get discs to burn properly, open the Burning pane of the iTunes Preferences dialog box and choose a lower burn speed on the Preferred Speed menu. Then try to burn the disc again. Sometimes, using a lower burn speed will correct problems in the burn process.

  • The format for a burn session must be compatible with the format of the music you are using. The most likely case that might cause you problems is when you attempt to burn a CD in the MP3 format but the music you are attempting to place on a disc is in the AAC format (such as what you purchase from the iTunes Music Store). In this case, iTunes can't burn the disc because you are trying to place music that is in the AAC format on an MP3 disc. These are different and incompatible formats. If this happens, use the Audio CD or Data CD format instead. Or, if you simply must put AAC music on an MP3 disc, you can do it with the following steps. Set the Import preference to the MP3 format (use the Importing pane of the iTunes Preferences dialog box). Then, select the AAC tunes you want to put on an MP3 CD and choose Advanced, Convert Selection to MP3. This will create MP3 versions of the selected songs and place them in the Library. Find the MP3 versions (use the Info window) and place them in a playlist. Then burn that playlist onto an MP3 CD.

  • While iTunes can't help you print disc labels, it does a great job with case inserts and listings.




iPod + iTunes Starter Kit
iPod and iTunes Starter Kit (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 078973463X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 187

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