In this topic, you'll be walked through the steps on how to use MuvUnder Cover: The Album Art Sleuth.
Please make sure to read through the Overview of the Interface as it gives an in-depth look a lot of the software features which are not covered in this walkthrough.
1. Open the software by locating and clicking on the the shortcut in your Start Menu (default: Start > All Programs > MuvUnder Cover > MuvUnder Cover), your quick launch bar (shortcuts on your taskbar), or from the installation location (defaults: C:\Program Files\MuvUnder Cover\MuvUnderCover.exe).
2. Add files that you want to have album artwork searched for to the album list. You can do this in one of two ways:
- Dragging and dropping folders and/or files from Windows Explorer onto the main interface.
- Clicking on the Choose Folder(s)... button to select the folders you want to add.
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When adding files, the software will search for supported files in all sub-folders of the folder(s) and/or file(s) you chose to have added. It will only add files that it supports and won't touch files that aren't supported. |
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By default, files that already have album artwork will not be added. If you would like to have files that already contain artwork added so that you can search for new album artwork (maybe it is currently incorrect or too small), you will need to change the option: If a file already has album artwork from Exclude the file from being displayed and processed to Replace the file's existing artwork with the selected artwork. |
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Gathering all the information on the files may take a while, depending on the number of files you have added. While files are being added, you may use your computer for other tasks. To not waste your time in the event that the all the files are successfully loaded and you don't realize it, the software will automatically begin searching for album artwork. The automatic searching feature can be turned off if you would like to modify the album title or artist of the albums before you begin the search. |
3. If you changed the option for the automatic search to be disabled, click on the Search for Album Art button to begin the searching process.
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This process may take some time depending on the number of albums currently being searched. You can continue to use your computer for other things while the software is searching for album artwork. |
4. During the search process, you will see the following status images on the album artwork:
| Before search, album does not contain artwork. | Album queued for searching. | Currently searching for album artwork. | Album results found and the artwork is being downloaded. | No album artwork was found. |
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4. After the search has completed, verify the album artwork results.
- You will see a circle above each album for each artwork result for that album. Click on each circle or the next/previous arrows to show you the different the album artwork results.
Whatever artwork you have displayed when you click the save button will be the artwork that is saved into the album file(s).
- If there is no circle and you see the No album artwork was found status image, you can try changing the Album Title and/or Artist and then click the search button again to search based on the new album title and artist to hopefully get a result.
You can copy and paste or drag and drop album artwork from most image files on your hard drive, most files you see in your browser, or from other album artwork in the software.
- If none of the artwork satisfies the album, you can click on the globe to search Google Images for additional artwork, if you do not the auto search Google Images option already enabled. If you still don't get results and you can't find artwork manually online, you can uncheck the Check To Save box and no artwork will be saved into those album file(s).
5. After you have verified the album artwork results by selecting the artwork you want saved for each album, click the Save Album Art button.
- As the album artwork is saved into the album file(s), the albums will show a green check mark above the album cover to let you know it has been saved successfully.
This process may take some time depending on the number of albums currently being saved. You can continue to use your computer for other things while it is saving. - Once all of the album artwork has been saved, you will be asked if you want to remove those albums that were successfully saved from the album list. By having it clear out only those that saved successfully, you see only those albums that didn't get artwork and be able to better focus on finding the artwork by verifying the Album Title and Artist don't contain any typos. If either of those contained typos, correct them and repeat steps 3-5 to search for album artwork.