Cover Flow Pixelation

Cover Flow works, but there's a pixelation of the text, the fullscreen button, and the scrollbar. The CD covers aren't pixelated, i made sure to get high-res pics, just the things I mentioned.
I took a screenshot:
http://wonderanimation.webs.com/itunes.JPG
I'm using Win XP (not sure if it's pro).

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Cover flow pixelation...probably a stupid question...

I recently bought a Nikon D90. The images are pristine, but I like to correct the color of every picture I shoot using Photoshop CS4, save the file, and then import the corrected image into Aperture.
My problem is that when I correct the color using AutoLevels in Photoshop, save the file, and then view the image in cover flow, the preview is smaller and very pixelated. I'm able to open the photo in Preview, but the cover flow preview's quality is horrible. This was never a problem with image files from any of my previous cameras.
I've tried to see the differences between the specs on the two files, but can't see any. I'd like to understand why this is before I start making changes to all of the files I shoot with the new camera. My hope is that I won't create a bigger problem once the files are in Aperture.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Holy cow! Hard to know where to begin. Let's see:
pete2864 wrote:
My problem is that when I correct the color using AutoLevels in Photoshop
Using Levels to correct the colors is like using a chain saw for brain surgery. Using Auto Levels is like operating that chain saw while wearing heavy boxing gloves.
You should learn how to use Curves or, these days, correct the colors in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), usually a one click operation as long as you have one neutral area in your image (like a gray card).
Are you shooting raw or JPEGs? ACR can correct JPEGs too.
pete2864 wrote:
…and then view the image in cover flow, the preview is smaller and very pixelated.
I'm not sure what Cover Flow does. Sounds like it—whatever kind of Apple gimmick it is—is using an embedded preview.
What exact versions of Photoshop, the OS and ACR are you using?

Large file Tiffs are pixelated in finder-cover flow

50MB tiffs are very pixelated in the finder
in LEOPARD
(cover flow )
this is a bug i guess

I dont know much about file formats, but TIFF is fairly complex, and if it has space for an image preview, it could very well be that the preview has a low number of pixels and thats what's being displayed in cover flow. Not sure though. Have you tried re-saving the files in TIFF format with preview options turned off?

Cover flow is distorted, pixelated, in itunes for Windows XP.

I feel like a chode posting on Apple forum...PC's suck, but I'm too stubborn to change over. Anyway, I did a clean install on Windows XP w/ service pack 2 and also re-installed itunes 7. The album artwork is displayed in the lower left corner and also works in the "list view", but it gets distorted and pixelated in the "cover flow" view. I updated the latest directx and also performed the direct diagnostic tools for direct draw acceleration and direct 3d, but the "cover flow" view is still poorly shown. Again, PC's suck...anyone know fix? Thanks.

I can't be of any help. But I do have the exact same problem on my Mac Pro. All the album art is there but Cover Flow itself is just not working. Not even after a clean install of Mac OS 10.6.1

Edited photos pixelated in cover flow preview...

I recently bought a Nikon D90. The images are pristine, but I like to correct the color of every picture I shoot using Photoshop CS4 and then import the corrected image into Aperture.
My problem is that when I correct the color using AutoLevels in Photoshop, and then view the image in cover flow, the preview is smaller and very pixelated. I'm able to open the photo in Preview, but the cover flow preview's quality is horrible. This was never a problem with image files from any of my previous cameras.
I've tried to see the differences between the specs on the two files, but can't see any. I'd like to understand why this is before I start making changes to all of the files I shoot with the new camera. My hope is that I won't create a bigger problem once the files are in Aperture.
Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm sure my workflow is far from professional. Aperture certainly does non-destructive editing, but I'm using it for cataloging more than editing. I've been using Photoshop longer and trust my skills with it more. However, using an external editor with Aperture results in the application creating a huge secondary edit file (I think it's a PNG file, but don't quote me). Rather than create that large unnecessary file, I'd prefer to import a file that I've already correct once. If I want to work with the image later, I export a new image from Aperture and work from there.
I'm shooting in JPEG (again, I'm far from professional). I don't know that I'm doing the right thing here, but I don't want my lack of knowledge to compound my problem by importing an image file I've messed up somehow.

AT 7.3.1 and pixelated JPGs in Cover Flow

After applying QT 7.3.1, jpg files displayed by Cover Flow are very pixelated and consequently irritating to view, although tiff files are not. I'm almost sure that this was not the case before doing this update. Am I imagining this?

I'm not sure it's the QT update or the 10.5.2, but I'm having the same issue and in the past it was just fine.

What's wrong with my iPod's Cover Flow??

I have an iPod Touch 3rd Gen, 32Gb, and recently updated to IOS 5.
Since then, the iPod's cover flow feature is extremely slow, doesn't flow smoothly, and crashes after a few (15-20) seconds.
Today I noted something else: some album covers appear pixelated and blurry, even though HD. Those covers looked just fine until now.
As a side note, I have in use 30 of the 32 Gb (that's a lot of music, I know). Could this be related? I never had those problems before IOS 5, though.
What's wrong with my iPod?
Thanks for your help!

so as I see it people with this problem have 3 options
- Make all of your album art a maximum of 500X500 pixels
- Wait for an IOS update that fixes the problem
- Scrap ipods and buy another brand of music player
Using photoshop to do it with, it took me about an hour to resize, change, and resync all of my 1400 songs(86 albums)

Missing album art work in cover flow mode

why would i have a missing album in cover flow mode on my ipod classic, but be able to see the same album in itune on my computer. it does shows up under artist catagory, just not cover flow. i have deleted the art work and re copied it, re synced and restarted and still no album cover. also, not marked as a compliaction either. thoughts?
thx

*Why is artwork not showing on my iPod when it's there in iTunes?*
iTunes will display a cover in many of it's views provided at least one track from the album has embedded artwork. The iPod appears to load only the artwork from track one to create the cover flow and album views which means that it can sometimes fail to display art for albums even when you can see the art in iTunes. Further, when tracks are played on the iPod, artwork is displayed if and only if it exists in the currently playing track, so track one may show art while track two does not.
*How to find tracks without artwork*
To find all the tracks without artwork so that you can update them you can try http://www.stum.de/itunes-find-tracks-without-artwork/ for Windows or http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts13.php for Macs. Use Google, Amazon, Discogs etc. to locate relevant jpeg images. Ideally these should be square, 320x320 pixels or above and borderless to give the best results in the various menus. If you have artwork for some tracks of an album, but not others, find the album in the main music folder, select a track with artwork, right-click (Option-Click for Macs) on the art & click copy, then select all the tracks of the album, use CTRL-I or Command-I to *Get Info* and then paste the image into the artwork box.
I say 320x320 because I believe (from using TouchCopy) that it's the size used in the iPod cache so if you're going to crop or resize you might as well work to that size. Otherwise 200x200 is probably good enough.
tt2

Custom Icons Disappear in Cover Flow Above Certain Size

I've been trying to create custom icons for certain folders and I've been having no luck when viewing them in cover flow.
I've downloaded a PNG file, 512x512 pixels. Open it in Preview, copy to the clipboard, do a 'get info' on the folder I wish to change the icon of, click the little icon, hit paste, and it appears correctly in the preview and in the finder Icons view, as well as on my desktop or whatever. However, if I turn on cover flow and drag the size of cover flow to larger than a certain point, the custom image disappears and all I get is a blank spot. It's as if the 256 pixel icon is being created but the 512 pixel image is being left blank.
I do not know if this happened in 10.5.1, as I hadn't tried until after installing the 10.5.2 combo update.
In the following picture, you can see 1: bottom right, a preview of the png file itself as it appears, correctly, in cover flow, 2: top right, the icon working correctly on the desktop and in the get info window, and 3: left: the cover flow view of the computer showing a bit gaping void where the custom icon should reside.
!http://www.ece.ualberta.ca/~tomlinso/argh.jpg!
Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

This does NOT happen if I use an existing, working icon (say, put the Applications folder's icon onto my hard drive.) It seems to be an issue with custom icons only, not just changing the icon for something.

Icons in Cover Flow

Hi, I'm new to Leopard so please excuse me if this question has already been posted.
Cover Flow in Finder displays ICONS. I'd like to use Cover Flow to display my DVD COVERS.
In iTunes this isn't a problem. I simply add Artwork in Get Info. But I don't want to put all my DVDs into iTunes because I have to convert them to a lower resolution format to do it. I want to keep my DVD files in high resolution and use Cover Flow in Finder as a library for my movie collection.
Unfortunately Cover Flow in Finder does not have an add Artwork option because it just displays the Quicktime or other movie format Icons.
I think the only way around this is to convert my DVD covers to Icons. But they come out very poor quality.
Is there another way of doing this?
If not, is there a good Icon creator out there that will enable me to convert my high res. .jpg DVD covers into equally high res. Icons?
It's odd Cover Flow in Finder doesn't seem to work the same way as Cover Flow in iTunes. Surely they're both built on the same platform. In fact, Cover Flow in Finder isn't really COVER Flow at all, since I can't add Artwork (covers) to it! It should be called ICON flow.
Thanks.

MartinJapan2007 wrote:
With no Get Info/Add Artwork option in Finder's Cover Flow (unlike iTunes) I cannot change these base icons to the cover art, which is what I7d like to do.
As you note in your follow up post, you can add custom icons (up to 512 X 512 pixels) via Finder's Get Info but this is apparently not what you want. iTunes doesn't actually change the icons either; as mentioned earlier, it associates the music files with separate artwork files that Cover Flow (a display technology that both iTunes & Finder use) displays in place of the file's actual icon.
Cover Flow also supports displaying some embedded artwork -- images in the file itself. Media file types like mp4 are "containers" in that they hold a variety of data types, including video tracks, audio tracks, metadata information (like author, copyrights, or recording date), or even still images. Each file type has some scheme for identifying the various data types it supports.
Neither Cover Flow nor Finder (nor, for the most part, iTunes) supports embedding data in these file types. For that, you need an editor that can parse the container's data scheme & add or modify data in the proper format. A simple example is QuickTime Pro, with which you can set the "poster frame" to any frame of "mov" files. (This is actually metadata that just identifies the frame, not a separate image.) Cover Flow will look for this & if present will display the poster frame instead of the icon.
MPEG file types use different but somewhat similar schemes. (ITunes partially supports the mp3 MPEG scheme, thus the comment above about it.) To embed images or metadata in MPEG files you will need an editor with that capability. Currently, all that I know of are based on AtomicParsley, (so named because the MPEG scheme uses "atoms" to identify data types).
The AtomicParsley link explains this much better than I can; it is worth a read to get some idea of how this works & the relationship between iTunes & embedded MPEG data. At the end of the page you will find links to apps that use it to edit MPEG metadata. I know of no "all in one" editor for all MPEG file types; each is purposed for different uses. vID Infiltr8 metadata video tagger probably comes closest to what you want, since it can set artwork in MPEG 4 files.
For the other file types you mention, I do not know of a good editor. I believe VLC is capable of embedding some data types, but not in a user-friendly way -- you pretty much have to do everything manually.
If you use appropriate editors, you should be able to accomplish what you want, but I believe you will soon see that this is much more complex than it appears at first glance & may sometimes require rewriting the entire media file or have other consequences you were not expecting.

Feature Request: Cover Flow for Selecting Desktop Picture

Cover Flow is a great way to scan through a set of images within a defined visual real estate. It would be perfect for the Desktop System Preferences, where we users have had to suffer forever with squinting at 72x51pixel images (at 1440x900 resolution) of our desktops. It's nearly impossible at this thumbnail size to tell what image one is looking at, and selecting to view it in the preview at 128x73 pixels is only marginally better. And of course, there's no way I know of to expand the System Preferences window to expand this whole scanario. It's the year 2009 guys; please give us your great Cover Flow to help us choose our Desktop Pictures in a reasonable way.

Hi Scott,
I know this isn't the best place, but Apple doesn't make easily apparent where to submit such requests, and I know its staff do occasionally visit these boards.
As to the appropriateness of the expectation, I have to disagree. I make my living in user interface and usability, and Apple has clearly set the expectation in the user's mind that System Preferences is the primary method for setting all sorts of Finder behaviors, including screensavers and desktop pictures. I see no reason for the user to either accept a substandard main method of setting this preference or have to learn a secondary one simply to avoid the main method.
As to the System Preference not lending itself to Cover Flow, there may be some underlying technology of which I'm unaware, but interface-wise, it seems to fit right into the Preference screen:
http://www.loungelife.com/DesktopSystemPref.jpg

Cover Flow Blurry

Some problems with cover flow. Most of my images (jpegs, etc.) are blurry in cover flow. They look wonderful in quick view, but return to pixelated, blurry appearance in cover. These are high resolution (8 or 10 MP) images. I also do not get any thumbnail in coverflow for my purchased tv shows and videos from iTunes. Video podcasts are fine, avi movies are fine, but purchased mp4 files show as a generic icon.

while deleting a thumbnail/icon (by hand or with cocothumbx) might be a quick solution for photos, i expect coverflow to handle this correctly for me. when dealing with thousands of photographs, automatic export from aperture, batch processing in photoshop/bridge etc, i shouldn't have to deal with thumbnails, should i?
coverflow simply isn't where it should be. i also find it strange that quicklook and coverflow seam to use different algorithms to render files. try an adobe illustrator file for example. the finder doesn't show the content as icon (in a folder), coverflow renders the content/artboard correctly, quicklook only displays the oversized icon. what the...?

Cover flow view problem

I'm having an issue with cover flow view of images in OS 10.6.8
Whenever a jpeg or tiff file is edited in Photoshop (image size not changed) the preview of that picture in cover flow view
becomes smaller, pixelated and it never clears up.
Cover flow displays Raw camera files and unedited jpegs & tiffs correctly, only when an image is edited does it's preview in
cover flow become distorted.
I really like to use cover flow to browse through photos quickly but this issue is bugging me.
I've been on Photoshop forums and they say it's an Apple issue. So I don't know where the problem is.
Any help would be appreciated.

I know this paste below doesn't directly respond to your issue, but the steps below will restore OS X with a new copy and possibily clear up your issue.
There was a recent security update and it's doing very strange things, in your case it will restore a new OS X copy.
Security Update 2012-001 Bricks Rosetta programs
I've outlined the restore proceedure here, it covers a lot of bases and explains what is going to occur so please don't be intimidated it's a LOT easier that it appears.
Take your time and comprehend the steps involved and you'll be backup up like before in short order.
Restore method.
#1 Backup your personal data off the machine.
Backup files off the computer (not to TimeMachine). If you don't have a external drive, get one and connect to the USB/Firewire port and simply drag and drop copy your User folder to the external drive, it will copy all your files. It's best to have two backups of your data off the machine when trying to restore.
Disconnect all drives now to prevent any mistakes from occuring.
#2 Try Restoring from a TimeMachine or hold option bootable clone
If you have TimeMachine drive, or a hold the option key bootable clone use that to erase and restore from before the Security Update occured.
Obviously if you didn't make a recent backup before the update, your going to have to skip to Step #3.
Note: A TM restore can take a awfully long time, a clone restore takes under 2 hours in most cases.
If you don't know how to restore from TM drive
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
#3 Reinstall OS X 10.6 from disk
If no recent TM or bootable clone then:
Get out your 10.6 install disk and make sure it's clean and polished (very soft cloth and a bit of rubbing alcohol, no scratches) If your disk is borked, you'll have to order a new one from Apple with your serial number.
Hold c boot off the 10.6 disk (wired keyboard, internal optical drive), use Disk Utility First Aid to >Repair Disk and Permissions (do not format or erase!!), Quit DU and simply re-install 10.6.
Note: Simply reinstalling 10.6 version from disk (without erasing the drive) only replaces 10.6.8 with 10.6.x and bundled Apple programs, won't touch your files (backup anyway) or most programs, unless they installed a kext file into OS X itself. (only a few on average do this)
Note: If Disk Uitlity can't repair the drive, then come back to seek further assistance and make sure you have a copy of your data off the machine.
#4 Update to 10.6.8 without Security Update 2012-001
Reboot and log in, update to 10.6.8 via Software Update, but EXCLUDE THE Security Update 2012-001 by checkinig the details and unchecking the blue check box.
#5 Reinstall any non-working third party programs
When you reboot, make sure to reinstall any programs that require kext files installed into OS X, you'll know, they won't work when you launch them or hang for some reason.
If for some freakish reason you get gray screen at any time when booting (possible it might occur when you reinstall older programs), hold the shift key down while booting (Safe Mode, disables kext files) and update your installed third party software so it's compatible with 10.6.8.
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Note: For most users likley Step #3 and #4 is likley all that is needed to be done.
That's it really.
Further Reading:
Learn how to have a OS X drive restore ability using TimeMachine or cloning software
Learn how to clone your entire OS X boot here
http://www.bombich.com/get_ready_for_lion.html
TimeMachine help here
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Make copies of your original Snow Leopard
http://www.walterjessen.com/make-a-bootable-backup-snow-leopard-install-disc/
Learn how to make a bootable SL USB thumb drive
http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
Deciding on upgrading to Lion?
Learn which programs ARE NOT compatible/updated for Lion, Rosetta programs will not run on Lion.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
Unverified hacks
Note: You may see a "hack" for this issue floating around, it has had mixed results as people's software is different.
You may want to try it, but it's at your own risk. It has worked fast for some and not at all for others, hopefully over time it will work for all.
The above methods I outline are Apple approved restore methods + based upon experience here and not a quick fix, but are sure to work as Apple recommends such steps themselves.
If at any time you feel this is beyond your capability, please seek local Mac/PC professional assistance before you lose your data.
In fact my steps above are very simple, you might want to have a family member or friend perfrom the proceedure in about a hour or two.
If you don't have any backup, please maintain at least a TM drive, just hook up a new blank external drive and TM will ask you to make a backup, takes some time so let it work.
If your a bit more skilled, a option bootable clone is much superior than TM drive.
Good Luck

ANYONE HELP?????? Cover Flow not showing my artwork

I have the following problem but only with certain artwork, not all, I added images to all my files before and hardly ever did I get this problem(Cover Flow not showing my artwork), I usually added the same image or another image to make the cover flow "react", so to speak; the funny thing with my problem is that the files in question still have the artwork I put before in the Get info thingy, they appear whenever I see the info tab of the files, and when they're playing, the image shows at the bottom of the playlists list(above the repeat button and that), but the artwork doesn't show in the cover flow (-- =S ???--), no notifications show up about what's happening, and the image file I added is just a regular .JPEG from an album. In fact right now it's playing and the cover flow is still not showing the artwork, luckily this doesn't affect my iPod config and it shows there, but still it seems weird.
Now does this mean the iTunes is having some sort of behavior issues or it just fancies playing with me? =S

*Why is artwork not showing on my iPod when it's there in iTunes?*
iTunes will display a cover in many of it's views provided at least one track from the album has embedded artwork. The iPod appears to load only the artwork from track one to create the cover flow and album views which means that it can sometimes fail to display art for albums even when you can see the art in iTunes. Further, when tracks are played on the iPod, artwork is displayed if and only if it exists in the currently playing track, so track one may show art while track two does not.
*How to find tracks without artwork*
To find all the tracks without artwork so that you can update them you can try http://www.stum.de/itunes-find-tracks-without-artwork/ for Windows or http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=trackswithoutartwork for Macs. Use Google, Amazon, Discogs etc. to locate relevant images. Ideally these should be square, 320x320 pixels or above and borderless to give the best results in the various menus. If you have artwork for some tracks of an album, but not others, find the album in the main music folder, select a track with artwork, right-click (Option-Click for Macs) on the art & click copy, then select all the tracks of the album, use CTRL-I or Command-I to *Get Info* and then paste the image into the artwork box.
I say 320x320 because I believe (from using TouchCopy) that it's the size used in the iPod cache so if you're going to crop or resize you might as well work to that size. Otherwise 200x200 is probably good enough.
*Rebuild artwork cache*
Sometimes the artwork cache becomes corrupt and fails to show correct artwork, even when this is properly set up in iTunes. To rebuild the artwork cache, connect your iPod to iTunes. Locate the iPod in the Sources pane on the left-hand side, then select the Music tab. Remove the tick from *Display album artwork on your iPod*, sync the iPod, reselect the option & sync again.
tt2

Blurry/Scaled Down Artwork Column and Cover Flow are in 9.2

i have noticed on my iMac 27" that the album artwork is really blurry, and when i double click the art work at the left bottom and enlarge it, it looks fine. For some reason Apple scales down the pixel size of images and it looks really blurry. Before it was the standard 600x600 artwork that looked beautiful but not anymore..
This is an infuriating problem as I have taken a lot of time to embed high res art in my fles. The art still remains hi res in the bottom left, but in cover flow or the album artwork column it is a crappy looking blurry image.

I noticed this also. And yes, it infuriates me too. I used to browse my music collection in Cover Flow on a 46" LCD. Not any more since iTunes 9.2. iTunes 9.2 comes with several new features and improvements, including this one: "Album Artwork improvements make artwork appear more quickly when exploring your library".
It turns out that the album artwork cache build by iTunes consists of scaled down copies with a size of 128x128!!! These scaled down copies are used in the album artwork column, grid view, and cover flow. Not much you can do about it except give feedback (http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html). That's what I did.

Cover Flow Pixelation

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