I have the newest Windows 80 gig video iPod with iTunes software version 1.2.1. I am baffled by how photos are handled
I currently have 3 photos loaded onto the ipod, and I can see them on my little screen when I select photos from the menu, but
I can find no reference or listing of them in the iTunes program on my computer.
Among the problems I can identify:
On the keft-side directory of the itunes main page, there is not a “photos” category under the "Library – The list of items is Music, Movies, Podcasts and Radio.
Likewise , in that same directory under “Owner’s iPod”, there is no Photo category
After synching and successfully loading some pics from a folder in my computer, I selected and synched another folder,. That apparently over=wrote the first set of pics – or at least I can find no reference to the anywhere. And going back to the first folder and synching it resulted in deleing the second folder.
3 can’t see any way to add an analog to playlists to my photo libraary. In fact, there is nowhere at all I can even see the picture filenames.
In the Photo tab under Owner’s iPod, tyhere is a box that apparently lets you select photos from the folder to synch – there is a radio button to allow you to select, but it is always greyed out.
Do I have to load all the pics I want on the iPod into a single floder, and live with whatever oder they get loaded in?
iTunes creates a database, thumbnail files, and picture files optimized for viewing on your iPod. These are not meant to be directly accessible by the user. The underlying technology of the iPod software is proprietary and semi-closed, so they don’t provide ways for the average Joe to poke around in there. Allowing the user to mess with these files might result in database corruption and all kinds of other problems too, so that’s another reason they keep the guts behind the Disneyland exterior.
iTunes is usually set up to look in a single directory for stuff. It’s better to add a sub-folder if you want to organize things within a bigger library of photos. I suggest you designate a directory for iTunes to sync and drag whatever you want to add to the iPod to that directory. Do not take anything out unless you also want it removed from the iPod. If you want to have more control, then you have to disable automatic syncing. That should enable the radio button you mentioned is grayed out. This help page at Apple might help you understand what’s going on better.
You can also have iTunes put copies of the original photos on your iPod. To do this, you have to have the option to use your iPod as a hard disk enabled. Your Preferences dialog should give you the option to put full resolution photos on your iPod. They will be put into directories organized by year and month. You can then access them through the regular operating system, but anytime iTunes syncs things, any changes you make to those directories will be overwritten. This is because syncing with iTunes is fundamentally one-way.
If you want control over the directories, you should just copy them over to your iPod directly, using it as a disk, and not use the full-resolution option within iTunes. You still have to use iTunes to sync if you want to actually view them on your iPod, or use your iPod to view them on a TV, but the advantage of directly copying them is that you can manipulate the directory however you want and can copy the photos to another computer.
I guess I’ve not been clear enough. . I can’t see ANYTHING even related to my photos in iTunes. I can’t create a folder or sub-folder to put my pictures into because I don’t see the pictures, filenames, dates, or anything else. I don’t have a “Photo” category in my library.
I can’t see any tools to use for organizing the pics, and I can’t see the pics either. Except when I run the iPod itself, then I can see the thumbnails andselect them for a full-screen view.
That’s right, you won’t see anything on iTunes related to photos until you connect your iPod. Once you connect your iPod, click on the iPod icon in iTunes then click on the Photos tab. Once there, you can select the folder from where the iPod will sync photos. The really aren’t any other photo options.
What he said. I went downstairs to check with iTunes on Windows and, yes, there is no photo option until you plug in your iPod. Once your iPod is mounted and recognized, you have all the options I lined out above.
I might be able to help a bit. There is NO “photos” section in iTunes as there is for “Music”, “Movies”, “Podcasts” and so on.
You can’t get to an area within iTunes to create sub-directories, or playlists, or slideshows.
What you have to do is designate a directory somewhere on your harddrive, copy any photos you want to show up on iPod there, then tell iPod to get pictures from there. (You can do sub-folders in this structure to keep photos organized. Slide shows are made on the iPod itself once the photos are on there).
You can tell iPod where to get the photos when you connect it. Go to the “Photos” tab, and tell it to sync photos, and browse to whatever directory you decided to keep your photos in.
iTunes works like this, I assume, because iTunes is actually part of a software suite on the Mac called “iLife”. Photo work is handled through “iPhoto” on the Mac, thus it’s not included in “iTunes” because on a Mac it would be redundant.
Can the subfolders be created through iTunes, or do you have to build and load the folders through Explorer, and the synch to the top folder in the tree?
You’ll have to create subfolders using Windows Explorer itself. This is just a normal Windows directory tree. You will have the option in iTunes to sync iPod to the top of the tree or individual subfolders within it.
They actually folded what used to be a separate utility on Macs, called iSync, into iTunes when they started adding new capabilities to the iPods. The problem they had was that iTunes is cross-platform and they had to throw in stuff that would support Windows users with iPods. The only program they knew Windows users would be guaranteed to have is iTunes, and they made the decision to put everything into one program rather than split sync capabilities off into a separate program like it was on Macs originally.
I usually like what Apple does, but in this case I don’t like the kitchen sink mentality they’re taking toward iTunes. Also, sometimes hiding interface controls when they’re unusable or unneeded is good —makes the interface less cluttered and centralizes the things you use most — but I think that hiding all the sync-related stuff when your iPod is not connected is not such a good thing. Makes it confusing when you don’t realize that those things disappear when your iPod isn’t connected.