From Bjoern Hassler

This tutorial explains how to encode to mp3 using iTunes 7. Some notes inline below for changes in iTunes 8.

Contents 1 Setting up preferences 1.1 Select 'Advanced' and 'Importing' 1.2 Under setting, select 'Custom' 1.3 Bit rate, sample rate, channels 1.4 Click 'ok' - the preference pane should now look like this: 1.5 Now switch to general, and uncheck 'copy files to iTunes Music folder' 2 Encoding files

[edit] 1 Setting up preferences

[edit] 1.1 Select 'Advanced' and 'Importing'

Note: As of iTunes 8 this dialog is under the very top left 'General' tab. Use the 'Import Settings...' button to access the settings.

[edit] 1.2 Under setting, select 'Custom'

[edit] 1.3 Bit rate, sample rate, channels

Select a bit rate of 64 kbps, a sample rate of 22.050 and ensure the channels are set to 'Mono'.

We are selecting the Sample rate as 22.050 so that the audio plays back properly in Flash players.

[edit] 1.4 Click 'ok' - the preference pane should now look like this:

[edit] 1.5 Now switch to general, and uncheck 'copy files to iTunes Music folder'

Note: In iTunes 8 although the General/Importing/Burning selection is gone from this tab you will still find the 'copy files to iTunes music folder' setting here.

[edit] 2 Encoding files

Drag your aif/wav file into iTunes.

Amend meta-data: Hit Apple-i (or 'Get info') and amend fields like author, title, description etc.

Select 'Convert selection to mp3'. Drag the file out of iTunes (e.g. onto the desktop) and amend the filename to be suitable for distribution. You might then want to drag the file back into iTunes to check the metadata and to make sure the filename appears as expected.

The rest of this page is intentionally left blank for your own contributions! Please contribute to these tutorials by visiting Steeple at http://www.steeple.org.uk/contribute