The artwork for music albums can be obtained from the audio files’ embedded image, an external image file in the Album’s folder, or downloaded from the Internet. Can someone please confirm the order in which these are checked for a suitable image?
With Local Media Assets at the top, I think that puts Internet downloads at the lowest priority, but if there is an external image file AND also an image embedded in the audio file, which will Plex use and if it varies, in what locations and can it be configured to ensure the desired image is used?
I’m wanting Plex to use the external image file if available, but can I guarantee that will be used?
You state in the ‘How-to’ that if ‘local files’ are included in the settings, Plex will use local artwork files first, then embedded artwork. However, you later state that Plex will read and store ‘embedded album cover’ which somewhat contradicts the previous statement.
So does it always read the embedded artwork and if so, why, if it is set to use local files. Or in fact does it only read the embedded artwork when no local files are available? The latter makes most sense to me.
The reason it’s important is I want to store low res (i.e. small) versions of the artwork embedded in the files, for use in situations where that is the only usable artwork, but then have high res cover.jpg files available in the album folder for when it can be used. So I’m really hoping I can have Plex use the high res files and ignore embedded artwork.
I think it will, but would appreciate confirmation before I base too much on that assumption.
I think it uses the local files first, but not 1000% sure. For a quick test, embed a low quality image in the files completely different than the image file version, and see which one plex picks up.
Then delete your test album if necessary…
I think Plex will also see the embedded image as an option to select when you edit the album, but there’s no way to see the resolution or source of files in the cover selection tab, and they all look good in the tiny thumbnails.
Where it says Plex will ‘also read and store…’ embedded album cover, that section is merely a list of tags that Plex can recognize. It has nothing to do with the logic of when it uses them. I’ll look for a way to make that more clear.
The earlier section, where it lists the order in which Plex searches for artwork, is always true. If it finds a discrete album cover image, it will use that, and won’t look for an embedded image. As @leelynds mentioned, it may include the embedded image in the poster selection dialog, but it should automatically select the higher-resolution image.
Brilliant, thanks. You confirmed what I thought and hoped was the case.
I have used iTunes for years as my main organisational tool and then sync’d across to my PMS, but iTunes became progressively worse (sometimes simply not updating the files with modified metadata) and now the Music app even fails at obtaining artwork for a newly released album of a VERY BIG BAND, just ripped from CD. So much potential, but It is dire. Anyway, it required me to think of a way around the problem and seems Plex can handle my solution, so all good there.
