Your iMac comes equipped with a full set of applications for enjoying music, video, and DVDs. iTunes enables you to copy songs from CDs, play them back, and watch downloaded videos and movies. DVD Player lets you play back DVDs full screen so that you can enjoy them without distractions.
Open and Close iTunes 186
Add Your CDs to the iTunes Library 188
Buy More Songs Online 190
Play Songs 192
Play Videos 194
Create Playlists of Songs You Like 196
Have iTunes Create Playlists for You 198
Create a Custom CD of Your Songs 200
Listen to Radio Stations over the Internet 202
Enjoy Podcasts 204
Watch a DVD on Your iMac 206
To use iTunes, you must first open the application. If you listen to music or watch videos extensively, you may want to leave iTunes running all the time you use your iMac. But if you have finished using iTunes, you can quit the application to close it and allow Mac OS X to reuse the memory iTunes was using.
Open and Close iTunes
Open iTunes
Note
If the iTunes icon does not appear on the Dock, click Finder (
The iTunes window opens.
Note
The first time you launch iTunes, the application displays a license agreement and a series of option screens that offer to find your song files. If you consent to the license agreement, you can safely agree to iTunes' suggested options.
The iTunes menu opens.
The iTunes window closes.
The easiest and least expensive way to add songs to your iTunes music library is to copy the songs from your CDs to iTunes. The copying process is called ripping.
iTunes enables you to use different settings to create files using different formats and higher or lower audio quality. The highest-quality files require the most space on your iMac's hard disk.
Add Your CDs to the iTunes Library
iTunes launches.
iTunes recognizes the CD, looks up its title online, and opens a dialog asking if you want to import the CD.
Note
If you want to prevent iTunes from prompting you to import each audio CD you insert, click Do not ask me again (
The dialog closes.
The shortcut menu opens.
Note
Many entries for CDs in the online database that iTunes uses contain misspelled or inaccurate information.
The CD Info dialog closes.
Your iMac ejects the CD.
iTunes is tightly integrated with the iTunes Store, Apple's online store that sells songs, videos, games, and more.
To buy items from the iTunes Store, you must set up an account including your credit card details. If you do not already have an account, iTunes prompts you to set one up when you first attempt to buy an item.
Buy More Songs Online
A new iTunes window opens and loads the home page of the iTunes Store.
Note
You can also browse the iTunes Store in the main iTunes window by clicking iTunes Store once. Usually, opening a new window is more convenient because it lets you continue to control your music in the main window.
The Music pop-up menu opens.
The iTunes Store window displays the kind of music you chose.
iTunes downloads the song and adds it to your library.
Tip
Are there other online stores that sell songs I can play in iTunes?
Many online stores sell songs in the widely used MP3 format, which you can play in iTunes and on iPods and iPhones. Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) sells a wide variety of songs and albums as MP3 files, as does Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s Walmart.com (http://mp3.walmart.com/store/home).
How can I restart a download that fails?
If a download stops partway through a song or other item, choose Store and Check for Available Downloads. You will need to sign in to the iTunes Store if you are not currently signed in. iTunes then automatically restarts any downloads that were not completed.
You can play any song in iTunes by simply double-clicking it and then using the playback controls.
First, though, you need to find the songs you want to play. To help you browse your songs, iTunes has three different views – List view, Grid view, and Cover Flow view – and a column browser. You can also search for songs.
Play Song
Play a Song in Grid View
iTunes starts playing the song.
Note
To navigate quickly from artist to artist in List view, choose View and Show Column Browser. iTunes displays a list of the artists. Click the artist whose songs you want to see.
Play a Song in Cover Flow View
The list shows the songs for the selected album.
Tip
How can I search for songs?
Click in the search box and start typing your search term. iTunes shows matching items as you type. To restrict the search, click the arrow (
Can I make iTunes take up less room when it is playing?
You can shrink iTunes down to its Mini Player. Click
Besides playing songs, iTunes also plays videos. You can buy music videos, TV shows, and movies from the iTunes Store or export files of your own movies from iMovie or other applications.
You can watch video content either within the iTunes window or full screen. You can set iTunes to automatically open particular types of video content full screen if you prefer.
Play Videos
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To watch a TV show, click TV Shows. To watch a music video you have purchased, click Purchased under Store, or locate the video by the artist's name.
The list of movies appears.
The Play Movie button appears.
iTunes starts playing the movie.
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Optionally, click
Tip
Can I make iTunes always play back movies full screen?
Choose iTunes and Preferences. The Preferences dialog opens. Click Playback (
The best thing about playing songs on your iMac is that you can play them in any order you want rather than in the order they appear on the CD. iTunes enables you to create playlists that contain the songs you want in your preferred order. You can listen to a playlist, share it with others, or burn it to a CD for listening on a CD player.
Create Playlists of Songs You Like
iTunes adds a new playlist to the Playlists section of the Source list and displays an information screen about playlists.
The playlist takes on the new name.
Your songs appear.
The contents of the playlist appear.
Note
To delete a song from a playlist, click it and then press
Tip
Is there a quick way of creating a playlist?
The quick way of creating a playlist is to select the songs first. Click the first song to include, and then
How can I keep my playlists organized?
You can organize your playlists into playlist folders. Choose File and New Playlist Folder. iTunes creates a folder and displays an edit box around the name. Type the name for the folder and press
Instead of creating playlists manually as described on the previous pages, you can have iTunes automatically create playlists for you. These playlists are called smart playlists.
All you have to do is set up the conditions for the smart playlist. iTunes then creates the playlist for you and automatically updates it when you add songs to your library or remove songs.
Have iTunes Create Playlists for You
After creating a custom playlist, you can copy it to a CD so that you can play it in any CD player. Creating a CD like this is called burning a CD.
You will need a blank recordable CD, or CD-R.
Create a Custom CD of Your Songs
Tip
Is it a good idea to use Sound Check?
Whether to use Sound Check is entirely up to you. Without Sound Check, songs originally recorded at different levels will play at different volumes from the CD. This can be awkward. Sound Check makes the overall volume more consistent but can rob songs of their dynamic range and power.
Can I burn songs to a DVD?
You can burn a playlist to a DVD, but only as a backup. This is a good way to keep copies of your songs to guard against hardware failure. You cannot create an audio DVD in the same way that you can create an audio CD.
iTunes enables you to listen to a wide variety of online radio stations that broadcast across the Internet. You listen to the stations in real time as they broadcast, and you cannot pause playback.
If a station does not appear in iTunes' list of stations, you can open it manually.
Listen to Radio Stations over the Internet
A list of radio categories appears in the main window.
Note
If the radio station has two or more entries, try playing the one with the highest bit rate first if you have a broadband Internet connection. The higher the bit rate, the higher the audio quality.
The radio station starts playing.
Tip
How can I listen to a radio station that does not appear on iTunes' list?
If the station does not appear in iTunes' list, find out the URL of the station's audio stream by consulting the station's Web site. In iTunes, choose Advanced and Open Audio Stream to display the Open Audio Stream dialog. Type or paste the URL (
How can I record a song from the radio in iTunes?
iTunes does not provide a feature for recording radio. This is because recording a radio station can be a violation of copyright. To record, you need third-party software such as RadioLover from Bitcartel Software (www.bitcartel.com/radiolover/). Before you record, it is a good idea to understand your country's copyright laws about recording.
A podcast is an audio or video file that you can download from the Internet and play on your iMac or a digital player like the iPod or iPhone.
The iTunes Store makes a wide variety of podcasts available. You can either simply download a podcast or subscribe to a podcast so that iTunes automatically downloads new episodes for you.
Enjoy Podcasts
iTunes opens a new window showing the home page of the iTunes Store.
The Podcasts menu opens, showing the different categories of podcasts.
The window shows the category you chose.
A dialog opens to confirm the subscription.
Note
To download an episode of the podcast without subscribing, click Get Episode.
iTunes subscribes you to the podcast and downloads the available episodes.
Tip
How do I watch the podcasts I have downloaded?
In the main iTunes window, click Podcasts under Library in the Source list. The list of podcasts appears. Double-click a podcast to see the available episodes, and then double-click the episode you want to listen to or watch. iTunes starts playing the podcast and displays a bar of pop-up controls (
Mac OS X includes a full-feature DVD player, called simply DVD Player, for enjoying movies.
Watch a DVD on Your iMac
DVD Player automatically launches and starts playing the DVD full screen.
DVD Player displays the control bar for controlling playback.
DVD Player hides the control bar again.
DVD Player displays a navigation bar that at first shows the chapters in the DVD.
DVD Player starts playing that chapter.
The Mac OS X menu bar appears.
The DVD Player menu opens.
DVD Player quits.
Tip
Why does the You Need to Select the Region for Your DVD Drive dialog appear?
To create separate markets, DVDs use eight different region codes: Region 1 is North America, Region 2 is Europe, Region 3 is Southeast Asia, and so on. Most DVDs are tied to one specific region and can play only on players built for that region. This dialog appears when you insert a disc from a different region than your iMac's DVD drive is set to play. You can change the drive's region up to five times; after that, it remains locked to the last region you used. To change region, click
