Easy Mac OS X Lion - Kate Binder [49]
To locate a specific song in the Library or in a playlist, click in the Search field and type part of the song name. As you type, the list of songs shortens to include only the songs that match your search term.
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Tip: Changing Your Mind
To remove a song from a playlist (but not from your Library), click to select it and press Delete.
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Burning a Music CD
You can take your music with you in the form of custom mix CDs for parties, for gifts, or just to use in the car. Before you burn a CD, you need to create a playlist containing the songs you want to use on the disc. And, of course, you need to have a CD drive that can write CDs as well as play them.
Click to select the playlist you want to make into a CD.
Choose File, Burn Playlist to Disc.
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Tip: Picture This
Any song you buy from the iTunes Store (see the next task) comes with cover artwork. When you burn a compilation, iTunes creates a custom mosaic of the songs’ cover art and drops that into a template to create an insert for the CD case.
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Tip: The Right Media
Make sure you use CD-R media, rather than CD-RW media, if you plan to play your CD in a regular CD player (meaning, on your stereo) rather than in a computer CD drive.
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Click Audio CD.
Choose a time from the Gap Between Songs pop-up menu.
Insert a blank CD-R disc and click Burn; iTunes burns your playlist onto the disc.
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Tip: Avoiding a Small Annoyance
If you insert a blank CD before clicking Burn Disc in the iTunes window, your Mac asks you what you want it to do with the CD. Clicking Burn Disc before putting the CD-R in the drive bypasses this dialog box.
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Tip: Stop Right There
To stop the CD burner after you click Burn Disc, click the X next to the progress bar. You can use your CD drive again immediately, but the CD you canceled is no longer usable.
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Buying Songs Through iTunes
The iTunes Store offers thousands of tunes in all genres at very reasonable prices. You can download entire albums or one song at a time. Your purchases are charged to your credit card, and the songs are downloaded directly into iTunes, where you can play them on your computer, transfer to them to an iPod, or burn them to a CD.
In iTunes, click iTunes Store in the Source column.
Click Sign In.
Type your Apple ID and password and click Sign In.
If you haven’t bought songs before, a dialog box tells you that this ID hasn’t been used with the iTunes Store; click Review.
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Tip: Getting an iTunes Account
If you already have an Apple ID, you’re all set—just enter that username and password to sign in to the iTunes Store. If you have a paid subscription to MobileMe, use that username and password for the iTunes Store. If you don’t have either, follow the Store’s prompts to create a new ID and supply your credit card information for purchases.
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Click Continue.
Read the Terms and Conditions and click the checkbox and Continue; then click Done.
Click a song or album title to see more information about it.
Click Buy Song or Buy Album to purchase music.
Click Buy. The song downloads into iTunes and appears in a new playlist called Purchased Music.
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Tip: Quick and Clean Searching
You can search the iTunes Store quickly for any text by entering the search text in the regular iTunes search field at the top of the iTunes window. Type the song or artist name you want to look for and press Return.
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Tip: Just a Taste
When you’re browsing the iTunes Store, click iTunes’ Play button to hear a high-quality, 30-second snippet of a selected song.
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Renting Movies
You say you’re a couch potato? iTunes has you covered. Any time you want something to watch, you have only to start up iTunes and peruse a wide selection of movies available both for purchase and for rental. Movies download right into iTunes so you can watch them on your Mac or move them to another Apple device