MACCC Help

Table of Contents

  1. How To Use MACCC
  2. Making covers using CDInsert
  3. Making covers using CDRLabel
  4. Questions/Comments
  5. Future/Contact
How To Use MACCC
Run the program by either typing java -jar maccc.jar on a command line or run the runme.bat file (or create a similar one for your OS). On some machines, you can double-click maccc.jar to run it.

The first time you run it you need to set some configuration options. Go to the configuration screen by pressing the configuration button at the top. Set all the options you want/need. These options apply to when you scan the CD. You can change the current display after you have scanned a CD by using the controls on the right side of the main dislay.

Scan a CD by pressing the Scan CD button. When you scan a CD, choose your CD drive with an MP3 CD in it (or choose a directory on your HD with MP3s). The program will scan for MP3s and present you with the main window. The column on the left is what will be output - this can be edited or changed with the controls on the right. The other columns are data/info about the directories and MP3 files - these are not changeable. Select files or directories on the left and choose the format from the options on the right and you'll see the Display Name text change. You can edit individual names by double-clicking on the Display Name and editing it.

You can manipulate the display by either editing the MP3/dir (the far left column) or by selecting MP3s/dirs and using the settings on the right. If you need to change some of the global options, change them then rescan the CD.

If an MP3 file does not have an ID3 tag it will be marked with 3 red ???s. If the format you choose is using ID3 tags, the Display Text will show 3 red ???s. The easiest thing to do is select all of the files with ???s and then choose "Use Filename" from the choices on the right of the screen and the Display Name will use the filename. If the filename isn't what you want to use, you'll have to edit them by hand. If you have accurate ID3 tags on all of your MP3 files, you can make covers REALLY quick since you won't have to edit anything by hand.

Once you get the names the way you want them, hit the "Write Covers" button in the lower right. That will output the file(s) you selected in the options. You can use the .txt file anyway you want, the .clbx file can be loaded into CDRLabel, and the -cdinsert.txt file is perfect for using with CDInsert. Play around with CDInsert and/or CDRLabel to get the output exactly like you want it.

Making covers using CDInsert
  • Run MACCC and get the cover the way you like it. Save the covers in CDInsert format
  • goto http://cdinsert.filenabber.com
  • Fill out the title and subtitle in step 1 - I always put the title as "MP3CD MM-DD-YYYY" and the subtitle as some of the artists like "Coldplay, Hoobastank, Jimmy Eat World" but do whatever works for you
  • In step 4 on the webpage, either paste the -cdinsert.txt file in the text area or point it to the file on your HD with the Browse button
  • In step 5a, choose the type of label - I always choose the Normal CD case since I use normal CD jewel cases
  • In step 5b, I select checkboxes 1,3,and 5 Hit the submit button and it will produce a nice PDF ready to print.
  • Print the PDF!

    If you're using slimline cases, in 5b, select the "scaling down of items" options so they will all fit

  • Making covers with CDRLabel:
    If you're using CDRLabel, output a CDRLabel file (.clbx), load it into CDRlabel and adjust how many columns you want so that they all fit on 2 pages (front and back) or even do a booklet so they all fit without being scrunched. Set the spine text and font and set whether you wan tthe column lines to be drawn or not then print it!

    Please note - the CDRlabel format won't work if you output a file will characters like òàèùãõäëïöü - CDRLabel will not load it. For now, you'll have to edit the display name so those characters don't show. I'm working on a fix for this.

    More questions/comments?
    Be sure and visit http://forums.filenabber.com for questions and answers about MACCC
    Future/contact
    This program is close to being done - there are a few features I want to add, and a few bugs I need to fix, but it works fine as-is. You can email me with feature requests, bug reports, etc. at maccc AT filenabber DOT com

    ©2000-2003 Brian Pipa. All rights reserved.