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PyCDCover is a free and open-source software designed to automatically generate audio CD covers and booklets (single or multi-album) from the information contained in your music files.
The software automates the entire process:
- Tag extraction directly from audio files (artist, title, year, genre);
- Automatic album artwork download from the iTunes API based on the Artist - Album pair.
If no image is found online, it is automatically replaced with a generic orange cover containing the artist and album name. Since the server may sometimes return incorrect images, you are always free to manually replace any image with one of your choice.
Languages: French, English, Spanish, Breton
Operating Systems: GNU/Linux (tested on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS), Windows
Used with permission from the band CENT DÉTRESSES
@CENT DÉTRESSES
Images are taken from Pixabay (Pixabay license).
These are fictional albums.
The latest stable version of PyCDCover is available here:
👉 https://github.com/GerardLeRest/pycdcover-v2/releases
Download PyCDCover.Setup-X.X.X.exe and run it
(where X.X.X corresponds to the version number, for example 2.2.1).
You can then proceed to section 5.
➡️ PyCDCover is available as a .deb package.
Download pycdcover_X.X.X-Y_amd64.deb from the PyCDCover releases page
(where X.X.X represents the software version number and Y the Debian package version):
👉 https://github.com/GerardLeRest/pycdcover-v2/releases
Install the software:
sudo apt install ./pycdcover_X.X.X-Y_amd64.debTo launch the program from a terminal:
pycdcoverTo uninstall the software:
sudo apt remove pycdcoverYou can then proceed to section 5.
(For users who want to run PyCDCover from source.)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv -ygit clone git@github.com:GerardLeRest/pycdcover-v2.git
cd pycdcover-v2python3 -m venv my_envsource my_env/bin/activatepip install reportlab PySide6 pillow requests mutagen music-tagpython3 pycdcover.py-
Prepare your folder with properly tagged music files. Do not use the CD drive directly because it may cause slowdowns or bugs. Copy your CD contents into a folder first.
-
Create the CD title (1st icon on the left).
-
Retrieve the tags (2nd icon).
-
Edit the tags if necessary (3rd icon).
Very important:
Check for possible errors here. -
Automatically download images through iTunes (4th icon). Images provided by the server may sometimes be incorrect.
-
Choose the cover color
-
Create the front and back covers (5th icon).
-
Generate the printable PDF.
An orange image (with artist + album name) appears if an album cover was not found online. iTunes may also provide incorrect images. In all cases, if an image is incorrect, follow these steps:
Create title → retrieve MP3 tags → edit MP3 tags → download images → create both covers → manually replace the desired image in folder (1) → recreate both covers → generate PDF
(1) ~/PyCDCover/miniatures is the thumbnails folder.
Important note: Follow the order above to avoid returning to the previous configuration.
With a double album, if no action is taken, two identical images may appear on the front cover. Here is how to solve the issue easily:
Create title → retrieve MP3 tags → edit MP3 tags → download images → create both covers → delete the desired image in folder (2) → recreate both covers → generate PDF
(2) ~/PyCDCover/miniatures is the thumbnails folder.
Important note: Follow the order above to avoid returning to the previous configuration.
PyCDCover – Audio CD Cover Generator
Author: Gérard LE REST
License: GNU GPL v3
© Gérard LE REST
Email: ge.lerest@gmail.com
Created on: 2010-04-01
Last updated: 2026-01-15
Image rights
PyCDCover uses Apple Inc.'s public API (iTunes Search API) to automatically retrieve album artwork.
These images remain the property of their respective copyright holders.
They are stored locally between sessions and are intended for private use only.
This project is independent and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Apple Inc.
The user is solely responsible for how the retrieved images are used.
Free Software License: GNU GPL v3 (or later)
This program is free software: you can modify and redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL v3), version 3 or any later version.
It is provided without any warranty, either expressed or implied,
including any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
- PySide6: graphical interface
- ReportLab: PDF generation
- Mutagen: MP3 tag reading
- Requests: iTunes API
- Architecture: MVC model (business logic / interface / controller separation)