Individual files or entire folders has become one of the main features of OS X Mavericks. The presence of tags has taken file navigation to a whole new level: for example, you can assign a red tag to all documents, regardless of their location on your computer, and then access them instantly by clicking on the corresponding tab in the Finder.

Adding tags is not difficult - all you need to do is go to the file menu and select one or more existing tags for it. But what if you want to tag hundreds or thousands of files at once? You don't have the time or energy to do all this manually.

Fortunately, Apple provided for this situation in a timely manner, so the Finder has a group tagging feature. It works very simply, but not everyone knows about this "trick".

To assign one tag to a whole group of files, you must first select them, and then drag them to the tag you like right in the left menu of the Finder. If the number of files exceeds several thousand, the procedure may take some time, in other cases everything happens instantly.

Officially available for download

Wrote about SongGenie & CoverScout 3 and also mentioned the MPFreaker utility.
Each of these programs has its own capabilities, purpose, as well as both pros and cons. Again, all these programs are paid.
What else is worthy of attention for editing mp3-file tags.

Tritag

This utility can do a very valuable operation - it is to get tags from file names. Other possibilities are programs: renaming files according to tags, creating a directory structure (a la iTunes, i.e. artist/album/track.mp3). It was also possible to work with FreeDB, but unfortunately now this feature is not available due to the fact that MAGIX has removed the web interface for accessing the database.
Personally, I use it very often, because before adding files to the iTunes library, I always view and edit tags, otherwise it doesn’t give me joy to parse a bunch of Track 1 files in iTunes.
Actually, the only thing this program does not know how to do is add covers, but CoverScout does an excellent job with this. Although personally I usually look for pictures myself in google images and insert them into iTunes.

Screenshots of the program:

Musorg

This program can, one might say, everything the same as TriTag plus something else: work with tags of both one file and several at once, rename files and directories according to tags, make requests to FreeDB and musicbrainz. If the program itself could not find data on FreeDB, you can specify the artist and album yourself, and then the program will find matches on FreeDB. However, there is one feature that must be remembered - this is that the files must be located in the correct sequence, the program does not know which file should be the first and which the second. Another disadvantage is that sometimes there are problems with Russian names.
In general, the program is convenient. Still, it would have functionality from TriTag "and it would be generally wonderful.

Screenshots of the program:

ID3 Editor

What good can be said about this program. The only thing she can do is edit the tags of a single open file. Actually everything. Oh yes, don't forget the price of 12 Euros!

Screenshots of the program:

Media Rage

This is a whole set of tools for working with ID3 tags. With this program, you can edit tags, analyze and equalize the sound level in mp3 files, play files without leaving the program, rename files, find covers, search on FreeDB, move the media library, convert to different formats and much more. The program can work with MP3, AAC/MP4, FLAC, AIFF, WAVE, BWF, Ogg Vorbis. It is also impossible not to mention such a possibility as pipeline execution of a set of utilities. In general, everything you need and even more in one bottle.

Screenshots of the program:

MusicBrainz Picard

MusicBrainz Picard is cross-platform program(written in Python) to work with mp3 tags using MusicBrainz. It supports all major audio file formats, can calculate and search by disk ID (for CDs), good support unicode. By the way, the site has a detailed How-To for using the program.

Screenshots of the program:

The Tagger

On a tip FreZZey added to the list. The Tagger can edit tags for several files at once, make requests to Discogs , rename files according to tags, get tags from file names, edit covers.

Screenshots of the program:

Kid3

On a tip DeepSweet added to the list. Kid3 is a cross platform tagger. He can edit tags for several files at once, make requests to Discogs , gnudb, MusicBrainz, TrackType.org, copy data from id3v1 to id3v2 and vice versa, rename files according to tags, get tags from file names, work with covers, though he does it peculiar - it opens Google-images for you and offers to drag the found cover into the program.

Screenshots of the program:

Conclusion.

P.S. Unfortunately, there are no programs yet that can replace Tag&Rename under Windows, but in my opinion, TriTag, Musorg, CoverScout, or maybe just Media Rage, even despite their somewhat confused and complex interface, can adequately perform the basic actions for working with tags in Mac OS X.
UPD 1: watched Kid3 and The Tagger. Very worthy programs.
UPD 2: mentioned Song Sergeant.
UPD 3: Moved to Sound and Music blog.

Happy owners Apple computers and PC running operating system Mac systems OS X must have encountered the problem of being unable to edit ID3 tags mp3 files (Title, Artist name, Album, Genre, Year, etc.) from the system shell. On Windows, for example, this can be done using the File Properties window. And in OS X, things are a little more complicated. Here is a small overview of the fastest, free and convenient ways to edit the tags of your music files.

Editing ID3 tags in iTunes

Let's start with the most obvious way - editing tags in iTunes. And although this program infuriates me personally (as well as standard players for Android, Symbian, Windows phone), since I'm used to storing and running music from under the shell in the old fashioned way, - this way does not require the installation of any third-party software.

To edit the properties of an mp3 file, find it in iTunes. It's enough for him to get there reproduce at least once. Click on it right click mouse and select Intelligence. In the dialog box, fields for editing tags will be available to you.

Editing the information of multiple files is also very easy. Select a group of files: click on the first and last file while holding the button Shift for sequential selection, or click while holding the button command to select multiple individual files. Further, the same scheme - right click -> Details. Further agree with dialog box and start editing ID3 tags.

One more thing worth mentioning important point. For example, you need to upload mp3 to Audio Recordings on the VKontakte page. As you know, iTunes imports local files into its library, i.e. simply copies them to another location. In order to find the files you have edited, the program provides a function "Show in Finder", which is available by right-clicking on the file icon in iTunes.

Free Kid3 Audio Tagger Utility

Searching for third-party tag editing tools led me to this wonderful program. And although in life I use the method that I will describe in the next section of the article, I want to note the important advantages of the program. Firstly, it's free. I will still save money for a program for editing some tags. Secondly, the program interface is not overloaded with anything superfluous and is very convenient. Thirdly, the program is very functional, allows you to edit tags various versions(ID3, ID3v2) and copy information from one to another, rename the file name from the ID3 tag or vice versa - fill in the ID3 tags from the name according to the template. Well fourthly, the main advantage or, rather, the main concept of the program is editing the tags of a group of audio files from one directory.

On the last paragraph let's stop in more detail. Perhaps it is not very convenient if the program does not provide the ability to "throw" files from different directories and edit their tags. But in essence, bulk editing of tags is for ordering by Album Title or Artist. And therefore, it is much more practical to move all the files in advance to a directory with the name of the album or the name of the artist, because anyway it will have to be done sooner or later.

Now to the essence of our article. To edit the ID3 tags of a file/group of files from a directory, navigate to the appropriate directory in Finder and right-click on one of the files that needs to be edited. Further Open with -> Kid3. The program automatically imports files into its working space. Another way to import files is to use the following menu item in the application itself: File -> Open Directory.

As for editing ID3 tags, everything is intuitive here. By selecting a file or making a sequential selection from the left pane of the window, you can edit their properties in the right pane. For editing ID3 tags spoiler should be revealed "Tag 1", for editing tags ID3v2- spoiler "Tag 2". To rename files by template from ID3 tags, or fill in ID3 tags from the file name, in the right panel of the program are available, respectively, the fields "Format" and "Format ↓". In the dropdown list, select ready template or edit it yourself. At the end of all manipulations, do not forget to click on the floppy disk icon at the top of the program or use the menu item File -> Save to save changes.

One more interesting feature, — File -> Find Covers, which allows you to add album art. However, the program does this in a peculiar way - it looks for a picture in Google Images and offers to drag it from there to the program window. But, all the same, an extremely interesting and useful feature.

Quick Tag Editing in VLC Player

And although this method of editing ID3 tags is not a functional one, it is the most efficient, fast and reliable. I am sure that most of the readers have the program installed on their computer. By the way, in one of our previous publications, more are described.

To edit ID3 tags in VLC, drag one or more audio files into the program window. Further required STOP PLAYBACK file, because its properties will not be edited. Highlight necessary files in the playlist and use the keyboard shortcut Command + i. All necessary information is available for editing in the information about media object window. After filling/editing all the required fields, do not forget to click the button Save metadata at the bottom right of the window.

Conclusion

This article describes three different ways editing tags in Mac OS X. Each of them has its own advantages. Someone does not want to bother with installing third-party software, someone needs functionality, for someone an important criterion is simplicity and reliability. I'm sure everyone will find something for themselves the right way in this article. We are waiting for comments and hope for likes!

Go in search good editor music tags made us iTunes. Before that, the apple media combine had always coped with everyday tasks, but now, when it was necessary to pack many songs of various artists into one album, it did not want to do it humanly. But it turned out very well at hand Meta (Music Tag Editor), which literally turned the operation in a second and at the same time revealed a lot of functions that are useful to everyone who catalogs music.

First, I would like to feel sorry for the skeuomorphism that the application icon is saturated with. A detailed audio cassette cannot but evoke warm feelings among a certain age range of users, so loving Meta is worth at least nostalgia. But don't worry, there are plenty of reasons to go without it!

The most important thing that captivates in this music tag editor is the speed of work. There is no need to look for the "Save Results" button here - just drive in the information and in the blink of an eye you get combed files.

And now let's talk about everything in order, starting with the interface. Meta turned out to be quite similar to iTunes. There is nothing superfluous in the design: a large field with line-by-line output of tracks; a left sidebar that displays covers and various properties below them; toolbar at the top. We will not talk about adding files or instantly overwriting all meta-information of files, since other editors are capable of this, so let's move on to the highlights.

iTunes, hardware and software audio players are often sensitive to letter case. Meta makes absolutely no difference whether you name compositions according to the Western, domestic or chaotic system. The editor will translate everything into upper, lower case, make each new word with a capital letter (foreign).

The left sidebar stores comprehensive information about files, and four buttons switch sections, that is:

• V " Tags» (Tags) fill in fields like artist, song title, album, genre, etc.
• Tab « Properties» (Properties) displays bitrate, range, channels, codec, tag format.
• "File Info" (Information about the file) allows you to estimate the size of the file, the date of creation / modification.
• "Artwork Info" (Cover) understandable without words - all the characteristics of the cover are presented.

With Meta covers for "you". When you add a picture, the editor converts, scales and crops it. The user only needs to decide between JPEG and PNG, with quality and dimensions, and this can be done both in the settings and in fact.

The next feature from the category of pleasant trifles is the mass numbering of tracks. The program will quickly distribute numbers on click Tools -> Track Numbering. In addition, she will be able to display the total number of songs (tick on Write "Track Total").

Meta understands that sometimes it's useful to stuff meta information into filenames. The application generates templates containing Track No., Title and other parameters. The reverse operation is also possible, when files are renamed according to tag data.

The key combination "cmd +" will display a window with the default tags.

Grouping files into folders will provide the user with a pedantic breakdown of the structure, for example, in the form: [Artist Name] / [Album] - [Year] ... The directory for saving is selected, and all selected copies are stored where you wish.

Tag compatibility settings deserve special attention. ID3v2.3 must be enabled in the Meta settings to display in the Finder. Unnecessarily? Then leave ID3v2.4 with UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoding to get Cyrillic, not hieroglyphs.

And at the end of the review, we note the rich genre base of the editor. The window opens through Window -> Genres. It contains terminology for a particular musical style, which will automatically be substituted in the field when you start typing the first letters.

And finally, we were pleased that Meta edits iTunes files without any problems - just drag and drop the song(s) into the application window.

Meta (Music Tag Editor) left a purely pleasant impression, because for, let's say, everyday processing of tags, the program simply has no equal in terms of speed and convenience. More advanced users will disapprove of the lack of online services like FreeDB that automatically fill in tags by album title. Also, they will not be able to convert the encoding or use extended tags. In all other respects there are no complaints. Yes and 749 rubles for an intelligent editor - not too much money today.

Tags are a great way to organize your data and make it easier to find. Tags automatically appear in the Finder sidebar, so files tagged with them are easy to find, no matter where they are located. You can color-code various documents, such as photos to be edited, drafts, saved articles for weekend reading, videos, and more.

In contact with

Function " tags» on macOS allows you to combine different types files in one section, and use multiple tags to categorize them.

On the tab " tags» along the way Finder → Settings you can edit any of the tags, create favorites, and arrange their display in the sidebar.

You can also remove an unwanted tag by right-clicking on it and selecting " Delete».

How to create, edit and delete tags in Finder

Adding tags from the context menu

To add a tag to a file, right-click on it and select " tags» in the displayed menu.

In the text field, select a tag from the existing ones or enter your own tag and press the key twice return(Enter).

Add multiple tags to one file

If you want to add multiple tags, after each tag you enter, press return(after the process is completed, you also need to press return, otherwise the tags will not be saved).

You can also tag a file with tags that already exist in the list. To do this, simply open context menu and choose from the list provided.

Delete tags

To remove an unwanted tag, click to select it in the " tags» and press the key Delete. In fact, this action will not remove the tag, just that macOS will no longer use it for this document. If you really want to remove the tag from your computer, open the pop-up menu Finder → « Settings» → « tags". Select the tags you want to remove and click " Delete».

Create favorite tags

If desired, the user can add favorite tags to the context menu for quick access to the files in the section Finder → « Settings» → « tags". Just drag the tags to the panel Favorites.

To remove a tag from Favorites, click on it and "throw" it out of the panel.

Adding tags using the toolbar

You can add tags to documents different ways, including using the option " Edit tags» on the toolbar. The method works on the same principle as described above. If the button " Edit tags” is not displayed on the panel, right-click anywhere on the panel.

In the menu that appears, select the option " Change toolbar» to view all available buttons and drag the button « Edit tags» to the toolbar.

Adding Tags Using the File Inspector (Properties)

You can add/remove tags in File Inspector. For a call Inspector open " File» → « Properties» or press combination ⌘Cmd + I. Adding / removing tags is carried out similarly to the above method.

You can also add tags to files in applications (View, Pages, and Quick Time Player) using the menu "Documentation", which appears when you click on the file name.

The ability to add tags in applications is valid only for files, the assignment of tags for folders is carried out through the context menu, toolbar or File Inspector.