Change audio formats
iTunes works seamlessly with Apple's überhip line of iPod MP3 players, but not everyone has jumped on the white-earbud bandwagon just yet. Owners of other popular MP3 players might be surprised to find the CDs they just ripped in iTunes won't play in their devices, since the program encodes tracks in the AAC format by default. However, you can change the output codec by clicking Edit > Preferences, then browsing to the Advanced tab. Once there, head to the Importing tab, where you can choose among MP3, WAV, AIFF, and Apple Lossless formats and set the bit rate to a higher or lower quality. If you've already accidentally ripped quite a few files into AAC, you can simply right-click any number of tunes in your library to convert them to MP3.

Keep your podcasts current
In only about a year, podcasting went from a geeky, techie term to a household word. Apple responded to this explosion by adding features that let users download podcasts from its Music Store or even submit their own broadcasts. Whether you've downloaded a single podcast or you like one so much you've subscribed to it, you can easily configure how often iTunes should look for new episodes. The simplest way to do this is to click the Settings button from the dedicated podcasts pane. This opens a control panel, where you can specify that iTunes check for new podcasts hourly, daily, or weekly. You can also configure the program not to download new episodes or to keep only a selected number of podcasts.

Share your collection
If you've built a LAN in your home or you're on a large corporate network, you can share music with other iTunes users. Go to Edit > Preferences, then click over to the Sharing tab. Once there, you can choose to share your entire selection of songs or only certain playlists by checking the appropriate boxes. You'll also find a field for entering your iTunes screen name, which other folks on your network will see each time they launch the jukebox. Sharing in iTunes only supports listening--there's no transferring--keeping it in the RIAA's good graces.

Add album art
This option has likely been discovered by anyone who has spent time digging through iTunes' interface. However, if you're firing up the jukebox for the first time, you might not know that the cryptic little icon fourth from the left (at the bottom of the screen) calls up the pane for displaying album art. iTunes lets you conveniently drag and drop images directly to the viewing window; you also can add art by right-clicking a song, going to Get Info, clicking the Artwork tab, and browsing your computer.

A few video tidbits
Although Apple gave iTunes a design makeover with the release of version 6, the most noteworthy new feature clearly was the addition of a video player. The process of adding videos to your media library--except those encoded in the WMV format--is identical to adding music; you simply access the File menu item, then add individual clips or entire folders. Though videos will appear in your music library accompanied by a special icon, you can choose to browse only visual media by clicking the Videos icon in the left-side navigation bar. If you go to Edit > Preferences > Playback, you can choose whether videos will play full-screen, in a separate window, or in the album-artwork pane (see the previous tip to locate this panel).

Cross-fading, normalizing, and shuffling smarter
Heading to the aforementioned Playback tab under Edit > Preferences also lets you make a few cool tweaks to the way iTunes plays tracks. The cross-fading feature is enabled by default, which is fine for those who like to hear one song blend right into another. However, other folks might be annoyed that this feature can obscure the first few seconds of the next track. The Playback tab offers options for adjusting the cross-fade time or disabling it entirely.

Here, you'll also find the Sound Check feature, which will normalize your entire music library so all files retain a consistent volume. Once you check this box, you'll need to shut down and restart iTunes for the setting to take effect. If you have a massive amount of music, you may want to step away from the computer, as iTunes needs time to scan your library and adjust the volume levels.

Finally, the Playback tab also lets you take advantage of the recently added Smart Shuffle feature. By adjusting a slider, you can control how likely you are to hear songs by the same artist when iTunes' random mode is enabled.

Keep your library spic-and-span
The latest iteration of iTunes helps keep your music collection clean and your hard drive free of needless files by quickly locating duplicate songs in your library. To use this feature, simply go to Edit > Show Duplicate Songs. However, when deleting any file, you should use caution, since iTunes determines duplicates by artist and track name but ignores other fields such as album. Therefore, you could accidentally remove a song you actually want to keep, such as the live version of a tune that has the same name as the studio version.

Time-saving EQ advice
Listeners with eclectic tastes may find themselves constantly accessing the dedicated EQ icon to tweak settings for different styles of music. However, there's a much easier way casual iTunes users probably aren't aware of. First, go to Edit > View Options, which pulls up a list of fields the program can display in its library window. Check the Equalizer box to show that particular column. Once it pops up, you simply use the pull-down menu in your library to select the preset or user-customized EQ setting you'd like to apply to a particular tune.

Print CD covers
Although iTunes won't let you design breathtaking, graphically intense CD covers, it does include a well-concealed feature that handles the basics. The program can generate no-frills cases from both playlists and CDs, which comes in handy if you're creating a custom mix for a friend. First, highlight either the disc in your PC's drive or the playlist in question. Then go to File > Print, which pops up a window that lets you choose from a few display styles and themes. Although this feature is a useful companion to the program's built-in CD-burning tool, it doesn't allow enough user customization to take the place of a dedicated cover-creation app.

Keep an eye on the kids
Some parents will want to keep their kids from running up the credit-card bill with a gaggle of unsupervised 99-cent downloads, while others may simply desire a way to block explicit material. Apple has solved these problems by adding parental-control features, accessible via Edit > Preferences > Parental Control. Check boxes let you disable podcasts, Music Store access, and sharing, as well as paid content that's unsuitable for minors. When you're all done, click the small lock icon to password-protect these settings.

The secret world of hot keys
If you've ever spent any time inside iTunes' menu items, you may have noticed the jukebox lists a number of hot keys for performing certain basic operations. For example, you can pause a track by hitting the spacebar or flip to the next song in your library by pressing Ctrl+left arrow key. What many users don't know--and what Apple doesn't tell you in the documentation--is that the program also lets you exercise a great deal of control over visualizations via quick keystrokes or combinations. Not only can you tweak the shape, effect style, and color of the visualizations, but you also can save up to 10 user-defined configurations for quick access to truly mesmerizing combinations you've discovered. The chart below lists all known hot keys for when iTunes is in Visualization mode:

N: Switch between normal or high-contrast colors.
R: Generate a new visualization pattern at random.
C: See visualization information.
M: Toggle among Random, User, and Freeze modes.
Q/W: Move through the list of visualization shapes.
A/S: Move through the list of visualization effects.
Z/X: Move through the list of visualization colors.
D: Reset to the default visualization.
F: Change the frame-rate display.
T: Change the frame-rate capping.
H: Go to Help.
I: Display/hide track information.
Shift+0–9: Save the current visualization configuration as present.
0–9: Access user-defined presets.
Left/right arrows: Move forward or backward through the library.
Up/down arrows: Adjust the volume.