--- title: "Add Image to MP3: Cover Art or Video | audiogram.video" description: "Add a picture to an MP3: embed cover art in the file for music apps, or combine the audio and image into a square or 16:9 video for YouTube. Free, no watermark." url: https://audiogram.video/add-image-to-mp3 --- Free · no watermark · in your browser # Add an image to an MP3 Two different jobs share this name. Here is how to put artwork inside the MP3 itself, and how to turn the MP3 and a picture into a video. There are two ways to add an image to an MP3\. If you want the picture to show in a music player, such as Apple Music, VLC or your car’s screen, you embed it in the file’s tags with a tag editor; the file stays an MP3\. If you want to post the track on YouTube, Instagram or anywhere that only takes video, you combine the audio and the image into a new video file. The studio above does the second: open the MP3, add your picture under **Cover art**, and export an MP4 with the image and the sound together. It doesn’t change your original MP3\. The first job is covered step by step below, because if artwork in your music library is what you’re after, a video is the wrong answer. ## How to combine an MP3 and an image into a video 1. ### Open the MP3 **Square** is selected, which suits album art and most feeds. Choose **Landscape** for YouTube. Press **Choose an MP3** (Ctrl+O or ⌘+O). 2. ### Add the image In **Text**, press **Cover art** and pick a JPEG or PNG. The **Still cover** template shows it large on a soft-focus copy of itself, and the colours follow the picture. 3. ### Set the length Tracks over 75 seconds open on their liveliest 30 seconds. Drag **Clip start** and **Clip end** on the timeline to cover the whole track, up to 10 minutes. 4. ### Export the video Press **Export**, then **Export video** and **Download video**. **Cover image (.png)** in the same sheet saves the current frame as a picture, handy for a thumbnail. ## Embed cover art in the MP3 itself MP3 files carry a block of information called an ID3 tag: title, artist, album and, optionally, a picture. Music players read that picture and show it as the album art. Adding one changes only the tag, not the sound, and needs a tag editor rather than a video tool. ### On a Mac, with the Music app * Add the MP3 to your library (**File** → **Import**). * Click **Songs** in the sidebar, select the song, then choose **Song** → **Get Info**. * Click **Artwork**, then **Add Artwork**, choose the image and click **OK**. You can also drag a picture into the Artwork area. Music stores the picture in the MP3’s tag (an ID3 “attached picture” frame), so it travels with the file when you copy it elsewhere. Apple notes that WAV files can’t take artwork this way; convert them first. ### On Windows, with Mp3tag * Install Mp3tag (free) and drag the MP3 into its window. * Select the file. Right-click the cover box at the bottom of the tag panel, choose **Add cover…** and pick the image. * Save the tag (Ctrl+S). Mp3tag can also give a whole album the same cover in one go: select every track before adding the picture. A square JPEG of 500 to 1400 pixels is plenty for players; very large images make every file bigger. ## When you need a video instead Embedded artwork is invisible to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and most social sites. They accept only video, so the picture has to become a picture track. That is what the studio makes: an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound, which is the format all of them prefer. * **YouTube:** **Landscape** at 1080p. The [MP3 upload guide](https://audiogram.video/upload-mp3-to-youtube) covers YouTube Studio, titles and copyright. * **Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds:** **Square** or **Portrait**. * **Reels, TikTok and Shorts:** **Vertical**, with the strongest 30 seconds rather than the whole track. If the picture is a photo you love and the music is just the soundtrack, the [add music to a photo](https://audiogram.video/add-music-to-photo) page starts from the photo instead, with it filling the frame (on an iPhone, [iMovie and Photos memories](https://audiogram.video/add-music-to-photo-iphone) can do it too). ## Make the picture part of the design * **Keep it still:** in **Wave**, choose **None**, and under **Style** set **Progress** to **None**. The video shows only your image. * **A little movement:** the default **Seek bar** wave fills slowly along the bottom; **Cover art moves with the voice** under **Style** lets the picture pulse gently with the sound. * **More movement:** try **Vinyl** in **Templates** for a spinning record with your art as the label, or **Visualiser** for a ring around it. * **Shape:** **Cover art shape** under **Style** switches between **Rounded**, **Circle** and **Square**. ## Adding an image to an MP3: FAQs ### Does adding an image change the MP3’s sound? Embedding cover art in the tag doesn’t touch the sound at all. Making a video re-encodes the sound as 192 kbps AAC inside the MP4, while your original MP3 stays exactly as it was. ### Can this tool embed album art in my MP3 file? No. It makes a video from the audio and picture. To put artwork inside the MP3, use a tag editor such as the Music app on a Mac or Mp3tag on Windows, as described above. ### How do I add a picture to an MP3 for YouTube? Combine them into a video: open the MP3 here with **Landscape** selected, add the picture as **Cover art**, set the clip to the whole track and export. Upload the MP4 to YouTube. ### Can I add more than one picture? One picture per video: the cover art, or a full-frame photo under **Style** → **Background** → **Photo**. There are no slideshows here. ### What image size should I use? For a video, a square image of at least 1080×1080, or 1920×1080 for a full-frame landscape photo. JPEG and PNG both work. ### Are my MP3 and picture uploaded? No. Both are opened and combined in your browser. Captions aren’t needed for a music video; if you did press **Make captions**, only the selected clip’s sound would be sent to be written out. ## More ways to turn sound into video * [ Free audiogram maker Turn a recording into a video with a moving wave, cover art and captions. ](https://audiogram.video/) * [ Convert MP3 to MP4 with an image Give an MP3 a picture and save it as an H.264 MP4 at 720p or 1080p. ](https://audiogram.video/mp3-to-mp4) * [ Add music to a photo Put a song behind a single photo and save it as a video for posts and messages. ](https://audiogram.video/add-music-to-photo) * [ How to upload an MP3 to YouTube Give the audio a picture, then upload it in YouTube Studio, with copyright notes. ](https://audiogram.video/upload-mp3-to-youtube) * [ MP3 vs MP4 explained Sound format versus video container, with quality, size and when to convert. ](https://audiogram.video/mp3-vs-mp4)