iPod and iTunes Hacks

Make a Custom Mix CD

Digital tools allow you to do cool analog things too! With the right tools, you can make some fly mix CDs.

Back in the good old days, creating mix tapes was the popular thing to do. You’ve probably created a mix for your car or for the gym, or maybe you’ve made a mix tape for your girlfriend or boyfriend. When making the mix, you’d carefully choose each song, searching for the best transitions possible. Then, you would spend hours making the tape jacket (carefully crafted of cut-out pictures from magazines and transparent tape). With iTunes, you can create your very own musical masterpieces again, but this time you’ll use a CD. Using iTunes’s built-in print feature, you can print jewel case covers, but what if you want to take your package to the next level? Let’s get mixing!

Creating the Playlist

You need to create a playlist if you want to burn a mix CD with iTunes. The following steps show how to set up a playlist so that it is ready to burn your mix CD.

Creating a new playlist.

To create a new playlist in iTunes, select New Playlist in the File menu or type Control-N (

-N on a Mac). A file named Untitled Playlist will appear in the Source menu.

Naming your playlist.

Once you create a new playlist, it will appear highlighted, allowing you to name it. At any time, you ...