Hi all,
I'm trying to clean up my MP3 files by removing all tags except the most useful ones.
It has all worked great until I tried to use the ID3 TAG embedded picture features.
I've searched the posts and followed the suggestions there, also downloading the latest development version to try the 'picture' and 'cover' tag names with the "Remove fields except" action.
Usually I add cover arts to MP3 files using "Album Cover Art Downloader (ACAD)" a freeware from Sami Kyöstilä (skyostil@kempele.fi), a simple but handy application.
If I use the 'cover' tag in "Remove fields except" with files with the cover inserted by MP3Tag itself everything works like a charm.
If I use the same action with files with files with the cover inserted by Album Cover Art Downloader, the cover is not removed, but it is replaced with a 0 image of the same size of the original cover (ex. ALT-T before processing reports and shows a 500x500 image of 75k, after processing ALT-T reports a 0 image of 75k and shows a white image)
I suppose it is a bug of some sort either in ACAD or an incompatibility on the format used by ACAD and MP3Tag.
Any suggestion on how to solve the issue?
Consider that all my MP3 files have been "cover added" using ACAD and frankly, doing it all again is not a viable option 
If it might be helpful for finding or developing a fix I might also provide an "image tagged" file to work with.
Best Regards
Paolo
If you have a look inside your image-tagged mp3, what kind of tag-type do you see before the image?
The header of one of my mp3 looks like this: 00000000h: 49443303000000015E5454414C420000; ID3.....^TTALB..
00000010h: 000E00000054656E2046656574204869; .....Ten Feet Hi
00000020h: 6768545045310000000C000000414E44; ghTPE1.......AND
00000030h: 52454120434F5252434F4D4D00000019; REA CORRCOMM....
00000040h: 000000656E6700536F6D65207573656C; ...eng.Some usel
00000050h: 65737320636F6D6D656E7454434F4E00; ess commentTCON.
00000060h: 000004000000506F7054495432000000; ......PopTIT2...
00000070h: 0E00000054656E204665657420486967; ....Ten Feet Hig
00000080h: 685452434B0000000600000030352F31; hTRCK.......05/1
00000090h: 32545945520000000500000032303037; 2TYER.......2007
000000a0h: 415049430000334F000000696D616765; APIC..3O...image
000000b0h: 2F6A706567000300FFD8FFE000104A46; /jpeg...ÿØÿà..JF
000000c0h: 494600010101006000600000FFE10016; IF.....`.`..ÿá..
000000d0h: 45786966000049492A00080000000000; Exif..II*.......
000000e0h: 00000000FFDB00430001010101010101; ....ÿÛ.C........
000000f0h: 01010101010101010101010101010101; ................
00000100h: 01010101010101010101010101010101; ................
Is there a APIC -tag before the image starts?
Can you see your images in the Mp3tag cover-art (on the lower left panel)?
Following your sequence, in the attachment you can see what tag-type I see at the beginning of the file.
00000000 49 44 33 03 00 00 00 07 57 51 54 41 4C 42 00 00 ID3.....WQTALB..
00000010 00 29 00 00 01 FF FE 42 00 2E 00 42 00 2E 00 20 .)...ÿþB...B...
00000020 00 4B 00 69 00 6E 00 67 00 20 00 26 00 20 00 46 .K.i.n.g. .&. .F
00000030 00 72 00 69 00 65 00 6E 00 64 00 73 00 54 50 45 .r.i.e.n.d.s.TPE
00000040 31 00 00 00 15 00 00 01 FF FE 42 00 2E 00 42 00 1.......ÿþB...B.
00000050 2E 00 20 00 4B 00 69 00 6E 00 67 00 54 43 4F 4E .. .K.i.n.g.TCON
00000060 00 00 00 0D 00 00 01 FF FE 42 00 6C 00 75 00 65 .......ÿþB.l.u.e
00000070 00 73 00 54 49 54 32 00 00 00 53 00 00 01 FF FE .s.TIT2...S...ÿþ
00000080 45 00 61 00 72 00 6C 00 79 00 20 00 49 00 6E 00 E.a.r.l.y. .I.n.
00000090 20 00 54 00 68 00 65 00 20 00 4D 00 6F 00 72 00 .T.h.e. .M.o.r.
000000A0 6E 00 69 00 6E 00 67 00 20 00 2D 00 20 00 57 00 n.i.n.g. .-. .W.
000000B0 69 00 74 00 68 00 20 00 56 00 61 00 6E 00 20 00 i.t.h. .V.a.n. .
000000C0 4D 00 6F 00 72 00 72 00 69 00 73 00 6F 00 6E 00 M.o.r.r.i.s.o.n.
000000D0 54 52 43 4B 00 00 00 05 00 00 01 FF FE 31 00 54 TRCK.......ÿþ1.T
000000E0 59 45 52 00 00 00 0B 00 00 01 FF FE 32 00 30 00 YER.......ÿþ2.0.
000000F0 30 00 35 00 41 50 49 43 00 01 EA 6B 00 00 00 69 0.5.APIC..êk...i
00000100 6D 61 67 65 2F 6A 70 65 67 00 03 43 6F 76 65 72 mage/jpeg..Cover
00000110 20 49 6D 61 67 65 00 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 Image.ÿØÿà ..JFI
00000120 46 00 01 01 00 00 01 00 01 00 00 FF DB 00 43 00 F..........ÿÛ.C.
00000130 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000140 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000150 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000160 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000170 FF DB 00 43 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ÿÛ.C............
00000180 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000190 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
000001A0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
000001B0 01 01 01 01 01 FF C0 00 11 08 01 5D 01 5E 03 01 .....ÿÀ....].^..
000001C0 22 00 02 11 01 03 11 01 FF C4 00 1F 00 00 01 05 ".......ÿÄ......
000001D0 01 01 01 01 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 02 ................
000001E0 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B FF C4 00 B5 10 00 02 .........ÿÄ.µ...
000001F0 01 03 03 02 04 03 05 05 04 04 00 00 01 7D 01 02 .............}..
00000200 03 00 04 11 05 12 21 31 41 06 13 51 61 07 22 71 ......!1A..Qa."q
00000210 14 32 81 91 A1 08 23 42 B1 C1 15 52 D1 F0 24 33 .2.‘¡.#B±Ã.RÑð$3
00000220 62 72 82 09 0A 16 17 18 19 1A 25 26 27 28 29 2A br‚.......%&'()*
00000230 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4A 53 456789:CDEFGHIJS
00000240 54 55 56 57 58 59 5A 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6A 73 TUVWXYZcdefghijs
If I correctly decode the dump there is the APIC -tag before the image starts.
I can see correctly the images in the Mp3tag cover-art on many applications and on Mp3Tag, both on the lower left panel and in the Tags Window (ALT-T)
It's only after I apply the "Remove fields except" action with the following fields "TITLE;ALBUM;ARTIST;GENRE;TRACK;YEAR;COMMENT ITUNNORM;COVER" that the image gets reduced to 0 and both the lower left panel and the Tags Window show just a white square.
Following is the dump of the header post-processing.
00000000 49 44 33 03 00 00 00 07 57 51 54 41 4C 42 00 00 ID3.....WQTALB..
00000010 00 29 00 00 01 FF FE 42 00 2E 00 42 00 2E 00 20 .)...ÿþB...B...
00000020 00 4B 00 69 00 6E 00 67 00 20 00 26 00 20 00 46 .K.i.n.g. .&. .F
00000030 00 72 00 69 00 65 00 6E 00 64 00 73 00 54 50 45 .r.i.e.n.d.s.TPE
00000040 31 00 00 00 15 00 00 01 FF FE 42 00 2E 00 42 00 1.......ÿþB...B.
00000050 2E 00 20 00 4B 00 69 00 6E 00 67 00 43 4F 4D 4D .. .K.i.n.g.COMM
00000060 00 00 00 68 00 00 00 65 6E 67 69 54 75 6E 4E 4F ...h...engiTunNO
00000070 52 4D 00 20 30 30 30 30 30 39 30 30 20 30 30 30 RM. 00000900 000
00000080 30 30 39 43 39 20 30 30 30 30 31 42 33 43 20 30 009C9 00001B3C 0
00000090 30 30 30 32 33 30 45 20 30 30 30 33 44 30 42 45 000230E 0003D0BE
000000A0 20 30 30 30 33 38 32 42 35 20 30 30 30 30 37 44 000382B5 00007D
000000B0 45 44 20 30 30 30 30 38 30 30 30 20 30 30 30 31 ED 00008000 0001
000000C0 41 44 44 45 20 30 30 30 31 41 44 44 45 00 54 43 ADDE 0001ADDE.TC
000000D0 4F 4E 00 00 00 0D 00 00 01 FF FE 42 00 6C 00 75 ON.......ÿþB.l.u
000000E0 00 65 00 73 00 54 49 54 32 00 00 00 53 00 00 01 .e.s.TIT2...S...
000000F0 FF FE 45 00 61 00 72 00 6C 00 79 00 20 00 49 00 ÿþE.a.r.l.y. .I.
00000100 6E 00 20 00 54 00 68 00 65 00 20 00 4D 00 6F 00 n. .T.h.e. .M.o.
00000110 72 00 6E 00 69 00 6E 00 67 00 20 00 2D 00 20 00 r.n.i.n.g. .-. .
00000120 57 00 69 00 74 00 68 00 20 00 56 00 61 00 6E 00 W.i.t.h. .V.a.n.
00000130 20 00 4D 00 6F 00 72 00 72 00 69 00 73 00 6F 00 .M.o.r.r.i.s.o.
00000140 6E 00 54 52 43 4B 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 31 54 59 n.TRCK.......1TY
00000150 45 52 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 32 30 30 35 41 50 49 ER.......2005API
00000160 43 00 01 EA 6B 00 00 00 69 6D 61 67 65 2F 6A 70 C..êk...image/jp
00000170 65 67 00 03 00 43 6F 76 65 72 20 49 6D 61 67 65 eg...Cover Image
00000180 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 46 00 01 01 00 00 01 ÿØÿà ..JFIF......
00000190 00 01 00 00 FF DB 00 43 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ....ÿÛ.C........
000001A0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
000001B0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
000001C0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
000001D0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 FF DB 00 43 01 01 01 .........ÿÛ.C...
000001E0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
000001F0 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000200 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 ................
00000210 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 FF C0 ..............ÿÀ
00000220 00 11 08 01 5D 01 5E 03 01 22 00 02 11 01 03 11 ....].^.."......
00000230 01 FF C4 00 1F 00 00 01 05 01 01 01 01 01 01 00 .ÿÄ.............
00000240 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 ................
The strange thing is, that I can't detect any difference in the APIC-Section BEFORE and AFTER your "Remove fields except action".
Sorry, I can't reproduce this behaviour with my version 2.38a. If I remove all tags, excluding "TITLE;ALBUM;ARTIST;GENRE;TRACK;YEAR;COMMENT ITUNNORM;COVER" nothing will be changed on the cover. 
I think it is something triggered only if the cover has been inserted in the tags by using the application "Album Cover Art Downloader".
If I insert the cover art using MP3Tag everithing works like charm.
If it could be useful I could send you an MP3 with a cover inserted using that application so that you can check it out.
You can send me an example file for analyzing the issue to my support address.
I've tried to reproduce it with your sample file using this action
Action type: Remove fields except
Fields to leave (semicolon-separated): artist;album;title
and the cover was removed without any problems and no empty APIC tag.
Hi Florian,
probably I was not clear enough in my explaination, sorry.
What I intend to do is to remove all the fields EXCEPT the cover, and in that case the cover is replaced with the empty JPEG.
I use the following
Action type: Remove fields except
Fields to leave (semicolon-separated): TITLE;ALBUM;ARTIST;GENRE;TRACK;YEAR;COMMENT ITUNNORM;COVER
Thanks
Paolo