20

I want to convert my music from flac to ogg, and currently oggenc does that perfectly except for album art. Metaflac can output album art, however there seems to be no command line tool to embed album art into ogg. MP3Tag and EasyTag are able to do it, and there is a specification for it here which calls for the image to be base64 encoded. However so far I have been unsuccessful in being able to take an image file, converting it to base64 and embedding it into an ogg file.

If I take a base64 encoded image from an ogg file that already has the image embedded, I can easily embed it into another image using vorbiscomment:

vorbiscomment -l withimage.ogg > textfile
vorbiscomment -c textfile noimage.ogg

My problem is taking something like a jpeg and converting it to base64. Currently I have:

base64 --wrap=0 ./image.jpg

Which gives me the image file converted to base64, using vorbiscomment and following the tagging rules, I can embed that into an ogg file like so:

echo "METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE=$(base64 --wrap=0 ./image.jpg)" > ./folder.txt
vorbiscomment -c textfile noimage.ogg

However this gives me an ogg whose image does not work properly. I noticed when comparing the base64 strings that all properly embedding pictures have a header line but all the base64 strings I generate are lacking this header. Further analysis of the header:

od -c header.txt
0000000  \0  \0  \0 003  \0  \0  \0  \n   i   m   a   g   e   /   j   p
0000020   e   g  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0
0000040  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0  \0 035 332
0000052

Which follows the spec given above. Notice 003 corresponds to front cover and image/jpeg is the mime type.

So finally, my question is, how can I base64 encode a file and generate this header along with it for embedding into an ogg file?

dmikalova
  • 303

7 Answers7

9

i've just written a script that export / import images from OGG/Vorbis files using vorbiscomment. It is part of a music library conversion tool.

The revelent script is in the 'mussync-tools-transfert_images' function of this tool:

https://github.com/biapy/howto.biapy.com/blob/master/various/mussync-tools

Basically, i've written a reader and a writer for the metadata_block_picture format.

The code is quite complex:

      OUTPUT_FILE="/path/to/my-ogg-file.ogg"
      IMAGE_PATH="/path/to/my-cover-art.jpg"
      IMAGE_MIME_TYPE="image/jpeg"
      # Export existing comments to file.
      local COMMENTS_PATH="$(command mktemp -t "tmp.XXXXXXXXXX")"
      command vorbiscomment --list --raw "${OUTPUT_FILE}" > "${COMMENTS_PATH}"

      # Remove existing images.
      command sed -i -e '/^metadata_block_picture/d' "${COMMENTS_PATH}"

      # Insert cover image from file.

      # metadata_block_picture format.
      # See: https://xiph.org/flac/format.html#metadata_block_picture

      local IMAGE_WITH_HEADER="$(command mktemp -t "tmp.XXXXXXXXXX")"
      local DESCRIPTION=""

      # Reset cache file.
      echo -n "" > "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"

      # Picture type <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" 3 | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Mime type length <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" $(echo -n "${IMAGE_MIME_TYPE}" | command wc -c) \
                | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Mime type (n * 8)
      echo -n "${IMAGE_MIME_TYPE}" >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Description length <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" $(echo -n "${DESCRIPTION}" | command wc -c) \
                | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Description (n * 8)
      echo -n "${DESCRIPTION}" >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Picture with <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" 0 | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Picture height <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" 0 | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Picture color depth <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" 0 | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Picture color count <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" 0 | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Image file size <32>.
      command printf "0: %.8x" $(command wc -c "${IMAGE_PATH}" \
                | command cut --delimiter=' ' --fields=1) \
                | command xxd -r -g0 \
              >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Image file.
      command cat "${IMAGE_PATH}" >> "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"

      echo "metadata_block_picture=$(command base64 --wrap=0 < "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}")" >> "${COMMENTS_PATH}"

      # Update vorbis file comments.
      command vorbiscomment --write --raw --commentfile "${COMMENTS_PATH}" "${OUTPUT_FILE}"

      # Delete cache file.
      command rm "${IMAGE_WITH_HEADER}"
      # Delete comments file.
      command rm "${COMMENTS_PATH}"
Biapy
  • 1,074
8

Here's my solution for the /usr/bin/vorbiscomment: Argument list too long problem. I created a script and named it oggart. Just run it from the command line like this:

oggart /path/to/music_file.ogg /path/to/image_file

This tags your ogg file with METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE field. Easytag uses the old way of doing this with COVERART field instead of METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE. If you want Easytag compatibility then you can run the script like this:

oggart /path/to/music_file.ogg /path/to/image_file -e

Here's the script:

#!/bin/sh

FILE1="`basename \"$1\"`"
EXT1=${FILE1##*.}
EXTTYPE1=`echo $EXT1 | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'`

FILE2="`basename \"$2\"`"
EXT2=${FILE2##*.}
EXTTYPE2=`echo $EXT2 | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'`

OGG=""
if [ "$EXTTYPE1" = ogg ]; then
OGG="$1"
elif [ "$EXTTYPE2" = ogg ]; then
OGG="$2"
fi
if [ "$OGG" = "" ]; then
echo no ogg file selected
exit 0
fi

PIC=""
array=(jpeg jpg png)
for item in ${array[*]}
do
if [ "$item" = "$EXTTYPE1" ]; then
PIC="$1"
elif [ "$item" = "$EXTTYPE2" ]; then
PIC="$2"
fi
done
if [ "$PIC" = "" ]; then
echo no jpg or png file selected
exit 0
fi

if [ "$3" = -e ]; then
EASYTAG=Y
else
EASYTAG=N
fi

DESC=`basename "$PIC"`
APIC=`base64 --wrap=0 "$PIC"`
if [ "`which exiv2`" != "" ]; then
MIME=`exiv2 "$PIC" | grep 'MIME type ' | sed 's/: /|/' | cut -f 2 -d '|' | tail -n 1`
fi
if [ "$MIME" = "" ]; then
MIME="image/jpeg"
fi

vorbiscomment -l "$OGG" | grep -v '^COVERART=' | grep -v '^COVERARTDESCRIPTION=' | grep -v '^COVERARTMIME=' | grep -v 'METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE=' > "$OGG".tags

if [ "$EASYTAG" = N ]; then
echo METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE="$APIC" > "$OGG".tags2
else
echo COVERART="$APIC" > "$OGG".tags2
fi
vorbiscomment -w -R -c "$OGG".tags2 "$OGG"
vorbiscomment -a -R -t COVERARTDESCRIPTION="$DESC" "$OGG"
vorbiscomment -a -R -t COVERARTMIME="$MIME" "$OGG"
vorbiscomment -a -R -c "$OGG".tags "$OGG"

rm -f "$OGG".tags
rm -f "$OGG".tags2
Gareth
  • 19,080
Jason
  • 97
3

I'm not aware of anything that does it automatically by just pointing to the image.

However vorbiscomment can embed arbitrary tags, you just need to encode the image in base64 and then construct the tag in the correct format.

e.g vorbiscomment -a -t 'METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE=...' file.ogg newfile.ogg

you'll have to hack these steps into a script of some kind for it to be useful.

sml
  • 2,020
2

Like many landing on this post, I too, needed a way to get images into ogg files. @Biapy has it correct, the only way is to build the metadata_block_picture blob.

While extremely illuminating, Biapy's solution is complex only in the sense that it is hard to follow. Also, it is per-file, and I wanted a base64 blob I could use across all files in an album. So, building on Biapy's work, I wrote a script that only outputs a base64 blob. I'm worried about the width/height detection, but it hasn't let me down so far.

https://github.com/twopoint71/ogg-image-blobber

Bob Smith
  • 21
2

ffmpeg can be used to workaround the "Argument list too long" problem others mentioned when trying to embed large image files.

ffmpeg -i in.ogg -i metadata.dat -map_metadata 1 -codec copy out.ogg

where metadata.dat is a text file composed as:

;FFMETADATA1
METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE=<img_blob64>

where <img_blob64> is the base64 encoded blob as produced by the scripts provided by @biapy or @bob-smith

AlbertDude
  • 31
1

It is fairly clear that the OP meant ogg/vorbis which has been supplanted by ogg/opus in terms of performance here in 2025.

I use opustags to embed images into ogg/opus files:

$ opustags -h
opustags version 1.10.1

Usage: opustags --help
       opustags [OPTIONS] FILE
       opustags OPTIONS -i FILE...
       opustags OPTIONS FILE -o FILE


Options:
  -h, --help                    print this help
  -o, --output FILE             specify the output file
  -i, --in-place                overwrite the input files
  -y, --overwrite               overwrite the output file if it already exists
  -a, --add FIELD=VALUE         add a comment
  -d, --delete FIELD[=VALUE]    delete previously existing comments
  -D, --delete-all              delete all the previously existing comments
  -s, --set FIELD=VALUE         replace a comment
  -S, --set-all                 import comments from standard input
  -e, --edit                    edit tags interactively in VISUAL/EDITOR
  --output-cover FILE           extract and save the cover art, if any
  --set-cover FILE              sets the cover art
  --vendor                      print the vendor string
  --set-vendor VALUE            set the vendor string
  --raw                         disable encoding conversion
  -z                            delimit tags with NUL

So to add a cover to an audiobook file, e.g.,

opustags --output "Audiobook-2.opus" --set-cover "cover.jpg" "Audiobook.opus" --overwrite

This outputs to a new file (overwriting if it exists).

It is more convoluted to remove the image, e.g.:

opustags --in-place --delete=METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE Audiobook.opus

removes the image in place.

bvargo
  • 177
0

FFmpeg version 4.4 automatically supports embedding album art into Ogg containers with the Theora video codec (see "Ogg codecs" on Wikipedia for a list of supported codecs, although they may not all be supported by FFmpeg).

Here's an example converting an MP3 file with a video track containing album art to an Ogg file with Opus encoded audio and Theora encoded video:

$ ffprobe -hide_banner '01 - State of Grace.mp3' 
[mp3 @ 0x5594cbafe320] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, mp3, from '01 - State of Grace.mp3':
  Metadata:
    lyrics-eng      :  
    copyright       : š 2012 Big Machine Records, LLC.
    title           : State of Grace
    album_artist    : Taylor Swift
    album           : Red (Deluxe Version)
    date            : 2012
    track           : 01/22
    genre           : Country
    composer        : Taylor Swift
    disc            : 1/1
    comment         : Taylor Swift
  Duration: 00:04:55.81, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 321 kb/s
  Stream #0:0: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 320 kb/s
  Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg (Baseline), yuvj444p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 600x600 [SAR 72:72 DAR 1:1], 90k tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc (attached pic)
    Metadata:
      title           : Cover
      comment         : Cover (front)
$ ffmpeg -hide_banner -i '01 - State of Grace.mp3' -c:a libopus -b:a 128000 -c:v libtheora -q:v 10 '01 - State of Grace.ogg'
[mp3 @ 0x55ebe6d3cc40] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, mp3, from '01 - State of Grace.mp3':
  Metadata:
    lyrics-eng      :  
    copyright       : š 2012 Big Machine Records, LLC.
    title           : State of Grace
    album_artist    : Taylor Swift
    album           : Red (Deluxe Version)
    date            : 2012
    track           : 01/22
    genre           : Country
    composer        : Taylor Swift
    disc            : 1/1
    comment         : Taylor Swift
  Duration: 00:04:55.81, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 321 kb/s
  Stream #0:0: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 320 kb/s
  Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg (Baseline), yuvj444p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 600x600 [SAR 72:72 DAR 1:1], 90k tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc (attached pic)
    Metadata:
      title           : Cover
      comment         : Cover (front)
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:0 (mjpeg (native) -> theora (libtheora))
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:1 (mp3 (mp3float) -> opus (libopus))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[swscaler @ 0x55ebe6db69e0] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
[ogg @ 0x55ebe6d44c80] Frame rate very high for a muxer not efficiently supporting it.
Please consider specifying a lower framerate, a different muxer or -vsync 2
Output #0, ogg, to '01 - State of Grace.ogg':
  Metadata:
    lyrics-eng      :  
    copyright       : š 2012 Big Machine Records, LLC.
    title           : State of Grace
    album_artist    : Taylor Swift
    album           : Red (Deluxe Version)
    date            : 2012
    track           : 01/22
    genre           : Country
    composer        : Taylor Swift
    disc            : 1/1
    comment         : Taylor Swift
    encoder         : Lavf58.76.100
  Stream #0:0: Video: theora, yuv444p(tv, bt470bg/unknown/unknown, progressive), 600x600 [SAR 1:1 DAR 1:1], q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 90k fps, 90k tbn (attached pic)
    Metadata:
      title           : Cover
      DESCRIPTION     : Cover (front)
      encoder         : Lavc58.134.100 libtheora
      lyrics-eng      :  
      copyright       : š 2012 Big Machine Records, LLC.
      ALBUMARTIST     : Taylor Swift
      album           : Red (Deluxe Version)
      date            : 2012
      TRACKNUMBER     : 01/22
      genre           : Country
      composer        : Taylor Swift
      DISCNUMBER      : 1/1
  Stream #0:1: Audio: opus, 48000 Hz, stereo, flt, 128 kb/s
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc58.134.100 libopus
      lyrics-eng      :  
      copyright       : š 2012 Big Machine Records, LLC.
      title           : State of Grace
      ALBUMARTIST     : Taylor Swift
      album           : Red (Deluxe Version)
      date            : 2012
      TRACKNUMBER     : 01/22
      genre           : Country
      composer        : Taylor Swift
      DISCNUMBER      : 1/1
      DESCRIPTION     : Taylor Swift
[mp3float @ 0x55ebe6d96360] Header missing time=00:04:31.63 bitrate=   0.1kbits/s speed=59.8x    64x    
Error while decoding stream #0:0: Invalid data found when processing input
frame=    1 fps=0.2 q=-0.0 Lsize=    4929kB time=00:04:55.79 bitrate= 136.5kbits/s speed=59.8x    
video:58kB audio:4830kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:3kB muxing overhead: 0.845459%
$ mpv '01 - State of Grace.ogg'
 (+) Video --vid=1 'Cover' (theora 600x600)
 (+) Audio --aid=1 'State of Grace' (opus 2ch 48000Hz)
AO: [alsa] 48000Hz stereo 2ch float
VO: [gpu] 600x600 yuv444p
(Paused) AV: -00:00:00 / 00:04:55 (0%)

Exiting... (Quit)
$

I wrote a more detailed answer about how to do this here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/70166081/17549713

user17549713
  • 11