How to use the command 'picard' (with examples)

Picard is a powerful open-source music tagging application that helps organize and properly tag your music collection. Developed by the MusicBrainz community, Picard enables users to efficiently download music metadata and apply it to their local audio files, ensuring a well-organized digital music library. Its ability to identify audio files and automatically retrieve tags makes it an invaluable tool for music enthusiasts and collectors.

Start Picard

Code:

picard

Motivation:

Starting Picard without any arguments is the most basic way to launch this application. Even before you begin tagging your collection, it’s important to familiarize yourself with its user interface. This use case allows users to open Picard so they can explore various features, settings, and understand the workflow of tagging files. It’s beneficial if you are a newcomer to Picard or if you want to execute some of the basic functionalities like updating preferences or checking existing music folders from the graphical interface.

Explanation:

• picard: When you run the command picard, the application opens with its main window displayed. There’s no need for additional arguments when you just want to start the application. This is the default behavior that initiates the program without any preloaded files.

Example output:

Upon running this command, you will see the Picard application’s user interface, often featuring panels for unclustered files, clustered files, and a pane showing matched albums from the MusicBrainz database.

Open a set of files

Code:

picard path/to/file1.mp3 path/to/file2.mp3

Motivation:

Opening specific sets of files with Picard directly from your command line is incredibly convenient when you want to tag particular music files quickly. This method saves time for users who wish to skip browsing through folders within the application to find certain files. It is particularly useful if you have files scattered in various directories and you want to manage them without manually navigating through your file manager to drag them into Picard.

Explanation:

• picard: Calls the Picard application to be run.
• path/to/file1.mp3 and path/to/file2.mp3: These are placeholders for actual paths to your music files. Providing paths as arguments automatically loads the specified files into Picard, ready for tagging. You can input as many file paths as necessary to load multiple files simultaneously.

Example output:

After executing the command with the paths to your audio files, Picard will launch and open with the specified audio files already loaded into its interface. The files will appear in the unclustered or unmatched section, ready for further actions like clustering or getting metadata from the MusicBrainz database.

Display the version of Picard installed

Code:

picard --long-version

Motivation:

Knowing the version of Picard you are running is essential, especially when troubleshooting issues, ensuring compatibility with plugins, or following specific installation instructions. The command provides complete version details, including the build and any additional library versions, giving users a comprehensive overview of the software context on their system. This is particularly useful when requiring support or when checking if you need to upgrade to the latest version for new features or bug fixes.

Explanation:

• picard: This again calls the Picard application.
• --long-version: This argument outputs a detailed description of the installed version of Picard. It’s not limited to just the version number but can include additional build details, which can be valuable for technical support or development purposes.

Example output:

Executing this command might result in an output like:

MusicBrainz Picard 2.7.2
Python 3.9.0
Qt 5.15.2, PyQt 5.15.4, Mutagen 1.45.1, Discid 1.2.0, libdiscid 0.6.2

This gives information about the Picard version (2.7.2 in this case) along with the Python version it’s using and other libraries and tools involved.

Conclusion

Using Picard effectively can significantly improve how organized your digital music library is. From starting the application to opening specific files or checking the version you have installed, these use cases help you in various scenarios, ensuring that your experience with Picard is as smooth and beneficial as possible. Embrace these functionalities to harness the power of Picard for your music tagging needs.