WHY DON'T MY PODCAST EPISODES SHOW THE PODCAST IMAGE?

When you look at the iTunes Store page for your podcast you see the podcast image (if there is one) you have referenced in your feed file. However, when you subscribe to a podcast and select an episode you don't see an image.

This is because the display is for 'cover art' belonging to the individual episode rather than the entire podcast. The artwork for this is embedded in the audio file rather than referenced in the feed file.

To embed an image in an audio file: having created an image (ideally 600x600):

• Open iTunes. In the sidebar, under 'Library', click 'Music'. It's probably best to select the list view from the buttons at top right. In iTunes 11 select the 'Songs' button at the top.
  
  
• Locate your podcast mp3 file and drag it into this list: it will be copied in.
   
• Select it and hit command-i (control-i on Windows) or choose 'Get info' from the File menu. Select the 'Artwork' tab at the top of the pane which opens.
  
•  Drag your image to the space. Click 'OK', and when you play the track you should see the artwork.

• Drag the episode file out to the desktop and upload this version to the server to replace the existing episode file.
• You can delete the copy in iTunes if necessary but if you are storing the file elsewhere you should replace it with this new version (which looks just the same, and note that the cover art does not appear in the QuickTime Player, nor in the iTunes Store page, only when you subscribe).

If yours is an 'enhanced' podcast - e.g. m4a with chapters and an image for each chapter - then the image for the first chapter will show when you start playing episode.

In iTunes v10 and earlier when you subscribe to a podcast with a different image embedded in each episodes, the image in the latest episode is the one which appears in album view, grid view and in the top section in coverflow view - either the first Chapter image, or an additionally embedded image if there is one. In iTunes 11 there is no Cover Flow and the image does not appear until you start playing the episode.