Custom Ringtones for iPhone using iTunes 8

iTunes makes it really easy to create your own iPhone ringtones with any music file. The following instructions are for Macs but I’m sure they are very similar for any PC.

Open iTunes and go to Preferences → General → Import Settings to make sure that you’ve selected “Import Using: AAC Encoder.”

Select the song that you want to make into a ringtone and listen to find the part that you want to use (I usually start with the chorus). Write down the start and stop times of the song while making sure it doesn’t exceed 40 seconds long.

Right-click the song and select “Get Info.” Click the “Options” tab and type in the start and stop times in minutes:seconds (ie 2:01) format, click “OK” when done.

Right-click your song again and select “Create AAC Version.” Wait for iTunes to convert your song. It will create a duplicate version and the ringtone file should be the one with the shorter time.

Delete the ringtone, making sure that you click “keep files” so you’re only removing the song from your playlist, not from your computer.

Find the file. It’s usually in your user folder under Music → iTunes → iTunes Music saved under the band’s name with an extension of m4a. Rename the m4a extension to m4r*

*For PCs: If you cannot view file extensions, go to your folder options in your windows explorer and change your view settings to uncheck the box for “Hide File Extensions for Known File Types.”

Double-click the ringtone file and iTunes will automatically add it to your ringtones folder in your iTunes Music Library. Connect your iPhone and sync your ringtone!

If you want to use a more sophisticated program to trim your songs, check out Audacity.

For more information on making your own ringtones, check out IntoMobile.