Artwork and Media Servers

🖼️ Artwork & Media Server Guide (Kodi, Emby, Jellyfin, Plex)

A major part of organizing a local media library is making sure posters, backdrops, logos, and thumbnails are properly detected and displayed by your media player.

This guide explains how Metadata Editor scans and previews local artwork in the 🖼️ Artwork & Details tab, how to link artwork directly into your NFO XML, and how Kodi, Emby, Jellyfin, and Plex handle local images vs. XML tags.

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1. Full Folder Artwork Detection

When you open an .nfo file (or click Import → Scan Folder for Artwork & Posters), Metadata Editor scans the media folder for all supported image formats (.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp, .bmp, .tbn).

It automatically classifies every image into its standard media center artwork slot based on both simple filenames (poster.jpg) and media-prefixed filenames (<MovieName>-poster.jpg):

Artwork Category	XML Aspect	Recognized Filenames (.jpg, .png, .webp, etc.)
Poster	poster	poster.*, folder.*, cover.*, movie.*, <MediaName>-poster.*, <MediaName>.*
Fanart / Backdrop	fanart	fanart.*, fanart1.*, backdrop.*, background.*, art.*, <MediaName>-fanart.*
ClearLogo	clearlogo	clearlogo.*, logo.*, <MediaName>-clearlogo.*, <MediaName>-logo.*
Landscape / Thumb	landscape	landscape.*, thumb.*, <MediaName>-landscape.*, <MediaName>-thumb.*
Banner	banner	banner.*, <MediaName>-banner.*
ClearArt	clearart	clearart.*, <MediaName>-clearart.*
DiscArt	discart	disc.*, discart.*, cdart.*, <MediaName>-discart.*
KeyArt	keyart	keyart.*, <MediaName>-keyart.*

What the Artwork Tab Shows

In the 🖼️ Artwork & Details tab:

• Left Preview Pane: Displays the currently selected artwork at high resolution, along with its Artwork Type badge, exact pixel dimensions (e.g., 1920 × 1080 or 1000 × 1500), file size, XML link status (✓ Linked in XML or Local File (Unlinked)), and an 🔍 Open Image button to view it in your default Windows image viewer.
• Right Gallery Card: Displays a visual thumbnail grid of all detected artwork files in the folder so you can click through your poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, clearlogo.png, landscape.jpg, etc.

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2. Linking Local Artwork into the NFO XML

By default, many scrapers leave local image filenames out of the .nfo XML file, or only include remote TMDb/TVDb URLs for actors.

If you click 🔗 Link All Artwork in NFO XML in the Artwork & Details tab (or via Import → Link Local Artwork into NFO XML), Metadata Editor writes standard Kodi / Emby / Jellyfin NFO artwork elements into your NFO XML:

<thumb aspect="poster">poster.jpg</thumb>
<thumb aspect="clearlogo">clearlogo.png</thumb>
<thumb aspect="landscape">landscape.jpg</thumb>
<fanart>
  <thumb>fanart.jpg</thumb>
</fanart>

• Idempotent & Safe: If an image is already linked in the XML, it will not be duplicated.
• Status Indicator: Once linked, each card in the Detected Folder Artwork gallery updates its badge to ✓ Linked in XML.
• Editable: Linked <thumb> and <fanart> nodes also appear in the Custom & Extra XML Tags section on the 📋 Metadata Form tab and in the 📝 Raw Text / XML Editor tab.

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3. How Media Players Use Local Images vs. NFO XML

Understanding how each media center prioritizes files helps avoid surprises:

🟣 Jellyfin & 🟢 Emby

1. Local Folder Files First: Emby and Jellyfin automatically scan the media folder for standard filenames (poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, landscape.jpg, clearlogo.png, banner.jpg, disc.png, or <MovieFileName>-poster.jpg).
2. NFO XML <thumb> / <fanart>: Emby and Jellyfin read <thumb aspect="..."> and <fanart> tags when importing NFOs, which is especially helpful when migrating libraries or explicitly declaring which file belongs to which aspect.
3. Important Tip — Duplicate NFO Files: If a movie folder contains both movie.nfo and <MovieFileName>.nfo (for example, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (1989).nfo and movie.nfo), Emby, Jellyfin, and Kodi prioritize <MovieFileName>.nfo. Always make sure you are editing the NFO file your media server prioritizes, or remove the redundant NFO file so both don't get out of sync.

🔵 Kodi

1. Local Artwork + NFO <thumb>: Kodi checks for local artwork files (poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, clearlogo.png, landscape.jpg) and also parses <thumb aspect="..."> and <fanart><thumb>...</thumb></fanart> directly from the NFO file during library scans.
2. Clicking 🔗 Link All Artwork in NFO XML ensures full compatibility with Kodi's local NFO scraper.

🟠 Plex Media Server

1. Local Media Assets: Out of the box, Plex does not read .nfo files natively—it relies on its Use Local Assets setting to automatically pick up poster.jpg, fanart.jpg / background.jpg, and banner.jpg directly from the folder.
2. Plex NFO Importer Agents: If you use third-party Plex plugins such as XBMCnfoMoviesImporter or XBMCnfoTVImporter, linking the artwork into the NFO XML via Metadata Editor ensures the importer agent maps your local images accurately.