iTunes Ringtone Setup
  1. Open iTunes
  2. Find the song you would like to create a ringtone from, select it
    1. Decide where you would like the ringtone to start from, if you want it to start form the beginning that is easiest, however if you would like to start from a specific point in the song, find it and document the start point from the information bar (exact time to start, such as 0:32 for 32 seconds in)
  3. Right click on the song and select “Get Info”
  4. Select the “Options” tab
  5. Check the “Start Time” box and enter in the start time you would like as the start of the ringtone (0:00 to start from beginning, or use the documented time from earlier)
  6. Check the “End Time” box and enter the end time (this is calculated as 30 seconds longer than the start time, for instance if the start time is 0:32, than use 1:02. I have gotten as much as 40 seconds to work as well)
  7. If both boxes are checked and data is entered, click “Ok”
  8. Now we are ready to create the ringtone, right click on the track again and select “Create AAC Version”
  9. It will now create the ringtone and place it next to the original track, now lets do some house cleaning to put the original track back to it original state
    1. Right click on the original track and click “Get Info”
    2. Select “Options” tab
    3. Uncheck both “Start Time” and “End Time”
    4. Click “Ok”, now that track is back to its regular play state
  10. Now lets take the created file and prep it to be a ringtone, right click the 30 second version and select “Show in Windows Explorer”, of if you are using a Mac select “Show in Finder”
  11. If you see the track name as “xxxxxxx.m4a” than you are good to go, but if you see just “xxxxxxxx” without the “.m4a” than follow these steps
    1. In Windows Vista & 7, select “Organize” from the menu and select “Folder and search options”
    2. Select the “View” tab
    3. Find and uncheck the “Hide extensions for known file types”
    4. Click “Ok”
  12. Right click on the 30 second version and select “Rename”
  13. Change the extension at the end of the track name from “xxxxxxx.m4a” to “xxxxxxx.m4r”
  14. If prompted that it could render file unusable, change anyway. In OS X, you will be asked to use to “Keep .m4a” or “Use .m4r”, select “Use .m4r”
  15. Now let’s setup iTunes so you can manage your ringtones
    1. In iTunes, select “Edit” and click “Preferences”
    2. In the “General” tab, check the “Ringtones” box. I would also recommend to check the “Apps” and “Books” boxes as well while you are here to show your iPhone Apps and Books in iTunes
    3. Now Ringtones should show in iTunes
  16. Now we need to do some more cleanup, we need to delete the reference in iTunes to the 30 second .m4a that no longer exists
    1. Find the 30 second version in the Music Library and select it
    2. Hit delete or Right Click and select “Delete”
    3. When asked if you are sure to delete from library, hit “Yes”
  17. Now it is ready to import the ringtone to iTunes, and you can just drag and drop it into iTunes from Windows Explorer in Windows or Finder on a Mac
  18. The ringtone should now be listed in the Ringtones section
  19. Thats it, the ringtone is now ready to be synced into your iPhone.