Free custom ringtones for iPhone 3GS using iTunes

I just got my new iPhone 3GS. As I walked through the Internet to search for ways to custom ringtones for my iPhone 3GS, I found the post written by daniel truly helpful. It works fine for iPhone 3GS, which I did not expect, as it was written on October 6, 2008, months before the availability of iPhone 3GS. And I cannot help but share the method (step by step) below:

Two months ago, I posted a tutorial entitled Free Custom Ringtones for iPhone 3G using only iTunes. Since then, this tutorial has gained great popularity. However, I’ve noticed that there are some differences between the newest version of iTunes – iTunes 8 and its previous versions (get the detailed info from http://www.apple.com). Therefore, it is very necessary to update that tutorial below:

Note: If you are using the purchased iTunes music to create ringtones for your iPhone, you need to get M4P to MP3 converter to help you convert the iTunes protected music to DRM free mp3 first.

To create free iPhone ringtones using iTunes 8:

1. Right click on the song you are going to make into a ringtone and select “Get Info.”

2. Go to the “Options” tab and go down to the “Start Time” and “Stop Time” check boxes. Check both boxes and input the time you want your ringtone to start/stop. The ringtone has to be 30 seconds or less. Click “OK” when you’re done.

3. Right click on your newly “clipped” song and select “Create AAC Version”. Or directly click the “Advanced” tab on the main menu of iTunes 8 and select “Create AAC Version” from the drop-down list. The song will be re-encoded using the start and stop times specified.
Note: If your menu item does not read “Create AAC Version” and reads “Create MP3 Version” or some other format, please go to ”iTunes -> Edit -> Preferences -> General”  and refer to the graphs below:

4. After the song is done encoding, navigate to your iTunes Music folder, locate your song, and drag it to your desktop. After the song is on your desktop go back to iTunes and delete the clipped version from you iTunes library (It won’t delete it from your desktop, it will only remove it from iTunes).

5. Go back the song on your desktop and right click on your song and choose “Properties”. Go to the name and extension section and change the extension from .m4a to .m4r (or you can just change the extension right from your desktop).

6. After the extension is changed simply double click on the file to add it to your iTunes library under the ringtones section. Sync your phone with iTunes and you’re done!

If the ringtone section isn’t available, please click “Edit -> Preferences” and refer to the graph below:

Note: Remember to go back into iTunes and uncheck your custom start and stop times for the original version of your song.