I used RipIt ($24.95, thelittleappfactory.com) to compress my Kill Bill DVD to watch on my iPad. Trouble is, the movie is full of scenes spoken in foreign languages, and the English subtitles don’t appear in the file. Am I stuck missing all that awesome Tarantino dialogue?

RipIt won’t let you select subtitles when compressing DVDs, but HandBrake (free, handbrake.fr) will. You’ll need to grab the 64- or 32-bit version depending on your Mac’s processor (to learn which processor you have, see this Apple Support page: goo.gl/Pjsbe). HandBrake can’t defeat DVD copy protection, but if you get stuck, you can rip your disc with RipIt, then open the resulting file in HandBrake instead of the disc.

It’s worth it to always leave these options checked in HandBrake.

For a crash course in HandBrake-ing like a pro, check out our how-to at bit.ly/dJr9Pi, but here’s the skinny on subtitles: Like a movie’s audio, subtitles are divided into different tracks for different languages. On most commercial DVDs, one of these subtitle tracks is called Foreign Audio Search, and it contains any brief snippets of foreign dialogue subtitled into English. This isn’t to be confused with English subtitle tracks, which can contain captions for hearing-impaired viewers. Compress your movies with the Foreign Audio Search track enabled, and you’ll catch the elusive subtitles you’d otherwise miss.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE?

Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 
4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080