What is Base64?
Base64 is an encoding scheme that converts binary data into ASCII text. It's commonly used to embed images directly in HTML, CSS, or JSON without needing separate image files.
Common Use Cases
- CSS: Embed small icons as background-image data URIs
- HTML: Inline images using <img src="data:...">
- Email: Embed images in HTML emails
- APIs: Send images in JSON payloads
Size Considerations
Base64 encoding increases file size by approximately 33%. It's best suited for small images (icons, thumbnails) where the overhead of additional HTTP requests outweighs the size increase.