Image to Base64

How to use the Image to Base64 Converter

1. Drop or select an image.
2. Choose the output format, Data URL, raw Base64, CSS background-image snippet, or HTML img tag.
3. Click Copy and paste the result wherever you need it.

Output format guide

• Data URL: a self-contained URI (data:image/png;base64,...) that can be used anywhere a URL is accepted: src attributes, url() in CSS, fetch calls, and more.
• Base64 only: the raw encoded string without the data: prefix. Use this when you need to pass the image data to an API endpoint or embed it in JSON.
• CSS background-image: ready-to-paste CSS rule: background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,...")
• HTML img tag: a complete <img src="data:..."> element you can drop directly into HTML.

When to use Base64 images

Base64-encoded images can be embedded directly in HTML, CSS, JSON, or email templates without a separate HTTP request. This reduces the number of network round-trips, which can speed up rendering for small assets.

However, Base64 increases file size by about 33%. For large images this overhead outweighs the benefit of avoiding an extra request. The general rule: inline images smaller than ~5 KB; use separate files for anything larger.

Common use cases

• Inline small icons in CSS without extra HTTP requests
• Email templates: embed images directly in HTML email to avoid blocked external images
• API payloads: send image data in a JSON body when a multipart upload endpoint is not available
• Single-file HTML: create self-contained HTML documents that work offline
• Critical images: inline hero images in HTML to eliminate the first render delay

Privacy

All conversion runs in your browser using the FileReader API. No images are uploaded to any server.