Reputation: 475
I think it's an encoded image in the CSS but why would they do that? Does it save space is it to stop people from stealing the images?
background:url(data:image/gif;base64,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);}
Upvotes: 2
Views: 100
Reputation: 5122
it's basically a base64 output of that image , it used to save http requests and speed thing up
i think if you read this , you will get all needed information
When you should use base64 for images
Upvotes: 0
Reputation: 31006
It is called data url and contains an image in the GIF-format in this example. It saves you an extra HTTP request, but can only be used for smaller files, since some browsers limit the size of data urls. It has downsides though: Caching does not work properly for those images. Additionally, browser support is not very good at the moment (IE7 lacks support and IE8 limits the size to 32KB).
Upvotes: 4
Reputation: 27827
It's the whole contents of the gif in base64 format. It's just as easy to save the image as a file from the browser, so security is not the reason, but saving an extra HTTP request as others said.
Upvotes: 1
Reputation: 86805
It's to reduce HTTP requests. Personally I'm not a fan of this technique as it's more troublesome to maintain and update, and images can't download concurrently.
Upvotes: 2