Create image data URIs (base64) using PHP

gistfile1.php

// A few settings
$image = 'cricci.jpg';

// Read image path, convert to base64 encoding
$imageData = base64_encode(file_get_contents($image));

// Format the image SRC:  data:{mime};base64,{data};
$src = 'data: '.mime_content_type($image).';base64,'.$imageData;

// Echo out a sample image
echo '<img src="',$src,'">';

Thanks