Data URI’s can be useful for embedding images into HTML/CSS/JS to save on HTTP requests and consequently enhance your site loading time. The following function will create a Data URI based on $file for easier embedding.

data_uri.php

<?php
//Original source: https://css-tricks.com/snippets/php/create-data-uris/
function data_uri($file, $mime){
    $contents=file_get_contents($file);
    $base64=base64_encode($contents);
    echo "data:$mime;base64,$base64";
}
?>