Data URI Generator

What Is a Data URI Generator?

A Data URI Generator converts text or file data into a Data URI, allowing the resulting content to be embedded directly into a URL rather than referenced as a separate resource. Data URIs can contain text, images, SVG files, HTML, CSS and other types of data.

This free Data URI Generator supports text input and local files and can produce Base64-encoded Data URIs. File processing happens directly in your browser, making the tool useful for developers, designers and anyone working with embedded web resources.

Why Use the Data URI Generator?

Generating Data URIs manually can be inconvenient, particularly when working with binary files or long Base64 strings. This tool automates the encoding process and provides a ready-to-use result.

How to Use the Data URI Generator

Choose whether you are converting text or a file, configure the MIME type and encoding, then generate your Data URI.

1. Choose an input method — Select Text Input to enter content manually or File Input to choose a file from your device.
2. Choose the MIME type — Select the appropriate media type or enter a custom MIME type when necessary.
3. Select encoding — Keep Base64 enabled for binary data or disable it for percent-encoded text data.
4. Generate and copy — Click Generate Data URI, review the result and copy it for use in your project.

How Data URIs Work

A Data URI uses the data: URI scheme to place data directly inside a URI. A typical Data URI begins with the data scheme, followed by a media type and optional encoding information, then the actual data. A Base64 example has the general structure data:image/png;base64,....

For text resources, data can be represented using percent encoding instead of Base64. Base64 is particularly useful when binary data needs to be represented safely as text, such as when embedding an image directly into HTML or CSS.

Data URI MIME Types

The MIME type identifies the type of data represented by the Data URI. Common examples include text/plain for plain text, text/html for HTML, text/css for CSS, image/png for PNG images and image/svg+xml for SVG content. Selecting an appropriate MIME type helps the receiving application interpret the embedded data correctly.

Base64 Data URIs for Images

One common use of Data URIs is embedding small images directly into HTML or CSS. For example, a PNG can be represented using a Data URI beginning with data:image/png;base64, followed by its Base64-encoded contents. This can eliminate a separate image request, although the resulting document may become larger.

Data URI Considerations

Data URIs are generally most useful for relatively small resources. Base64 encoding increases the size of binary data compared with the original representation, and embedding large resources can make HTML and CSS files unnecessarily large and difficult to maintain.

The generated result is created locally in your browser. When using file input, the browser reads the selected file and converts it into the requested representation. The tool does not need to upload the file to a server for conversion.

Frequently Asked Questions