How to convert an image to base64 encoding in PHP?

The base64_encode() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to convert any data to base64 encoding. In order to convert an image into base64 encoding firstly need to get the contents of file. This can be done with the help of file_get_contents() function of PHP. Then pass this raw data to base64_encode() function to encode.

Required Function:

• base64_encode() Function The base64_encode() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to Encodes data with MIME base64. MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) base64 is used to encode the string in base64. The base64_encoded data takes 33% more space then original data.
• file_get_contents() Function The file_get_contents() function in PHP is an inbuilt function which is used to read a file into a string. The function uses memory mapping techniques which are supported by the server and thus enhances the performances making it a preferred way of reading contents of a file.

Input Image:

Program:

<?php

// Get the image and convert into string
$img = file_get_contents(
'https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/geeksforgeeks-22.png');

// Encode the image string data into base64
$data = base64_encode($img);

// Display the output
echo $data;
?>

Output:

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAApsAAAC4CAYAAACsNSfVAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJ
cEhZcwAADsQAAA7EAZUrDhsAAAAZdEVYdFNvZnR3YXJdhfdsglgklAEFkb2JlIEltYWdlUmVhZHlxyWqwrwtwefd
...
TeUsalQKBQKhUKhsBvK2FQoFAqFQqFQ2A1lbCoUCoVCoVAo7IYyNhUKhUKhUCgUdkMZmwqFQKBQKO0H0fxpZ1bfc

Reference:

• http://php.net/manual/en/function.base64-encode.php
• http://php.net/manual/en/function.file-get-contents.php

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.