Use base64 svg image as css content source

Question

I'm trying to use as css content and image (base64), but when I load the page is loaded like a broken link image.

Now, i'm using a website to download the base64 image and this is the css that i'm using that gives me the broken images:

.default:after{
    content: url('data:image/svg+xml;base64,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');
    position:absolute;
    width:100px;
    height:100px;
  }

if i open the "broken" base 64 image into a new chrome tab, this is the resulting error:

This page contains the following errors:

error on line 10 at column 1: Extra content at the end of the document Below is a rendering of the page up to the first error.

now, i've never used base64 images, but i have to do something special or it should be just copy and paste the autogenerated code?

thanks in advance for the help

**PS: i'm developing in localhost, i don't know if it could be the cause or not.

Answer 1

You can easily convert a SVG file to a base64 ecoded value for CSS background attribute with this simple bash command:

echo "background: transparent url('data:image/svg+xml;base64,"$(openssl base64 < path/to/file.svg)"') no-repeat center center;"

Tested on Mac OS X. This way you also avoid the URL escaping mess.

Remember that base64 encoding an SVG file increase its size, see css-tricks.com blog post