Secret Image File

There may be a reason to hide the URL of an image you will be using on a web page.

There is a way.

Use PHP code to pull it in.

PHP code is never sent to the browser. Thus, using PHP to pull in the image and insert it into the web page will effectively obfuscate the image source file's location. When the web page is loaded, the PHP code is replaced with the encoded content of the image file itself.

The image type needs to be PNG, JPEG, or GIF. The image file name extension is a clue to its type. *.png is PNG. *.jpeg is JPEG. *.jpg is also type JPEG. *.gif is GIF.

As a demonstration, here is the Willmaster logo published with the browser having no reference to the image file's URL.

I have two things to show you about the code for the above.

1. The PHP code that encodes the image file content into Base64 code.
2. What the browser shows when you view the page source code.

Here is the image tag with PHP code that was used in the above demonstration to publish the image on this web page:

<img src="data:image/GIF;base64,<?php echo(base64_encode(file_get_contents('https://www.willmaster.com/images/wmlogo_icon.gif'))) ?>" style="max-width:100%;">

Here is what your browser shows when you tell it you want to view the source code of this web page.

<img src="data:image/GIF;base64,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" style="max-width:100%;">

When the PHP code is replaced with the content of the image file, the content is converted to Base64.

During the conversion, the image content increases in size by a third. The increase in size is something to consider before you hide large image files in this way.

Here is the template for creating your own image tag that hides the image file's URL.

<img src="data:image/{IMAGETYPE};base64,<?php echo(base64_encode(file_get_contents('{IMAGEURL}'))) ?>" style="max-width:100%;">

Replace {IMAGETYPE} with the image type and replace {IMAGEURL} with the URL of the image file.

When that is done, paste it into your web page source code, and you are good to go.

When an image file's URL really must be hidden, grabbing the file with PHP and displaying it as Base64 code can do the trick.

(This content first appeared in Possibilities newsletter.)

Will Bontrager