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Base64 Encode of 1x1px Transparent GIF

Just in case you need one. You can stretch it out to fill space as needed.

<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7">

Or a black one:

<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAUEBAAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=">

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  1. Rafael Ehlers

    Very very handy!

    Reply ↓
  2. zsitro

    where should i use it?

    Reply ↓
  3. Jan-Marten de Boer

    I use a transparent icon as cursor for one of my Narrowcasting solutions. That way, when you focus the browser window, the mouse disappears. Very neat trick. Set the cursor to none with a fallback to a transparant image. Works cross platform, cross browser.

    Reply ↓
    • Adam Parkes

      the purpose of hiding the cursor is?

    • Felix Kiunke

      THe purpose could be HTML5 Videos (cursor hiding like on youtube)

  4. Gigi

    Maybe will be useful write also where we can use this code.
    Can i use it with an href link to retrieve clicks statistics?

    Reply ↓
  5. Mathias Bynens

    http://probablyprogramming.com/2009/03/15/the-tiniest-gif-ever

    Reply ↓
  6. MAX

    wow thanks, i use it in combination with lazyload jQ plugin

    Reply ↓
  7. Viswanathan

    Good one… But IE7 will not support data URI, is there any alternative for that?

    Reply ↓
  8. Juan

    Thanks but I don´t understand the aplication of this code. Icons of 1×1?

    Reply ↓
  9. Pawel

    I think 2×1 would far more useful.

    Reply ↓
    • Julian Cizmic

      Yes, the point being to create a small file size. Anyway, you can always expand the file using the height and width attributes. However, this would only be useful in HTML e-mails, as using spacer GIFs on webpages isn’t very good web design.

  10. Muthu

    Give a demo. Plz.

    Reply ↓
  11. ApplePi

    Sounds like lots of n00bs around who weren’t around to remember the necessity ofthe venerable 1px x 1px transparent gif hack.

    Brings back memories. Mostly painful ones. :-)

    Reply ↓

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