<?php
$image = 'example.png';
// Read image path, convert to base64 encoding
$imageData = base64_encode(file_get_contents($image));
// Format the image SRC: data:{mime};base64,{data};
$src = 'data: '.mime_content_type($image).';base64,'.$imageData;
// Echo out a sample image
echo "<img src=\"$src\" alt=\"\" />";
?>