Consolidating images - sprites vs Base64

On Google some time ago I read an article on optimizing image use. Basically there is a way to combine multiple images...say small icons into one larger image and then use a method to display the part you need for ecah part of the page. Can anyone 开发者_如何学Gopoint me in the right direction on how to do this. Cant' seem to find it on google at the moment. Thanks!

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The technique is called CSS Sprites, knowing that will make it easy to find information about it.

You can read about it for example here:
CSS Sprites: Image Slicing’s Kiss of Death
CSS Sprites: What They Are, Why They’re Cool, and How To Use Them

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This is the best website for this. http://spriteme.org/

It will analyze your website and advise you on what images can be 'sprited' (is that the correct term?) and will generate the new CSS for you and the image(s) sprite(s)