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ImageWriteBase64

Last update:
May 18, 2026

Description

Writes Base64 images to the specified on-disk or in-memory destination.

Returns

Base64 string.

Category

Function syntax

ImageWriteBase64(name, destination, format [, inHTMLFormat, overwrite])

See also

History

ColdFusion 8: Added this function.

Parameters

Parameter
Description
name
Required. The ColdFusion image on which this operation is performed.
destination
Required. The absolute or relative on-disk or in-memory pathname where you write the file.
format
Required. The format
inHTMLFormat
Optional. Specify whether Base64 output includes the headers used by the Base64 images in the HTML <img> tag ("data:image/<format>;base64,...") :
  • yes
  • no (default)
overwrite
Optional. If set to true, overwrites the destination file.

Usage

You use the ImageWriteBase64 function to encode image data as a string of printable characters. This is useful for several applications, including sending images by e-mail and storing images in database text fields.Use the following syntax to specify an in-memory file, which is not written to disk. In-memory files speed processing of transient data.
ram:///filepath
The filepath can include directories, for example ram:///petStore/images/poodle.jpg. Create the directories in the path before you specify the file. For more information on using in-memory files, see Working with in-memory files in Optimizing ColdFusion applications in the Developing ColdFusion Applications. If you do not specify a file format, ColdFusion cannot recognize the format required to encode the image before converting to Base64, and generates errors.You can verify whether ColdFusion reads a Base64 string properly in the following ways:
  • Use the cfdump tag. For example: <cfdump var="#myImage#">
  • Use the ImageInfo function. For example: <cfset ImageInfo(myImage)>
  • Use the ImageWrite function and save the image as a JPEG file. Then open the JPEG file in a browser or imaging application.

Example

<!--- Create a new ColdFusion image. --->
<cfset myImage=ImageNew("../cfdocs/images/artgallery/jeff01.jpg")>
<!--- Convert the image to Base64 format and write it to a file.--->
<cfset ImageWriteBase64(myImage,"jeffBase64.txt","jpg","yes")>

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