How to read images from MySQL database using PHP?

Question

How to read images from MySQL database using PHP?

If the images are stored in a BLOB in the database, how to use the binary data that I get and turn it into an image

Answer 1

To directly use the binary data as a an image source, you can use the data URI scheme, for example:

$uri = 'data:image/png;base64,'.base64_encode($row['binary-data']);

This URI can then be used directly as the image’s source:

background-image: url()

But that has some substantial disadvantages: Besides the lack of support for these data URIs in older browsers, data URIs do also have disadvantaged regarding payload, caching, and references.