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!

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

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)