I'm after an osx program that will convert an image into a base64 string (for web development).

Basically replicates this: http://webcodertools.com/imagetobase64converter/Create

I suspect there is no application, and in that case I'd be interested if I can get the terminal command which will encode, to apply to a certain file on Right-Click

_{Followup question: Can I give Automator apps a window?}

SOLUTION

I combined the two solutions below, to create an application with the following code

for f in "$@"
do
    openssl base64 -in "$f" | pbcopy
done

And infact I made a dropzone target using Platypus, as shown in my subsequent SO question/answer

Solution 1:

Base64 Automator Droplet

You can use Automator to create your own Base64 droplet. Mac OS X includes openssl which can encode files to Base64; this superuser question explains how, OS X: Base64 encode via command line

1. Launch Automator.app
2. Create a new application
3. Add a Run Shell Script action
4. Set Pass input: to as arguments
5. Within the script, replace echo with the script below.
6. Save your workflow as an application

To use your application, drag and drop files onto it. A new base64 encoded file will appear next to the original file.

Shell Script

for f in "$@"
do
    openssl base64 -in "$f" -out "$f.b64"
done

To learn more about using Automator, see Apple's Mac Basics: Automator.

Solution 2:

One of your possibilites is :

• Create an Automator service
• At the top select : Service receives selected image files in Finder
• Add a Shell Script action
• Put the following script in it
  • openssl base64 < "$1" | pbcopy
• Save the service

Now you can from the contextual menu > Service > yourServiceName of every image in the finder get the base64 encoding copied into your clipboard !