It is basically an image which is a collection of different images put together to form a single image. The use of image sprites is done for two main reasons:
- For faster page loading since use only single image.
- It reduce the bandwidth used to load multiple images. This way less data is consume.
Image sprites are generally used for designing a graphic social media bar or a navigation bar to make it more attractive and efficient at the same time. It is just a method in HTML and CSS to implement more efficient way of putting images and designing web pages.
Example:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#navlist {
position: relative;
}
#navlist li {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style: none;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
}
#navlist li, #navlist a {
height: 44px;
display: block;
}
#home {
left: 0px;
width: 46px;
background: url('img_navsprites_hover.gif') 0 0;
}
#prev {
left: 63px;
width: 43px;
background: url('img_navsprites_hover.gif') -47px 0;
}
#next {
left: 129px;
width: 43px;
background: url('img_navsprites_hover.gif') -91px 0;
}
#home a:hover {
background: url('img_navsprites_hover.gif') 0 -45px;
}
#prev a:hover {
background: url('img_navsprites_hover.gif') -47px -45px;
}
#next a:hover {
background: url('img_navsprites_hover.gif') -91px -45px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul id="navlist">
<li id="home"><a href="default.asp"></a></li>
<li id="prev"><a href="css_intro.asp"></a></li>
<li id="next"><a href="css_syntax.asp"></a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
