Improve Website Performance With CSS Sprite Generator
CSS sprites are a way to reduce the number of HTTP requests made for image resources referenced by your site. Images are combined into one larger image at defined X and Y coorindates. Having assigned this generated image to relevant page elements the background-position CSS property can then be used to shift the visible area to the required component image.
CSS Sprite Generator is a web-based application that takes in a ZIP file containing individual images. It will return a combined image and all the CSS background-position rules required to display each component image. It accepts and can generate PNG, GIF and JPEGs and provides a range of options allowing you to tailor the output image and CSS to your site.
This technique can be very effective for improving site performance, particularly in situations where many small images, such as menu icons, are used. The Yahoo! home page, for example, employs the technique for exactly this.
Link: CSS Sprite Generator
