Can I use an image from my local file system as background in HTML?
HtmlCssBackground ImageHtml Problem Overview
I've got an HTML document hosted on a remote web server. I'm trying to have one of the elements on the web page use an image file from my local file system as its background image. No luck with Chrome, Safari or Firefox (haven't tried IE).
Here's an example of what I've tried so far.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Experiment</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<style>
html,body { width: 100%; height: 100%; }
</style>
</head>
<body style="background: url('file:///Users/username/Desktop/background.png')">
</body>
</html>
If I inspect the body element using my browser's web inspection tool, and select "Open image in new tab" the image is there. So the browser is fully capable of getting at the image file using the given URL.
Is what I'm trying to pull off at all possible, or is this a security feature of the browser trying to block external domains from accessing the user's local resources?
Html Solutions
Solution 1 - Html
background: url(../images/backgroundImage.jpg) no-repeat center center fixed;
this should help
Solution 2 - Html
It seems you can provide just the local image name, assuming it is in the same folder...
It suffices like:
background-image: url("img1.png")
Solution 3 - Html
Jeff Bridgman is correct. All you need is
background: url('pic.jpg')
and this assumes that pic is in the same folder as your html.
Also, Roberto's answer works fine. Tested in Firefox, and IE. Thanks to Raptor for adding formatting that displays full picture fit to screen, and without scrollbars... In a folder f, on the desktop is this html and a picture, pic.jpg, using your userid. Make those substitutions in the below:
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {
background: url('file:///C:/Users/userid/desktop/f/pic.jpg') no-repeat center center fixed;
background-size: cover; /* for IE9+, Safari 4.1+, Chrome 3.0+, Firefox 3.6+ */
-webkit-background-size: cover; /* for Safari 3.0 - 4.0 , Chrome 1.0 - 3.0 */
-moz-background-size: cover; /* optional for Firefox 3.6 */
-o-background-size: cover; /* for Opera 9.5 */
margin: 0; /* to remove the default white margin of body */
padding: 0; /* to remove the default white margin of body */
overflow: hidden;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
hello
</body>
</html>
Solution 4 - Html
You forgot the C: after the file:///
This works for me
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Experiment</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<style>
html,body { width: 100%; height: 100%; }
</style>
</head>
<body style="background: url('file:///C:/Users/Roby/Pictures/battlefield-3.jpg')">
</body>
</html>
Solution 5 - Html
FireFox does not allow to open a local file. But if you want to use this for testing a different image (which is what I just needed to do), you can simply save the whole page locally, and then insert the url(file:///somewhere/file.png) - which works for me.