I just tested some PNGs that I am currently using in a sprite. These are transparent arrows used for slideshow control. Four images make the sprite: Individual

I just tested some PNGs that I am currently using in a sprite. These are transparent arrows used for slideshow control. Four images make the sprite: Individual image sizes: 1811, 1809, 1774, 1817 bytes Combined in a sprite: 5970 bytes Individual images after base64: 2448, 2444, 2400, 2456 bytes Individual images base64+gzip: 1890, 1887, 1858, 1901 bytes Concatenate base64 files to simulate embedding in a CSS file: 9748 bytes Concatenated file + gzip: 7073 bytes