from base64 import b64encode
from json import dumps
ENCODING = 'utf-8'
IMAGE_NAME = 'spam.jpg'
JSON_NAME = 'output.json'
# first: reading the binary stuff
# note the 'rb' flag
# result: bytes
with open(IMAGE_NAME, 'rb') as open_file:
byte_content = open_file.read()
# second: base64 encode read data
# result: bytes (again)
base64_bytes = b64encode(byte_content)
# third: decode these bytes to text
# result: string (in utf-8)
base64_string = base64_bytes.decode(ENCODING)
# optional: doing stuff with the data
# result here: some dict
raw_data = {IMAGE_NAME: base64_string}
# now: encoding the data to json
# result: string
json_data = dumps(raw_data, indent=2)
# finally: writing the json string to disk
# note the 'w' flag, no 'b' needed as we deal with text here
with open(JSON_NAME, 'w') as another_open_file:
another_open_file.write(json_data)