# this code fragment will convert a GIF to python source code import base64 print "icon='''\\\n" + base64.encodestring(open("icon.gif", "rb").read()) + "'''" # here's the result icon='''R0lGODdhFQAVAPMAAAQ2PESapISCBASCBMTCxPxmNCQiJJya/ISChGRmzPz+/PxmzDQyZDQyZDQy ZDQyZCwAAAAAFQAVAAAElJDISau9Vh2WMD0gqHHelJwnsXVloqDd2hrMm8pYYiSHYfMMRm53ULlQ HGFFx1MZCciUiVOsPmEkKNVp3UBhJ4Ohy1UxerSgJGZMMBbcBACQlVhRiHvaUsXHgywTdycLdxyB gm1vcTyIZW4MeU6NgQEBXEGRcQcIlwQIAwEHoioCAgWmCZ0Iq5+hA6wIpqislgGhthEAOw== ''' # to use this in Tkinter: import Tkinter root = Tkinter.Tk() iconImage=Tkinter.PhotoImage(master=root, data=icon) Tkinter.Button(image=iconImage).pack()