diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 03c37bafa..80d00a7b8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- new built-in function stringToBase64
+
 ### Changed
 
 - fj-doc-maven-plugin, init, flavour : quarkus-version set to 3.29.2 across all the modules
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Background.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Background.kt
index c4b4845df..3ac65461c 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Background.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Background.kt
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ class Background : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "background" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
 
 
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Body.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Body.kt
index 056c3efb9..f4248d7f4 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Body.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Body.kt
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ class Body : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "body" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
     /**
      * Creates a new default Phrase instance.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Cell.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Cell.kt
index 85f44df26..02d451875 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Cell.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Cell.kt
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ class Cell : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "cell" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
     /**
      * Creates a new default Phrase instance.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Footer.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Footer.kt
index cbdd2fdab..2dac1a94b 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Footer.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Footer.kt
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ class Footer : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "footer" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
     /**
      * Creates a new default Phrase instance.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/FooterExt.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/FooterExt.kt
index d0e71d154..25d983109 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/FooterExt.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/FooterExt.kt
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ class FooterExt : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "footer-ext" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
     /**
      * Creates a new default Phrase instance.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Header.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Header.kt
index e880f3048..8dbdd760b 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Header.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Header.kt
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ class Header : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "header" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
     /**
      * Creates a new default Phrase instance.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/HeaderExt.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/HeaderExt.kt
index 19cb10189..699834215 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/HeaderExt.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/HeaderExt.kt
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ class HeaderExt : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "header-ext" ) {
      * Creates a new default Image instance.
      * @return the new instance.
      */
-   fun image( init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
-       return initTag(Image(), init);
+   fun image( text: String = "", init: Image.() -> Unit = {} ): Image {
+       return initTag(Image(text), init);
    }
     /**
      * Creates a new default Phrase instance.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Image.kt b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Image.kt
index c29d7fcbb..cfcd5495a 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Image.kt
+++ b/fj-doc-base-kotlin/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/kotlin/dsl/Image.kt
@@ -5,7 +5,15 @@ package org.fugerit.java.doc.base.kotlin.dsl
  *
  * This class will provide function to handle all image attributes and kids 
  */
-class Image : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "image" ) {
+class Image( text: String = "" ) : HelperDSL.TagWithText( "image" ) {
+
+   init { setText(text) }
+    /**
+     * Function to set text content for this element.
+     */
+
+   fun setText( value: String ) { addKid( HelperDSL.TextElement( value ) ) }
+
 
     /**
      * Function handling url attribute of the Image with specific check on type.
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/main/docs/doc_xsd_config_ref.html b/fj-doc-base/src/main/docs/doc_xsd_config_ref.html
index 369654e89..e69ec17d5 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/main/docs/doc_xsd_config_ref.html
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/main/docs/doc_xsd_config_ref.html
@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ <h1  style="font-weight: bold;">Reference xsd documentation for Venus - Fugerit
 		<span >An image to include in the document (roughly comparable to a HTML 'image' element)</span>
 				</td>
 				<td id="cell_19_2"  style=" width: 40%; border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 1px solid black; border-left: 1px solid black; border-right: 1px solid black; padding: 2px;">
+		<span >mixed </span>
 				</td>
 		</tr>				
 		<tr>
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/DocImage.java b/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/DocImage.java
index 3eb14b37b..c61f9e19d 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/DocImage.java
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/DocImage.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ The Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 
@@ -82,7 +83,9 @@ public static Collection<String> getAcceptedImageTypes() {
 	@Getter @Setter private String alt;
 	
 	@Getter @Setter private int align;
-	
+
+	@Getter @Setter private String content = "";
+
 	public String getResolvedBase64() {
 		return SafeFunction.get( () -> {
 			String res = this.getBase64();
@@ -94,7 +97,13 @@ public String getResolvedBase64() {
 	}
 
 	public String getResolvedText() {
-		return SafeFunction.get( () -> new String( resolveImage( this ) ) );
+		return SafeFunction.get( () -> {
+			if ( StringUtils.isEmpty( this.content ) ) {
+				return new String( resolveImage( this ) );
+			} else {
+				return this.content;
+			}
+		});
 	}
 	
 	public String getResolvedType() {
@@ -134,6 +143,8 @@ public static byte[] resolveImage( DocImage img ) throws IOException {
 				data = Base64Helper.decodeBase64String( base64 );
 			} else if ( path != null ) {
 				data = byteResolverHelper( path );
+			} else if ( StringUtils.isNotEmpty( img.getContent() ) ) {
+				data = img.getContent().getBytes( StandardCharsets.UTF_8 );
 			} else {
 				throw new IOException( "Null path provided!" );
 			}
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/parser/DocParserContext.java b/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/parser/DocParserContext.java
index 29d33c762..4e432c981 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/parser/DocParserContext.java
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/parser/DocParserContext.java
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ public void handleText( String text ) {
 			} else if ( this.currentElement instanceof DocInfo ) {
 				DocInfo docInfo = (DocInfo)this.currentElement;
 				docInfo.getContent().append( text );
+			} else if ( this.currentElement instanceof DocImage ) {
+				DocImage docImage = (DocImage)this.currentElement;
+				docImage.setContent( docImage.getContent()+text );
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-base/reflect-config.json b/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-base/reflect-config.json
index 399864159..30b81b6e6 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-base/reflect-config.json
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-base/reflect-config.json
@@ -1140,6 +1140,9 @@
   }, {
     "name" : "getClass",
     "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "getContent",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
   }, {
     "name" : "getId",
     "parameterTypes" : [ ]
@@ -1188,6 +1191,9 @@
   }, {
     "name" : "setBase64",
     "parameterTypes" : [ "java.lang.String" ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "setContent",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ "java.lang.String" ]
   }, {
     "name" : "setId",
     "parameterTypes" : [ "java.lang.String" ]
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/config/doc-2-1.xsd b/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/config/doc-2-1.xsd
index e6817940b..177a21b3b 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/config/doc-2-1.xsd
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/main/resources/config/doc-2-1.xsd
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 	 *
 	 * @project    : fj-doc-base
 	 * @creation   : 2023-08-18
-	 * @version    : 2.1.0-rc.3 (2025-03-22)
+	 * @version    : 2.1.0-rc.4 (2025-11-19)
 	 *
 	 * XSD for fugerit doc configuration
 	 */
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@
 			<xsd:documentation>An image to include in the document</xsd:documentation>
 			<xsd:documentation>(roughly comparable to a HTML 'image' element)</xsd:documentation>
 		</xsd:annotation>
-		<xsd:complexType>
+		<xsd:complexType mixed="true">
 			<xsd:attribute name='url' type='doc:urlType' use='optional'/>
 			<xsd:attribute name='type' type='doc:imageType' use='optional' />
 			<xsd:attribute name='scaling' type='doc:scalingType' use='optional' />
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/TestDocImage.java b/fj-doc-base/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/TestDocImage.java
index 0981dbbec..0b04565bc 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/TestDocImage.java
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/base/model/TestDocImage.java
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@
 
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 @Slf4j
 class TestDocImage extends HelperDocT {
 	
 	@Test
-	void testElement1() {
+	void testElement1() throws IOException {
 		DocImage image = new DocImage();
 		image.setUrl( DocImage.TYPE_JPG );
 		Assertions.assertEquals( DocImage.TYPE_JPG, image.getResolvedType() );
@@ -22,6 +24,12 @@ void testElement1() {
 		image.setUrl( "cl://txt/test.txt" );
 		Assertions.assertEquals( "test text", image.getResolvedText() );
 		log.info( "accepted types : {}", DocImage.getAcceptedImageTypes() );
+        String altTest = "alt test";
+        image.setContent( altTest );
+        Assertions.assertEquals( altTest, image.getResolvedText() );
+        image.setUrl( null );
+        image.setBase64( null );
+        Assertions.assertEquals( altTest.length(), DocImage.resolveImage( image ).length );
 	}
 	
 }
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/template/macro/html_element.ftl b/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/template/macro/html_element.ftl
index 4beb610b4..9833be9da 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/template/macro/html_element.ftl
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/template/macro/html_element.ftl
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@
 		<#if docImage.align = 2>
 			<#assign imageAlign="style='display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;'"/>
 		</#if>
-	</#if>	
-	<img <@handleId element=docImage/> ${imageAlign!''} <#if (docImage.alt)??> alt="${docImage.alt}" </#if> ${imageScaling} src="data:image/png;base64, ${docImage.resolvedBase64}" />
+	</#if>
+	<img <@handleId element=docImage/> ${imageAlign!''} <#if (docImage.alt)??> alt="${docImage.alt}" </#if> ${imageScaling} src="data:image/png;base64, <#if docImage.content?has_content>${docImage.content}<#else>${docImage.resolvedBase64}</#if>" />
 </#macro>
 
 <#macro handleList docList>
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc.xml b/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc.xml
index 2ae032f76..ae4f18876 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc.xml
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc.xml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
   		<image scaling="100" url="cl://test/img_test_teal.jpg"/>
   		<br/>
   		<page-break/>
-    	<table columns="3" colwidths="30;30;40"  width="100" id="excel-table" padding="2">
+	   <table columns="3" colwidths="30;30;40"  width="100" id="excel-table" padding="2">
     		<row>
     			<cell align="center" border-color="#000000" border-width="1"><para style="bold">Name</para></cell>
     			<cell align="center"><para style="bold">Surname</para></cell>
diff --git a/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc_alt.xml b/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc_alt.xml
index fc70804a2..a75a12a39 100644
--- a/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc_alt.xml
+++ b/fj-doc-base/src/test/resources/coverage/xml/default_doc_alt.xml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <doc
 	xmlns="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org"
 	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org https://www.fugerit.org/data/java/doc/xsd/doc-2-0.xsd" > 
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org https://www.fugerit.org/data/java/doc/xsd/doc-2-1.xsd" >
 
   <metadata>
   	<!-- Margin for document : left;right;top;bottom -->
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
   <body>
   		<image scaling="100" url="cl://test/img_test_teal.jpg"/>
   		<phrase leading="3">My sample title</phrase>
-    	<table columns="3" colwidths="30;30;40"  width="100" id="excel-table" padding="2">
+	  <image type="svg" alt="blank square"><![CDATA[<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="#000000" width="10px" height="10px" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M21,2H3A1,1,0,0,0,2,3V21a1,1,0,0,0,1,1H21a1,1,0,0,0,1-1V3A1,1,0,0,0,21,2ZM20,20H4V4H20Z"/></svg>]]></image>
+
+	  <table columns="3" colwidths="30;30;40"  width="100" id="excel-table" padding="2">
     		<row>
     			<cell align="center" border-color="#000000" border-width="1"><para style="bold">Name</para></cell>
     			<cell align="center"><para fore-color="#ffffff" style="bold">Surname</para></cell>
diff --git a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/config/FreeMarkerConfigStep.java b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/config/FreeMarkerConfigStep.java
index bfc0ad8a5..037688151 100644
--- a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/config/FreeMarkerConfigStep.java
+++ b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/config/FreeMarkerConfigStep.java
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ public int process(DocProcessContext context, DocProcessData data) throws Except
 			map.put(CleanTextFun.DEFAULT_NAME, new CleanTextFun());
 			map.put(FormatLocalDateTimeFun.DEFAULT_NAME, new FormatLocalDateTimeFun());
 			map.put(Base64ToStringFun.DEFAULT_NAME, new Base64ToStringFun());
+			map.put(StringToBase64Fun.DEFAULT_NAME, new StringToBase64Fun());
 		}
 		return res;
 	}
diff --git a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/fun/StringToBase64Fun.java b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/fun/StringToBase64Fun.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da85226d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/freemarker/fun/StringToBase64Fun.java
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun;
+
+import freemarker.template.SimpleScalar;
+import freemarker.template.TemplateMethodModelEx;
+import freemarker.template.TemplateModelException;
+import freemarker.template.TemplateScalarModel;
+
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.Base64;
+import java.util.List;
+
+public class StringToBase64Fun implements TemplateMethodModelEx {
+
+	public static final String DEFAULT_NAME = "stringToBase64";
+
+	@Override
+	public Object exec(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") List arguments) throws TemplateModelException {
+		FMFunHelper.checkParameterNumber( arguments, 1 );
+		String content = ((TemplateScalarModel)arguments.get( 0 )).getAsString();
+		return new SimpleScalar( Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString( content.getBytes( StandardCharsets.UTF_8 ) ) );
+	}
+	
+}
diff --git a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-freemarker/reflect-config.json b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-freemarker/reflect-config.json
index e58590f4c..2fb1d88e7 100644
--- a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-freemarker/reflect-config.json
+++ b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/META-INF/native-image/org.fugerit.java/fj-doc-freemarker/reflect-config.json
@@ -2029,6 +2029,42 @@
     "name" : "wait",
     "parameterTypes" : [ "long", "int" ]
   } ]
+}, {
+  "name" : "org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.StringToBase64Fun",
+  "methods" : [ {
+    "name" : "<init>",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "equals",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ "java.lang.Object" ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "exec",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ "java.util.List" ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "getClass",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "hashCode",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "notify",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "notifyAll",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "toString",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "wait",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "wait",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ "long" ]
+  }, {
+    "name" : "wait",
+    "parameterTypes" : [ "long", "int" ]
+  } ]
 }, {
   "name" : "org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.TextWrapFun",
   "methods" : [ {
diff --git a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/fj_doc_freemarker_config/template/macro/html_element.ftl b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/fj_doc_freemarker_config/template/macro/html_element.ftl
index 49eb49d82..f7f39cc04 100644
--- a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/fj_doc_freemarker_config/template/macro/html_element.ftl
+++ b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/main/resources/fj_doc_freemarker_config/template/macro/html_element.ftl
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 				<#assign imageAlign="style='display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;'"/>
 			</#if>
 		</#if>
-		<img <@handleId element=docImage/> ${imageAlign!''} <#if (docImage.alt)??> alt="${docImage.alt}" </#if> ${imageScaling} src="data:image/png;base64, ${docImage.resolvedBase64}" />
+		<img <@handleId element=docImage/> ${imageAlign!''} <#if (docImage.alt)??> alt="${docImage.alt}" </#if> ${imageScaling} src="data:image/png;base64, <#if docImage.content?has_content>${docImage.content}<#else>${docImage.resolvedBase64}</#if>" />
 	</#if>
 </#macro>
 
diff --git a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/freemarker-doc-process_alt.xml b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/freemarker-doc-process_alt.xml
index 91c4f9eca..a5066e3c8 100644
--- a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/freemarker-doc-process_alt.xml
+++ b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/freemarker-doc-process_alt.xml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 			<function name="messageFormat" value="org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.SimpleMessageFun"/>
 			<function name="sumLong" value="org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.SimpleSumLongFun"/>
 			<function name="base64ToString" value="org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.Base64ToStringFun"/>
+            <function name="stringToBase64" value="org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.StringToBase64Fun"/>
 		</chainStep>
 	</docChain>
 
diff --git a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/template/test_01.ftl b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/template/test_01.ftl
index 0f89f4be3..b290cd597 100644
--- a/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/template/test_01.ftl
+++ b/fj-doc-freemarker/src/test/resources/fj_doc_test/template/test_01.ftl
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
 
 		<para style="bold">base64ToString ${base64ToString('VEVTVA==')}</para>
 
+        <para style="bold">stringToBase64 ${stringToBase64('TEST')}</para>
+
 		<image url="png" base64="${imageBase64CLFun()}" scaling="25"/>
 
   		<para style="bold">italic ${messageFormat()}</para>
diff --git a/fj-doc-guide/src/main/docs/asciidoc/chapters/04_1_doc_freemarker_config.adoc b/fj-doc-guide/src/main/docs/asciidoc/chapters/04_1_doc_freemarker_config.adoc
index 4d78d42f9..d0d44c77c 100644
--- a/fj-doc-guide/src/main/docs/asciidoc/chapters/04_1_doc_freemarker_config.adoc
+++ b/fj-doc-guide/src/main/docs/asciidoc/chapters/04_1_doc_freemarker_config.adoc
@@ -209,6 +209,16 @@ NOTE: When using *skipfm* no FreeMarker template syntax should be used in the te
 | formats a LocalDate, LocalTime or LocalDateTime
 | (1) - the date/time to format, (2) - the format pattern
 
+| base64ToString
+| org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.&#8203;Base64ToStringFun
+| converts a base64 to string
+| (1) - base64 to convert to string
+
+| stringToBase64
+| org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.&#8203;StringToBase64Fun
+| converts a string to base64
+| (1) - the string to convert
+
 |========================================================================================================================================
 
 NOTE: These functions can all be loaded at once with the config step attribute _load-bundled-functions="true"_.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/PdfFopTypeHandler.java b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/PdfFopTypeHandler.java
index 0b6b85456..6ed0530b6 100644
--- a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/PdfFopTypeHandler.java
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/java/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/PdfFopTypeHandler.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import java.io.*;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ public class PdfFopTypeHandler extends FreeMarkerFopTypeHandler {
 
 	public static final DocTypeHandler HANDLER = new PdfFopTypeHandler();
 
+	public static final DocTypeHandler HANDLER_UTF8 = new PdfFopTypeHandler( StandardCharsets.UTF_8 );
+
 	public static final String ATT_FOP_CONFIG_MODE = "fop-config-mode";
 	public static final String ATT_FOP_CONFIG_MODE_DEFAULT = "default";
 	public static final String ATT_FOP_CONFIG_MODE_CLASS_LOADER = "classloader";
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/fm-fop-process-config.xml b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/fm-fop-process-config.xml
index e5084e926..45847ae0d 100644
--- a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/fm-fop-process-config.xml
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/fm-fop-process-config.xml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 		</chainStep>
 		<chainStep stepType="function">
 			<function name="base64ToString" value="org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.Base64ToStringFun"/>
+            <function name="stringToBase64" value="org.fugerit.java.doc.freemarker.fun.StringToBase64Fun"/>
 		</chainStep>
 		<chainStep stepType="map">
 			<map name="docBase" value="docBase"/>
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/template/macro/doc_element.ftl b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/template/macro/doc_element.ftl
index 5fe96a1d8..4f3c9a4f8 100644
--- a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/template/macro/doc_element.ftl
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/main/resources/fj_doc_mod_fop_config/template/macro/doc_element.ftl
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
 <#macro handleImage docImage>
 	<fo:block <@handleAlign alignValue=docImage.align/>>
 		<#if docImage.svg>
-			<fo:instream-foreign-object <#if (docImage.alt)??> fox:alt-text="${docImage.alt}" </#if> xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">${base64ToString(docImage.resolvedBase64)}</fo:instream-foreign-object>
+			<fo:instream-foreign-object <#if (docImage.alt)??> fox:alt-text="${docImage.alt}" </#if> xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><#if docImage.content?has_content>${docImage.content}<#else>${base64ToString(docImage.resolvedBase64)}</#if></fo:instream-foreign-object>
 		<#else>
 			<#if (docImage.scaling)??>
 				<#assign imageScaling="height='${docImage.scaling}%' content-height='${docImage.scaling}%' content-width='scale-to-fit' scaling='uniform' width='${docImage.scaling}%'"/>
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/TestIssue580SpecialCharacters.java b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/TestIssue580SpecialCharacters.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..277641264
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/java/test/org/fugerit/java/doc/mod/fop/TestIssue580SpecialCharacters.java
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+package test.org.fugerit.java.doc.mod.fop;
+
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.fugerit.java.core.lang.helpers.ClassHelper;
+import org.fugerit.java.core.xml.dom.DOMIO;
+import org.fugerit.java.doc.base.config.DocInput;
+import org.fugerit.java.doc.base.config.DocOutput;
+import org.fugerit.java.doc.base.config.DocTypeHandler;
+import org.fugerit.java.doc.base.config.DocTypeHandlerDefault;
+import org.fugerit.java.doc.mod.fop.PdfFopTypeHandler;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+
+@Slf4j
+class TestIssue580SpecialCharacters {
+
+    private static final String PATH_XML_SAMPLE = "issue/gh580/sample-gh580.xml";
+
+    private static final String PATH_XML_SAMPLE_ALT_FONT = "issue/gh580/sample-gh580-alt-font.xml";
+
+    private File testWorker( DocTypeHandler handler, String xmlPath, String outputPath ) throws Exception {
+        log.info( "xml path : {}, handler: {}, type: {}", xmlPath, handler.getClass().getName(), handler.getType() );
+        File outputFile = new File( outputPath );
+        log.info( "output file: {}, delete : {}", outputFile.getAbsolutePath(), outputFile.delete() );
+        try (Reader reader = new InputStreamReader( ClassHelper.loadFromDefaultClassLoader(xmlPath) );
+             OutputStream os = new FileOutputStream( outputFile ) ) {
+            handler.handle( DocInput.newInput( handler.getType(), reader ), DocOutput.newOutput( os ) );
+        }
+        return outputFile;
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * working example using SVG :
+     * <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="#000000" width="10px" height="10px" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M21,2H3A1,1,0,0,0,2,3V21a1,1,0,0,0,1,1H21a1,1,0,0,0,1-1V3A1,1,0,0,0,21,2ZM20,20H4V4H20Z"/></svg>
+     */
+    @Test
+    void testGeneratedPdf() throws Exception {
+        DocTypeHandler handler = PdfFopTypeHandler.HANDLER_UTF8;
+        File outputFile = this.testWorker( handler, PATH_XML_SAMPLE, "target/issue-gh580.pdf" );
+        Assertions.assertTrue( outputFile.exists() ) ;
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * working example using DejaVu Font https://dejavu-fonts.github.io/
+     */
+    @Test
+    void testGeneratedPdfWithAlternateFont() throws Exception {
+        DocTypeHandlerDefault handler = new PdfFopTypeHandler(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        String xmlConfig = "<config><docHandlerCustomConfig charset=\"UTF-8\" " +
+                "fop-config-mode=\"classloader\" " +
+                "fop-config-classloader-path=\"issue/gh580/fop-config-issue-580.xml\" /></config>\n";
+        Element element = DOMIO.loadDOMDoc( xmlConfig ).getDocumentElement();
+        handler.configure( element );
+        File outputFile = this.testWorker( handler, PATH_XML_SAMPLE_ALT_FONT, "target/issue-gh580-alt-font.pdf" );
+        Assertions.assertTrue( outputFile.exists() ) ;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/DejaVuSans.ttf b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/DejaVuSans.ttf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5f7eecce
Binary files /dev/null and b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/DejaVuSans.ttf differ
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/fop-config-issue-580.xml b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/fop-config-issue-580.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..34f7a4ff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/fop-config-issue-580.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+<fop version="1.0">
+
+    <!-- Strict user configuration -->
+    <strict-configuration>true</strict-configuration>
+
+    <!-- Strict FO validation -->
+    <strict-validation>true</strict-validation>
+
+    <!-- Base URL for resolving relative URLs -->
+    <base>.</base>
+
+    <!-- Font Base URL for resolving relative font URLs -->
+    <font-base>.</font-base>
+
+    <renderers>
+        <renderer mime="application/pdf">
+            <fonts>
+                <font embed-url="classpath://issue/gh580/DejaVuSans.ttf" embedding-mode="full">
+                    <font-triplet name="DejaVuSans" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
+                </font>
+            </fonts>
+        </renderer>
+    </renderers>
+
+
+    <!-- Source resolution in dpi (dots/pixels per inch) for determining the size of pixels in SVG and bitmap images, default: 72dpi -->
+    <source-resolution>72</source-resolution>
+    <!-- Target resolution in dpi (dots/pixels per inch) for specifying the target resolution for generated bitmaps, default: 72dpi -->
+    <target-resolution>72</target-resolution>
+
+    <!-- default page-height and page-width, in case
+         value is specified as auto -->
+    <default-page-settings height="11in" width="8.26in"/>
+
+</fop>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/sample-gh580-alt-font.xml b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/sample-gh580-alt-font.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b9804259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/sample-gh580-alt-font.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<doc
+        xmlns="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org"
+        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+        xsi:schemaLocation="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org https://www.fugerit.org/data/java/doc/xsd/doc-2-1.xsd" >
+
+    <!-- working example using DejaVu Font https://dejavu-fonts.github.io/ -->
+    <metadata>
+        <info name="margins">10;10;10;30</info>
+        <info name="doc-title">Basic example alt font</info>
+        <info name="doc-subject">fj doc venus sample source xml</info>
+        <info name="doc-author">fugerit79</info>
+        <info name="doc-language">it</info>
+        <info name="mod-fop-xslt-debug">true</info>
+        <info name="default-font-name">DejaVuSans</info>
+    </metadata>
+    <body>
+        <para font-name="DejaVuSans">Sample special characters reproducer ■ □ &#x25A0; &#x25A1; with font DejaVuSans</para>
+    </body>
+
+</doc>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/sample-gh580.xml b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/sample-gh580.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e9503baa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fj-doc-mod-fop/src/test/resources/issue/gh580/sample-gh580.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<doc
+        xmlns="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org"
+        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+        xsi:schemaLocation="http://javacoredoc.fugerit.org https://www.fugerit.org/data/java/doc/xsd/doc-2-1.xsd" >
+
+    <metadata>
+        <info name="margins">10;10;10;30</info>
+        <info name="doc-title">Basic example</info>
+        <info name="doc-subject">fj doc venus sample source xml</info>
+        <info name="doc-author">fugerit79</info>
+        <info name="doc-language">it</info>
+        <info name="mod-fop-xslt-debug">true</info>
+    </metadata>
+    <body>
+        <para>Sample special characters reproducer ■ □ &#x25A0; &#x25A1;</para>
+        <phrase>Working POC with SVG : </phrase>
+        <image type="svg" alt="blank square"><![CDATA[<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="#000000" width="10px" height="10px" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M21,2H3A1,1,0,0,0,2,3V21a1,1,0,0,0,1,1H21a1,1,0,0,0,1-1V3A1,1,0,0,0,21,2ZM20,20H4V4H20Z"/></svg>]]></image>
+    </body>
+
+</doc>
\ No newline at end of file