diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7cf62bcd..a05244ee 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 __pycache__
 .DS_Store
 .cache
+.eggs
 .tox
 build
 dist
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 3cb9cbc3..128e18fe 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ you have this package installed, then ANSI codes will be converted to HTML in
 your report.
 
 Creating a self-contained report
-----------------------------------
+--------------------------------
 
 In order to respect the `Content Security Policy (CSP)
 <https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/Security/CSP>`_,
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ convenient when sharing your results. This can be done in the following way:
 
    $ pytest --html=report.html --self-contained-html
 
+Images added as files or links are going to be linked as external resources,
+meaning that the standalone report HTML-file may not display these images
+as expected.
+
+The plugin will issue a warning when adding files or links to the standalone report.
+
 Enhancing reports
 -----------------
 
@@ -94,8 +100,17 @@ Raw HTML    ``extra.html('<div>Additional HTML</div>')``
 Plain text  ``extra.text('Add some simple Text')``
 URL         ``extra.url('http://www.example.com/')``
 Image       ``extra.image(image, mime_type='image/gif', extension='gif')``
+Image       ``extra.image('/path/to/file.png')``
+Image       ``extra.image('http://some_image.png')``
 ==========  ============================================
 
+**Note**: When adding an image from file, the path can be either absolute
+or relative.
+
+**Note**: When using ``--self-contained-html``, images added as files or links
+may not work as expected, see section `Creating a self-contained report`_ for
+more info.
+
 There are also convenient types for several image formats:
 
 ============  ====================
diff --git a/pytest_html/plugin.py b/pytest_html/plugin.py
index afc6275a..c530ae63 100644
--- a/pytest_html/plugin.py
+++ b/pytest_html/plugin.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import time
 import bisect
 import hashlib
+import warnings
 
 try:
     from ansi2html import Ansi2HTMLConverter, style
@@ -157,14 +158,20 @@ def create_asset(self, content, extra_index,
         def append_extra_html(self, extra, extra_index, test_index):
             href = None
             if extra.get('format') == extras.FORMAT_IMAGE:
-                if self.self_contained:
+                content = extra.get('content')
+                if content.startswith(('file', 'http')) or \
+                        os.path.isfile(content):
+                    if self.self_contained:
+                        warnings.warn('Self-contained HTML report '
+                                      'includes link to external '
+                                      'resource: {}'.format(content))
+                    html_div = html.a(html.img(src=content), href=content)
+                elif self.self_contained:
                     src = 'data:{0};base64,{1}'.format(
                         extra.get('mime_type'),
-                        extra.get('content'))
-                    self.additional_html.append(html.div(
-                        html.img(src=src), class_='image'))
+                        content)
+                    html_div = html.img(src=src)
                 else:
-                    content = extra.get('content')
                     if PY3:
                         content = b64decode(content.encode('utf-8'))
                     else:
@@ -172,9 +179,8 @@ def append_extra_html(self, extra, extra_index, test_index):
                     href = src = self.create_asset(
                         content, extra_index, test_index,
                         extra.get('extension'), 'wb')
-                    self.additional_html.append(html.div(
-                        html.a(html.img(src=src), href=href),
-                        class_='image'))
+                    html_div = html.a(html.img(src=src), href=href)
+                self.additional_html.append(html.div(html_div, class_='image'))
 
             elif extra.get('format') == extras.FORMAT_HTML:
                 self.additional_html.append(html.div(
diff --git a/testing/test_pytest_html.py b/testing/test_pytest_html.py
index 547aeed5..e4b8b929 100644
--- a/testing/test_pytest_html.py
+++ b/testing/test_pytest_html.py
@@ -418,6 +418,26 @@ def test_fail():
             assert link in html
             assert os.path.exists(src)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('src_type', ["https://", "file://", "image.png"])
+    def test_extra_image_non_b64(self, testdir, src_type):
+        content = src_type
+        testdir.makeconftest("""
+            import pytest
+            @pytest.mark.hookwrapper
+            def pytest_runtest_makereport(item, call):
+                outcome = yield
+                report = outcome.get_result()
+                if report.when == 'call':
+                    from pytest_html import extras
+                    report.extra = [extras.image('{0}')]
+        """.format(content))
+        testdir.makepyfile('def test_pass(): pass')
+        if src_type == "image.png":
+            testdir.makefile('.png', image='pretty picture')
+        result, html = run(testdir, 'report.html')
+        assert result.ret == 0
+        assert '<a href="{0}"><img src="{0}"/>'.format(content) in html
+
     def test_no_environment(self, testdir):
         testdir.makeconftest("""
             def pytest_configure(config):