Matplotlib graphic image to base64

import cStringIO
my_stringIObytes = cStringIO.StringIO()
plt.savefig(my_stringIObytes, format="jpg")
my_stringIObytes.seek(0)
my_base64_jpgData = base64.b64encode(my_stringIObytes.read())

[edit] in python3 it should be

import io
my_stringIObytes = io.BytesIO()
plt.savefig(my_stringIObytes, format="jpg")
my_stringIObytes.seek(0)
my_base64_jpgData = base64.b64encode(my_stringIObytes.read()).decode()

I think at least … based on the documentation http://matplotlib.org/api/pyplot_api.html#matplotlib.pyplot.savefig