# How to Add a Background Image in HTML: Methods, Properties, and What to Consider Adding a background image in HTML is one of the most common tasks in web design — and one of the most frequently done wrong. The good news: the core technique is straightforward. The nuance comes from understanding which approach fits your situation, and how CSS properties control the result. ## The Right Way to Think About Background Images Despite the name, **background images in HTML are almost always handled through CSS**, not HTML attributes. While HTML once had a `background` attribute for the `` tag, it's been deprecated since HTML4 and is not supported in HTML5. Modern web development separates structure (HTML) from presentation (CSS), which is why background images belong in your stylesheet or `