What are the best practices for handling image paths in PHP when using mod_rewrite?

When using mod_rewrite in PHP to create clean URLs, it's important to handle image paths correctly to ensure they are properly served to the client. One common approach is to create a separate directory for images and use mod_rewrite rules to redirect requests for images to that directory. This helps to keep the image paths separate from the rest of the application's URLs and ensures that images are served efficiently.

RewriteEngine On

# Redirect requests for images to the images directory
RewriteRule ^images/ - [L]

# Handle all other requests with index.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [L]