diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7af77ec..0a1c236 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
-PHP Object wrapper for the Google Chart API
+> Google Image Charts API is **deprecated in 2012** and was **turned off on March 18, 2019**. This fork use [Image-Charts.com](https://www.image-charts.com) API instead.
+
+
+PHP Object wrapper for the ~Google Chart~ [Image-Charts](https://www.image-charts.com) API
 ===========================================
-A simple PHP Object wrapper for the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/chart/image_charts.html">Google Chart API</a>. Should help anyone who needs to automate the building of the Google Chart url. Supports (almost) all types of charts. 
+
+A simple PHP Object wrapper for the [Image-Charts API](https://www.image-charts.com) (a drop-in-replacement and backward compatible chart API with [Google Image-Charts](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/image_charts.html)). Should help anyone who needs to automate the building of the Chart url. Supports (almost) all types of charts.
+
 Prerequisites
 -------------
 To use this API, you should have a little PHP experience; a little patience to read the documentation; and a little persistence to keep trying if your first charts don't look as you expect them to.
@@ -14,14 +19,14 @@ Use the master branch for stable release, the experimental branch for the develo
 
 Pie Chart Example
 -----------------
-<img src="http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p&chs=350x200&chd=t:112,315,66,40&chdl=first|second|third|fourth&chco=ff3344,11ff11,22aacc,3333aa&chl=first|second|third|fourth&image.png"/> 
+<img src="https://image-charts.com/chart?cht=p&chs=350x200&chd=t:112,315,66,40&chdl=first|second|third|fourth&chco=ff3344,11ff11,22aacc,3333aa&chl=first|second|third|fourth&chof=.png"/>
 
 Pie chart using the gPieChart class generated by this code:
 
      $piChart = new gPieChart();
      // or if you installed via composer
      // $piChart = new gchart\gPieChart();
-     
+
      $piChart->addDataSet(array(112,315,66,40));
      $piChart->setLabels(array("first", "second", "third","fourth"));
      $piChart->setLegend(array("first", "second", "third","fourth"));
@@ -34,8 +39,8 @@ Installation via Composer
 To install using the Composer framework, first install Composer:
 
      curl -s https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
-     
-     
+
+
 Create a composer.json file in your project root:
 
      {
@@ -43,7 +48,7 @@ Create a composer.json file in your project root:
                "gchartphp/gchartphp": "dev-master"
           }
      }
-     
+
 Then run the install:
 
      php composer.phar install
diff --git a/gchart/gChart.php b/gchart/gChart.php
index 9fe08ff..51bff1d 100644
--- a/gchart/gChart.php
+++ b/gchart/gChart.php
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class gChart
      * @var string
      * @usedby getUrl()
      */
-    private $baseUrl = "chart.apis.google.com/chart?";
+    private $baseUrl = "image-charts.com/chart?";
 
     /**
      * @brief Data set values.
@@ -257,14 +257,14 @@ private function simpleEncodeData($data)
      * @brief Specifies the style of an axis.
      *
      * @param $axisIndex Integer This is a zero-based index into the axis array specified by setVisibleAxes
-     * @param $axisStyle String You can specify the font size, color, and alignment for axis labels, both custom labels and 
-     *                   default label values. All labels on the same axis have the same format. If you have multiple 
-     *                   copies of an axis, you can format each one differently. You can also specify the format of a 
+     * @param $axisStyle String You can specify the font size, color, and alignment for axis labels, both custom labels and
+     *                   default label values. All labels on the same axis have the same format. If you have multiple
+     *                   copies of an axis, you can format each one differently. You can also specify the format of a
      *                   label string, for example to show currency symbols or trailing zeroes.
-     *                   By default, the top and bottom axes do not show tick marks by the values, while the left and 
+     *                   By default, the top and bottom axes do not show tick marks by the values, while the left and
      *                   right axes do show them.
      *
-     *                   Refer to official documentation at: 
+     *                   Refer to official documentation at:
      *                   http://code.google.com/apis/chart/image/docs/gallery/bar_charts.html#axis_labels
      */
     public function addAxisStyle($axisIndex, $axisStyle)
@@ -275,18 +275,18 @@ public function addAxisStyle($axisIndex, $axisStyle)
      * @brief Specifies the style of an axis.
      *
      * @param $axisIndex Integer This is a zero-based index into the axis array specified by setVisibleAxes
-     * @param $axisTickLength Integer You can specify long tick marks for specific axes. Typically this is 
-     *                        used to extend a tick mark across the length of a chart. Use the addAxisStyle() 
+     * @param $axisTickLength Integer You can specify long tick marks for specific axes. Typically this is
+     *                        used to extend a tick mark across the length of a chart. Use the addAxisStyle()
      *                        method to change the tick mark color.
      *
-     *                        Refer to official documentation at: 
+     *                        Refer to official documentation at:
      *                        http://code.google.com/apis/chart/image/docs/gallery/bar_charts.html#axis_labels
      */
     public function addAxisTickMarkStyle($axisIndex, $axisTickLength)
     {
         $this->setProperty('chxtc', $axisIndex.','.$this->encodeData($axisTickLength, '|'), true);
     }
-     /* 
+     /*
      * Extended Text.
      *
      * This specifies integer values from 0-4095, inclusive, encoded by two alphanumeric characters.
@@ -747,7 +747,7 @@ public function renderImage($post = false) {
 		header('Content-type: image/png');
 		if ($post) {
 			$this->setDataSetString();
-			$url = 'http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chid=' . md5(uniqid(rand(), true));
+			$url = 'http://image-charts.com/chart?chid=' . md5(uniqid(rand(), true));
 			$context = stream_context_create(
 				array('http' => array(
 					'method' => 'POST',