Is there a way to have a Codeigniter controller return an image?

Question

I was wondering if there was a way for a controller to, instead of returning a string, or a view, return an image (be it JPG, PNG etc). For example, instead of ending with a $t

Answer 1

About the Phil's code:

In CodeIgniter 2.0, today, there are a one change that have to be made in order to make it work:

• The library has to be in /application/core/MY_Loader.php

I like to remark a small typo about the library's explanation:

• There is a mistake in the header "Basic output (default is jpeg)" because in fact the default is .png

Another solutions to the problem are:

I've made a small code to make it work with the core codeIgniter libraries:

    $this->output->set_header("Content-Type: image/png");
    $this->load->file('../images/example.png');

Or using the Image Manipulation Library

    $config['image_library'] = "GD2";
    $config['source_image'] = "../images/example.png";
    $config['maintain_ratio'] = TRUE;
    $config['dynamic_output'] = TRUE;

    $this->load->library('image_lib', $config);
    $image = $this->image_lib->resize();

In both cases you get the same image you get from the source but in the output.

But for me, I liked more the extension to the core library :-)

Thank you very much Phil.