Force <A Download /> to Download Image Instead of Opening Url Link to Image

href image link download on click

<a download="custom-filename.jpg" href="/path/to/image" title="ImageName">
    <img alt="ImageName" src="/path/to/image">
</a>

It's not yet fully supported caniuse, but you can use with modernizr (under Non-core detects) to check the support of the browser.

How to download a image on link click instead of opening it

You can use JS to add download attribute to a HTML element:

element.setAttribute('download','')

Or even simpler:

element.download=''

So, you can easily add this for each link with a href ending .jpg:

const links=document.querySelectorAll('a[href$=".jpg"]')
links.forEach(link=>link.download='')

Browser/HTML Force download of image from src=data:image/jpeg;base64...

Simply replace image/jpeg with application/octet-stream. The client would not recognise the URL as an inline-able resource, and prompt a download dialog.

A simple JavaScript solution would be:

//var img = reference to image
var url = img.src.replace(/^data:image\/[^;]+/, 'data:application/octet-stream');
window.open(url);
// Or perhaps: location.href = url;
// Or even setting the location of an <iframe> element, 

Another method is to use a blob: URI:

var img = document.images[0];
img.onclick = function() {
    // atob to base64_decode the data-URI
    var image_data = atob(img.src.split(',')[1]);
    // Use typed arrays to convert the binary data to a Blob
    var arraybuffer = new ArrayBuffer(image_data.length);
    var view = new Uint8Array(arraybuffer);
    for (var i=0; i<image_data.length; i++) {
        view[i] = image_data.charCodeAt(i) & 0xff;
    }
    try {
        // This is the recommended method:
        var blob = new Blob([arraybuffer], {type: 'application/octet-stream'});
    } catch (e) {
        // The BlobBuilder API has been deprecated in favour of Blob, but older
        // browsers don't know about the Blob constructor
        // IE10 also supports BlobBuilder, but since the `Blob` constructor
        //  also works, there's no need to add `MSBlobBuilder`.
        var bb = new (window.WebKitBlobBuilder || window.MozBlobBuilder);
        bb.append(arraybuffer);
        var blob = bb.getBlob('application/octet-stream'); // <-- Here's the Blob
    }

    // Use the URL object to create a temporary URL
    var url = (window.webkitURL || window.URL).createObjectURL(blob);
    location.href = url; // <-- Download!
};

Relevant documentation

• atob
• Typed arrays
• URL.createObjectURL
• Blob and BlobBuilder

Force Download an Image Using Javascript

You need to use server-side scripting for this. Search on stackoverflow.

Alternately, your server might allow you to alter headers dynamically via configuration.

Apache solution with mod_headers

Place your downloadable images in a directory. Inside this directory, create a .htaccess file with the following contents:

SetEnvIf Request_URI "([^/]+\.jpg)$" REQUESTED_IMAGE_BASENAME=$1
SetEnvIf Request_URI "([^/]+\.png)$" REQUESTED_IMAGE_BASENAME=$1
Header set Content-Disposition "attachment; filename=\"%{REQUESTED_IMAGE_BASENAME}e\"" env=REQUESTED_IMAGE_BASENAME

Test Request:

HEAD /test/Water%20lilies.jpg HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost

Test Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:03:52 GMT
Server: Apache/2.2.17 (Win32)
Last-Modified: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 14:00:00 GMT
ETag: "26000000017df3-14752-38c32e813d800"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 83794
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Water lilies.jpg"
Content-Type: image/jpeg

HTML5 Solution

You can use the HTML5 download attribute on anchors:

<p>Example 1<br>   <a href="http://dummyimage.com/600x400/000/fff.png" download>Download this image</a></p>
<p>Example 2<br>   <a href="http://dummyimage.com/600x400/000/fff.png" download="alternate-filename.png"><img       src="http://dummyimage.com/150x100/000/fff.png"></a></p>

How can I create download link in HTML?

This answer is outdated. We now have the download attribute. (see also this link to MDN)

If by "the download link" you mean a link to a file to download, use

  <a href="http://example.com/files/myfile.pdf" target="_blank">Download</a>

the target=_blank will make a new browser window appear before the download starts. That window will usually be closed when the browser discovers that the resource is a file download.

Note that file types known to the browser (e.g. JPG or GIF images) will usually be opened within the browser.

You can try sending the right headers to force a download like outlined e.g. here. (server side scripting or access to the server settings is required for that.)

Download File Using JavaScript/jQuery

Use an invisible <iframe>:

<iframe id="my_iframe" style="display:none;"></iframe>
<script>
function Download(url) {
    document.getElementById('my_iframe').src = url;
};
</script>

To force the browser to download a file it would otherwise be capable of rendering (such as HTML or text files), you need the server to set the file's MIME Type to a nonsensical value, such as application/x-please-download-me or alternatively application/octet-stream, which is used for arbitrary binary data.

If you only want to open it in a new tab, the only way to do this is for the user to a click on a link with its target attribute set to _blank.

In jQuery:

$('a#someID').attr({target: '_blank', 
                    href  : 'http://localhost/directory/file.pdf'});

Whenever that link is clicked, it will download the file in a new tab/window.

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