image upload, resize THEN submit form

Posted on 16th Feb 2014 by admin

Ok so I have a form that requires the user to upload an image, and then do something with that image (using some ajax scripts), then fill out the rest of the form and submit. I have the upload script pretty much working, my problem is that I need to store the uploaded images temporarily just in case the user decides not to submit the form

Here's the process I would need:
1) Form loads
2) User fills out form
3) User uploads image (php + ajax)
a) image is resized to a large and thumbnail image using imagecopyresampled()
b) fullsize and thumbnail images should be stored in a temporary location ??
4) Image is dynamically displayed in the form after upload and resize (using some jQuery/ajax magic)
5) User performs some action to the uploaded image (using jQuery/ajax)

At this point, the user can submit the completed form, at which time a php script will will move the temporary (resized) fullsize and thumbnail images from the temp location to a permanent location on the server, and if the file saving succeeds, then it will write the form data to a MySQL server.

BUT if the user doesn't submit the form, I need the temporary files to be deleted.

Normally this would be handled by the temporary files being stored by the $_FILES array, but since I have to resize them after upload, the $_FILES["upload"]["tmp_name"] is automatically deleted after I resize it.

Please suggest an alternative solution. As I said, the upload script is done. It can upload and resize the images, but I need a way to store the images temporarily until the form is submitted.