How to save a base64 image to user's disk using JavaScript?

I have converted the source content from the <img> html tag to a base64String using JavaScript. The image was displayed clearly. Now I want to save that image to user's disk using javascript.

<html>
    <head>
    <script>
        function saveImageAs () {
            var imgOrURL;
            embedImage.src = "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUA" +
                             "AAAFCAYAAACNbyblAAAAHElEQVQI12P4//8/w38GIAXDIBKE0DHxgljNBAAO" +
                             "9TXL0Y4OHwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==";
            imgOrURL = embedImage;
            if (typeof imgOrURL == 'object')
                imgOrURL = embedImage.src;
            window.win = open(imgOrURL);
            setTimeout('win.document.execCommand("SaveAs")', 0);
        }
    </script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <a href="#" ONCLICK="saveImageAs(); return false" >save image</a>

        <img id="embedImage" alt="Red dot">
    </body>
</html>

This code worked well when I set the image path as source for <img> html tag. However, when I pass the source as base64String does not work.

How to achieve what I want?

Answers:

Just to allow user to download the image or other file you may use the HTML5 download attribute.

Static file download

<a href="/images/image-name.jpg" download>
<!-- OR -->
<a href="/images/image-name.jpg" download="new-image-name.jpg">

Dynamic file download

In cases requesting image dynamically it is possible to emulate such download.

If your image is already loaded and you have the base64 source then:

saveBase64AsFile(base64, fileName) {

    var link = document.createElement("a");

    link.setAttribute("href", base64);
    link.setAttribute("download", fileName);
    link.click();
}

Otherwise if image file is downloaded as Blob you can use FileReader to convert it to Base64:

saveBlobAsFile(blob, fileName) {

    var reader = new FileReader();

    reader.onloadend = function () {    
        var base64 = reader.result ;
        var link = document.createElement("a");

        link.setAttribute("href", base64);
        link.setAttribute("download", fileName);
        link.click();
    };

    reader.readAsDataURL(blob);
}

Bad news! Be careful: IE is not supported: Caniuse link

In JavaScript you cannot have the direct access to the filesystem. However, you can make browser to pop up a dialog window allowing the user to pick the save location. In order to do this, use the replace method with your Base64String and replace "image/png" with "image/octet-stream":

"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KG...".replace("image/png", "image/octet-stream");

Also, W3C-compliant browsers provide 2 methods to work with base64-encoded and binary data:

Probably, you will find them useful in a way...

Here is a refactored version of what I understand you need:

window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
  const img = document.getElementById('embedImage');
  img.src = 'data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUA' +
    'AAAFCAYAAACNbyblAAAAHElEQVQI12P4//8/w38GIAXDIBKE0DHxgljNBAAO' +
    '9TXL0Y4OHwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==';

  img.addEventListener('load', () => button.removeAttribute('disabled'));
  
  const button = document.getElementById('saveImage');
  button.addEventListener('click', () => {
    window.location.href = img.src.replace('image/png', 'image/octet-stream');
  });
});

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

<body>
  <img id="embedImage" alt="Red dot" />
  <button id="saveImage" disabled="disabled">save image</button>
</body>

</html>

How to save a base64 image to user's disk using JavaScript?

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