How to receive php image data over copy-n-paste javascript with XMLHttpRequest

I try to make an image-upload functionality similar to the one GMail uses. You copy (CTRL-C) an image from your desktop and paste (CTRL-V) it onto the website. The image is then uploaded via a XMLHttpRequest to a php-script that handles the incoming file, whereby "handling" means renaming and storing on the server.

I can already fetch the image (and -data), but I am unable to successfully submit and receive the XMLHttpRequest. My Javascript code looks like that:

  document.onpaste = function(e){
        var items = e.clipboardData.items;
        console.log(JSON.stringify(items));
        if (e.clipboardData.items[1].kind === 'file') {
            // get the blob
            var imageFile = items[1].getAsFile();
            console.log(imageFile);
            var reader = new FileReader();
            reader.onload = function(event) {
                console.log(event.target.result); // data url!
                submitFileForm(event.target.result, 'paste');
            };
        }
    };

 function submitFileForm(file, type) {
        var formData = new FormData();
        formData.append('file', file);
        formData.append('submission-type', type);

        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
        xhr.open('POST', 'php/image-upload.php');
        xhr.onload = function () {
            if (xhr.status == 200) {
                console.log('all done: ');
            } else {
                console.log('Nope');
            }
        };

        xhr.send(formData);
    }

The handling php (php/image-upload.php) looks like that:

$base64string = $_POST['file'];
file_put_contents('img.png', base64_decode($base64string));

I think the $_POST['file'] stays empty, but I am not sure. What's more, I also encounter the "blob size" (displayed with console.log()) is way larger than the actual image size. But maybe that's no matter or caused by encodings.

The developer console displays this.

{"0":{"type":"text/plain","kind":"string"},"1":{"type":"image/png","kind":"file"},"length":2} image-upload.js:8
Blob {type: "image/png", size: 135619, slice: function}

If I view the file-info by right-clicking the actual image file, it shows 5,320 bytes (8 KB on disk) in size.

I do not necessarily need to use a XMLHttpRequest, it was just what came to my mind first. If there's a better way of achieving realtime image-uploading to a server with javascript, please let us know.

you copy (CTRL-C) an image from your desktop and paste (CTRL-V) it onto the website.

No, that is impossible. What you can paste is e.g. screenshots and images from the web, that's what gmail does.

Your biggest mistake is using FileReader when you already have a file, the $_FILES array is filled when there is a proper HTTP upload not for ad hoc base64 POST param. To do a proper HTTP upload, you just .append() a file or blob object (Files are Blobs).

This is a stand-alone PHP file that should just work, host the file, open it is a page, take a screenshot, then paste it while on the page and after a few seconds the image should appear on the page.

<?php
if( isset( $_FILES['file'] ) ) {
    $file_contents = file_get_contents( $_FILES['file']['tmp_name'] );
    header("Content-Type: " . $_FILES['file']['type'] );
    die($file_contents);
}
else {
    header("HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request");
}
print_r($_FILES);
?>

<script>
document.onpaste = function (e) {
    var items = e.clipboardData.items;
    var files = [];
    for( var i = 0, len = items.length; i < len; ++i ) {
        var item = items[i];
        if( item.kind === "file" ) {
            submitFileForm(item.getAsFile(), "paste");
        }
    }

};

function submitFileForm(file, type) {
    var extension = file.type.match(/\/([a-z0-9]+)/i)[1].toLowerCase();
    var formData = new FormData();
    formData.append('file', file, "image_file");
    formData.append('extension', extension );
    formData.append("mimetype", file.type );
    formData.append('submission-type', type);

    var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhr.responseType = "blob";
    xhr.open('POST', '<?php echo basename(__FILE__); ?>');
    xhr.onload = function () {
        if (xhr.status == 200) {
            var img = new Image();
            img.src = (window.URL || window.webkitURL)
                .createObjectURL( xhr.response );
            document.body.appendChild(img);
        }
    };

    xhr.send(formData);
}
</script>