Rails, paperclip and s3, prompt download or view images?

Question

So i got successfully working Paperclip and S3 uploading in RoR 3, but it turns out that some images are prompted to download and others can be viewed in the browser. What determines this behaviour?

Answer 1

Part of this could be browser-specific behavior based upon the MIME file type that the server is sending your browser. .png files are most often the culprit for forced download. See this SO question about the issues between IE uploads, old MIME types, etc.

If it is inconsistent on the type of picture, there is a way you can force a file to be downloaded, but no good way to force an image to be viewed in the browser.

Edit: I know that the forced download isn't rails specific, so here is the rails-specific version

Answer 2

Is one of the following helps you?

Paperclip Force Download

Rails 'link_to' to Download An Image Immediately Instead of Opening it in the Browser

Both of them says to send the file to the browser as attachment.