Load image with jQuery and append it to the DOM

I'm trying to load an image from a given link

var imgPath = $(imgLink).attr('href');

and append it to the page, so I can insert it into a given element for an image viewer. Even though I searched Stackoverflow and the jQuery docs without end, I can't figure it out.

After I load the image, I want to set different values to it, like width, height, etc.

Update:

This is what I got. The problem I'm having is that I can't run jQuery functions on the img element.

function imagePostition(imgLink) {

// Load the image we want to display from the given <a> link       
// Load the image path form the link
var imgPath = $(imgLink).attr('href');

// Add image to html
$('<img src="'+ imgPath +'" class="original">').load(function() {

    $(imgLink).append(this);

    var img = this;

    // Resize the image to the window width
    // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1143517/jquery-resizing-image

    var maxWidth = $(window).width();       // window width
    var maxHeight = $(window).height();     // window height
    var imgWidth = img.width;               // image width
    var imgHeight = img.height;             // image height
    var ratio = 0;                          // resize ration
    var topPosition = 0;                    // top image position
    var leftPostition = 0;                  // left image postiton

    // calculate image dimension

    if (imgWidth > maxWidth) {
        ratio = imgHeight / imgWidth;
        imgWidth = maxWidth;
        imgHeight = (maxWidth * ratio);
    }
    else if (imgHeight > maxHeight) {
        ratio = imgWidth / imgHeight;
        imgWidth = (maxHeight * ratio);
        imgHeight = maxHeight;
    }

    // calculate image position

    // check if the window is larger than the image
    // y position
    if(maxHeight > imgHeight) {
        topPosition = (maxHeight / 2) - (imgHeight / 2);
    }
    // x position
    if(maxWidth > imgWidth) {
        leftPostition = (maxWidth / 2) - (imgWidth / 2);
    }

    $(imgLink).append(img);

    // Set absolute image position
    img.css("top", topPosition);
    img.css("left", leftPostition);

    // Set image width and height
    img.attr('width', imgWidth);
    img.attr('height', imgHeight);  

    // Add backdrop
    $('body').prepend('<div id="backdrop"></div>');

    // Set backdrop size
    $("#backdrop").css("width", maxWidth);
    $("#backdrop").css("height", maxHeight);

    // reveal image
    img.animate({opacity: 1}, 100)
    img.show()

});

};

$('<img src="'+ imgPath +'">').load(function() {
  $(this).width(some).height(some).appendTo('#some_target');
});

If you want to do for several images then:

function loadImage(path, width, height, target) {
    $('<img src="'+ path +'">').load(function() {
      $(this).width(width).height(height).appendTo(target);
    });
}

Use:

loadImage(imgPath, 800, 800, '#some_target');

Here is the code I use when I want to preload images before appending them to the page.

It is also important to check if the image is already loaded from the cache (for IE).

    //create image to preload:
    var imgPreload = new Image();
    $(imgPreload).attr({
        src: photoUrl
    });

    //check if the image is already loaded (cached):
    if (imgPreload.complete || imgPreload.readyState === 4) {

        //image loaded:
        //your code here to insert image into page

    } else {
        //go fetch the image:
        $(imgPreload).load(function (response, status, xhr) {
            if (status == 'error') {

                //image could not be loaded:

            } else {

                //image loaded:
                //your code here to insert image into page

            }
        });
    }

var img = new Image();

$(img).load(function(){

  $('.container').append($(this));

}).attr({

  src: someRemoteImage

}).error(function(){
  //do something if image cannot load
});

after you get the image path, try either of following ways

1. (as you need to set more attr than just the src) build the html and replace to the target region

   $('#target_div').html('<img src="'+ imgPaht +'" width=100 height=100 alt="Hello Image" />');
   

2. you may need to add some delay if changing the "SRC" attr

   setTimeout(function(){///this function fire after 1ms delay
         $('#target_img_tag_id').attr('src',imgPaht);
   }, 1);