CodeIgniter - resizing images causes "out of memory" - php

Question

I wrote a utility (w/CodeIgniter 3.0.5) for a client that allows him to upload photos, and they're resized for the web. The script has been working fine for several months, but all of a sudden he's getting out-of-memory errors, along the lines of this:
FILE NAME: IMG_0047.JPG test
Resizing image...
New image: /homepages/20/d153810528/htdocs/toolbox/stuff/images/tool_photos/IMG_0047_resized.JPG
New filename: IMG_0047_resized.JPG
Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 35389440) (tried to allocate
4032 bytes) in
/homepages/20/d153810528/htdocs/toolbox/cat/libraries/Image_lib.php on
line 1455
The "resized" images aren't actually saved.
I know the first choice solution is to allocate more memory with php_ini, but it appears that the hosting provider -- 1and1 . com -- doesn't allow that; it's set at a hard 120M; I'm guessing they don't want customers screwing with their shared servers.
Any thoughts?
Here's the code that handles the resizing:
public function uploadapicture() {
$status = '';
$msg = '';
$file_element_name = 'picture';
if ($status !== 'error') {
$config['upload_path'] = 'stuff/images/tool_photos/';
$config['allowed_types'] = 'gif|jpeg|png|jpg';
$config['max_size'] = 1024 * 50;
$config['encrypt_name'] = FALSE;
$this->load->library('upload',$config);
if (!$this->upload->do_upload($file_element_name)) {
$status = 'error';
$msg = $this->upload->display_errors('','');
} else {
$data = $this->upload->data();
$image_path = $data['full_path'];
if (file_exists($image_path)) {
$status = 'success';
$msg = 'Main picture "' . $_FILES[$file_element_name]['name'] . '" successfully uploaded';
} else {
$status = 'error';
$msg = 'There was a problem saving the main picture.';
}
}
#unlink($_FILES[$file_element_name]);
$file_element_name = 'thumbnail';
if ((strlen($_FILES[$file_element_name]['name']) > 0) && !$this->upload->do_upload($file_element_name)) {
$status = 'error';
$msg .= $this->upload->display_errors('','');
} else if (strlen($_FILES[$file_element_name]['name']) > 0) {
$data = $this->upload->data();
$image_path = $data['full_path'];
if (file_exists($image_path)) {
$status = 'success';
$msg .= 'Thumbnail successfully uploaded';
} else {
$status = 'error';
$msg .= 'There was a problem saving the thumbnail.';
}
}
if ($status === 'success') {
echo "<br><pre>Post stuff:" . print_r($_POST,1);
$toolToInsert = array(
'picture_filename' => $_FILES['picture']['name'],
'name' => $this->input->post('name'),
'purchase_price' => $this->input->post('purchase_price'),
'public_notes' => $this->input->post('public_notes'),
'public_misc' => $this->input->post('public_misc'),
'purchased_from' => $this->input->post('purchased_from'),
'private_purchase_date' => $this->input->post('private_purchase_date'),
'private_purchase_price' => $this->input->post('private_purchase_price'),
'purchase_location' => $this->input->post('purchase_location'),
'sold_by' => $this->input->post('sold_by'),
'date_sold' => $this->input->post('date_sold'),
'sale_price' => $this->input->post('sale_price'),
'sold_to_name' => $this->input->post('sold_to_name'),
'sold_to_phone' => $this->input->post('sold_to_phone'),
'sold_to_email' => $this->input->post('sold_to_email'),
'private_notes' => $this->input->post('private_notes'),
'private_misc' => $this->input->post('private_notes'),
'entered_this_year' => $this->input->post('entered_this_year'),
'year_entered' => date('Y')
);
if (isset($_FILES['thumbnail']['name'])) {
$toolToInsert['thumbnail_filename'] = $_FILES['thumbnail']['name'];
}
foreach($_POST as $pKey => $pVal) {
if (substr($pKey,0,9) === 'category_') {
error_log("Found a category: ".print_r($pVal,1)." for key of ".print_r($pKey,1));
$post_category[] = substr($pKey,9);
}
}
if (isset($post_category)) {
$toolToInsert['category'] = implode(',',$post_category);
}
if (isset($_POST['active'])) {
$toolToInsert['active'] = 1;
}
$this->load->model('Letme_model');
$result = $this->Letme_model->insertTool('tool_db',$toolToInsert);
echo "Result: \n";
echo print_r($result,1);
}
}
echo json_encode(array('status' => $status, 'msg' => $msg));
}

Answer 1

one way to increase memory in php 5.x for uploading images is in your .htaccess
just add this lines:
## I need more memory to upload large image
<IfModule mod_php5.c>
php_value memory_limit 256M ## or whatever you need
</IfModule>