image_helpers.rb

# an example, showing how to load for rspec and conditionally load for cucumber
# lives in whichever dir you set the other file to load

module ImageStepHelpers
  def page_should_contain_image_link_for(image)
    page.should have_xpath(%Q(//img[@src="#{image.url}"]))
  end

  def image_data_from_file(image)
    image_file_path = Rails.root.join image.image.path
    File.read(image_file_path)
  end

  def hash_image(image_data)
    require 'md5'
    MD5.digest(image_data)
  end
end

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.include ImageStepHelpers, :type => :request
end

World(ImageStepHelpers) if respond_to?(:World) #cucumber

load_app_shared_helpers.rb

#drop into features/support and spec/support -- modify path to helper lib dir as needed
Dir[
  File.expand_path(
    Rails.root.join 'test_helper_lib', '**', '*.rb'
  )
].each {|f| require f}