dynamically created images

mohamed42

Below is the entire block of PHP code. There is no white space before or after the code- not that it matters after, but before, it might get in the way of the Header statement. $size, $x, and $y are all being passed through the URL at this time, since I want to play with them to find out which will work best. the file "CAELDERA.TTF" is in the same directory as the .php file, as is banner.png. You can see the original banner at this address:
http://www.verlynia.com/school/banner.png
and you can try the script at:
http://www.verlynia.com/school/mk_banner.php?size=18&x=20&y=20&charname=testjim
You can also, of course, enter your own values for size, x, y, and charname, but I doubt it would fix the problem.

Any suggestions?

<?
$im = imagecreatefrompng("banner.png");
$black = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 0, 0, 0);
ImageTTFText ($im, $size, $x, $y, $black, "CAELDERA.TTF", $charname);
Header("Content-type: image/png");
ImagePNG($im);
ImageDestroy($im);
?>

mithril

Dan,

The problem seems to lie in the ImageTTFText() method, specifically I'd imagine with the font. I've done a little mucking around with it and it works fine on my Win32 and Linux boxes until you attempt to use the TTF. The Win32 php_gd extension is not compiled with TTF support, so its obvious why it failed. Same with the Linux box (I'm too lazy to re-compile🙂, but I've heard that TTF with PHP running GD 2.0 is twitchy at best.

If you're on Win32, you're out of luck it seems. If you're on *Nix, try re-compiling using the --with-ttf[=DIR] option (a complete list of compile options in in the manual). Remember to do a make clean before proceeding🙂

geoff

mohamed42

Uff da. Thanks much for the help, but I'm not the administrator of the machine it's on... I just pay them to use their stuff. Is it possible to do it with php.ini? And I believe they're using PHP 4... not sure if that's what "GD 2.0" refers to or not. I'll ask the tech support people if they can recompile for me, but I've a feeling that may be asking a lot. (Then again, they're asking a lot of me... about $150 to be precise.) Thanks much for the help though.

mithril

150 beans.... ouch🙂 If you call the phpinfo() function it'll output a whole wack of info about PHP (version number, supported modules, etc.). On *Nix systems it gives you the configure options right at the top of the output, so you check that way if the --with-ttf=[DIR] option was used in that build.

GD stands for Graphics Definition (I think.... it's something simliar at any rate) and is the library PHP uses for image generation. GD 2.0 merely indicates the version number of the GD module.

Good luck!!

geoff

mohamed42

I looked at my phpinfo (which is at
http://www.verlynia.com/phpinfo.php
if you want to take a look at it yourself,) and it has '--with-ttf=/usr/local' in it. Does this mean that if I want to use the .ttf file I've got picked out, it has to be in /usr/local for it to work right?
Thanks,
Dan

mithril

Ahh....... an epiphony🙂 Couple problems with your script:

ImageTTFText() requires a valid path (absolute or relative) to the font file. Thus, assuming that your font is in the same directory as the script, "CAELDERA.TTF" should read "./CAELDERA.TTF". Also remember that *Nix filenames are case sensitive and you must ensure that the filename and extension on the server are all uppercase (in this case).
You're missing an argument for the ImageTTFText() method. The method requires 8 arguments:

  ImageTTFText (int im, int size, int angle, int x, int y, int col, string fontfile, string text)

You only have 7 (you forgot int angle). The following modication of your code should work:

  Header("Content-type: image/png");

  $im = ImageCreateFromPNG("banner.png");
  $black = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00);
  $white = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF);
  ImageTTFText ($im, $size, 0, $x, $y, $white, "./CAELDERA.TTF", $charname);

  ImagePNG($im);
  ImageDestroy($im);

HTH.

geoff

mohamed42

It's working wonderfully. If you want to see the image in question, it's at http://www.verlynia.com/school/mk_banner.php?charname=WhateverYouWant
Thanks for your help.