Drawing text string with higher font on image by using imagettftext() using PHP GD

Render scalable TrueType text

imagettftext() needs a readable TTF font file. Build the font path from __DIR__ so the script is not dependent on the current working directory.

<?php
$image = imagecreatetruecolor(600, 160);
$background = imagecolorallocate($image, 255, 255, 255);
$text = imagecolorallocate($image, 25, 70, 140);
imagefilledrectangle($image, 0, 0, 599, 159, $background);

$font = __DIR__ . '/fonts/arial.ttf';
imagettftext($image, 24, 0, 30, 90, $text, $font, 'PHP GD TrueType Text');

header('Content-Type: image/png');
imagepng($image);
imagedestroy($image);
?>

Current example first; the original tutorial examples below are retained and cleaned up for continued learning.

<?php
header ("Content-Type: image/jpeg");

$height=100; // Canvas Height
$width=300;   //  Canvas Width 
$text="plus2net";   // Text string to be written on Image. 
$x=10;
$y=70;
$font_size=60; // size of the font to be written 
$rotation=0; // angle of rotation of text 
$font_f = 'arial.ttf'; // font family , set the path to arial.ttf file
///// Create the image ////////
$im = @ImageCreate ($width,$height)
or die ("Cannot Initialize new GD image stream");

$background_color = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 204, 204, 204); 
$text_color = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 51, 51, 255); 
imagettftext($im, $font_size, $rotation, $x, $y, $text_color, $font_f, $text);
ImageJpeg ($im); // image displayed
imagedestroy($im); // Memory allocation for the image is removed. 
?>

Output is here

We saved the above code in a PHP file as gd-imagettftext-demo.php and displayed it as Image by using HTML code.

<img src=gd-imagettftext-demo.php>

Adding text to image by using PHP GD function imagettftext() with options to rotate & x y positions

Note:Prior to PHP 8.0.0, imagefttext() was an extended variant of imagettftext() which additionally supported the extrainfo. As of PHP 8.0.0, imagettftext() is an alias of imagefttext().

Syntax

imagettftext($source_image,$font_size,$rotation, $int_x,$int_y,
		$colour,$font_f,$text,$options)

$source_image : Image resource created before
$font_size: Size of font
$rotation : Angle of rotation in degree, default 0, positive value means counter-clockwise rotation.
$int_x: Position of font in Horizontal X axis, Leftmost point is 0
$int_y: Postion of the font in Vertical Y Axis, Topmost point is 0
$colour: Font colour
$font_f: Font family
$text: Text string to be written on the image
$options: Color created before using imagecolorallocate().

By using imagettftext() we can use font of any size ( more than 5 ),
whereas by using imagestring() maximum font size of 5 can be used.

Note : The font here arial.ttf file has to be placed and proper path is to be given.

Adding shadow to text

Dropping shadow from text written over Image with colour using imagettftext() PHP GD function

<?php
header ("Content-Type: image/jpeg");

$height=100; // Canvas Height
$width=300;   //  Canvas Width 
$text="plus2net";   // Text string to be written on Image. 
$x=0;
$y=70;
$font_size=60; // size of the font to be written 
$rotation=0; // angle of rotation of text 
$font_f = 'font/arial.ttf'; // font family 
//$font = 'Times';  // font family 
///// Create the image ////////
$im = @ImageCreate ($width,$height)
or die ("Cannot Initialize new GD image stream");

$background_color = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 204, 204, 204); 
$text_color = ImageColorAllocate ($im, 51, 51, 255); 
$shadow_color= ImageColorAllocate ($im, 0, 0, 0); 
imagefttext($im, $font_size, $rotation, $x+2, $y+2, $shadow_color, $font, $text);
imagefttext($im, $font_size, $rotation, $x, $y, $text_color, $font_f, $text);
ImageJpeg ($im); // image displayed
imagedestroy($im); // Memory allocation for the image is removed. 
?>

Output is here

Curved Text

Adding curved text written over Image with colour using imagettftext() PHP GD function

Change the total angle of rotation required.

$degDelta = 360 / ($length); // Change in angle for each char

<?php
header("Content-Type: image/jpeg");
$im = imagecreate(200,100); // width , height 
$background = imagecolorallocate($im, 204,204,204);
$blue = imagecolorallocate($im, 0,0,255);

$cx = 100;// center X position , from left 
$cy = 70;// center Y position , from top  
$cr = 40; // Radius 
$font_size=15;
$angle_degree=180; // total angle of rotation 
$text='plus2net.com'; // text to be used 
$text_length = strlen($text); // number of chars in string
$angle_Delta = $angle_degree / ($text_length); // Change in angle 
if ($text_length > 0) {
for ($d = 0; $d < $text_length; $d++) {
        // x and y coordinates for the char
        $deltaX = $cx - cos(deg2rad($angle_Delta * $d)) * $cr;
        $deltaY = $cy - sin(deg2rad($angle_Delta * $d)) * $cr;
imagefttext($im,$font_size,-($angle_Delta * $d + $angle_Delta / 2)+90,
    $deltaX, $deltaY, $blue, 'arial.ttf', $text[$d]);
}
}
//$path='D:\\php_files\\php_tutorial\\images\\gd-curved-text1.jpg';
//Imagejpeg ($im,$path); // save to path 
Imagejpeg($im); // display in browser
imagedestroy($im); //memory is removed. 
?>

GD functions Imagestring()

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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Add TrueType Text to Images with imagettftext()

Render scalable TrueType text

Adding shadow to text

Curved Text

Subhendu Mohapatra