Convert text to image in php

Some of the cases we need to create an image dynamically when the web page is loading, Then a question raised in the mind - Can I convert text to image in PHP? the answer is Yes! why not. For doing this activity you just need to do a few steps. These steps are given below:

• Check your GD library extension is on in your current PHP version.
• If it does not enable simply just un-comment it.
• Include phpTextToImage class in your project.
• Create an object of this class.
• Call create image function with your text.
• Call save function with your file name and location.

This library has numbers of features which fulfill your all requirement, these features are given:

• Create dynamically text image.
• Set your text font.
• Choose an image background.
• Set your text color also.
• Adjust your image height and width.

Let's start with the example. First of all, include the phpTextToImage class in your project files.

<?php
/**
 * phpTextToImage class
 * This class converts text to image in PHP
 * 
 * @author    Legend Blogs
 * @link    https://www.legendblogs.com
 */
class phpTextToImage {
    private $image;
    /**
     * Create image from text
     * @param string text to convert into image
     * @param string textColor
     * @param string backgroundColor
     * @param int font size of text
     * @param int width of the image
     * @param int height of the image
     */
    function createImage($text, $textColor = '', $backgroundColor = '', $fontSize = 22, $imgWidth = 600, $imgHeight = 300) {
        //text font path
        $font = 'font/Pacifico-Regular.ttf';
        //create the image
        $this->image = imagecreatetruecolor($imgWidth, $imgHeight);
        $colorCode = array('#ffffff','#db3236', '#f4c20d', '#3cba54', '#4c53cc', '#56aad8', '#61c4a8');
        
        if ($backgroundColor == '') {
            /* select random color */
            $backgroundColor = $this->hexToRGB($colorCode[rand(0, count($colorCode) - 1)]);
        } else {
            /* select background color as provided */
            $backgroundColor = $this->hexToRGB($backgroundColor);
        }
        
        if ($textColor == '') {
            /* select random color */
            $textColor = $this->hexToRGB($colorCode[rand(0, count($colorCode) - 1)]);
        } else {
            /* select background color as provided */
            $textColor = $this->hexToRGB($colorCode[rand(0, count($textColor) - 1)]);
        }
        $textColor = imagecolorallocate($this->image, $textColor['r'], $textColor['g'], $textColor['b']);
        $backgroundColor = imagecolorallocate($this->image, $backgroundColor['r'], $backgroundColor['g'], $backgroundColor['b']);
        imagefilledrectangle($this->image, 0, 0, $imgWidth - 1, $imgHeight - 1, $backgroundColor);
        //break lines
        $splitText = explode("\\n", $text);
        $lines = count($splitText);
        $angle = 0;
        foreach ($splitText as $txt) {
            $textBox = imagettfbbox($fontSize, $angle, $font, $txt);
            $textWidth = abs(max($textBox[2], $textBox[4]));
            $textHeight = abs(max($textBox[5], $textBox[7]));
            $x = (imagesx($this->image) - $textWidth) / 2;
            $y = ((imagesy($this->image) + $textHeight) / 2) - ($lines - 2) * $textHeight;
            $lines = $lines - 1;
            //add the text
            imagettftext($this->image, $fontSize, $angle, $x, $y, $textColor, $font, $txt);
        }
        return true;
    }
    /* function to convert hex value to rgb array */
    protected function hexToRGB($colour) {
        if ($colour[0] == '#') {
            $colour = substr($colour, 1);
        }
        if (strlen($colour) == 6) {
            list( $r, $g, $b ) = array($colour[0] . $colour[1], $colour[2] . $colour[3], $colour[4] . $colour[5]);
        } elseif (strlen($colour) == 3) {
            list( $r, $g, $b ) = array($colour[0] . $colour[0], $colour[1] . $colour[1], $colour[2] . $colour[2]);
        } else {
            return false;
        }
        $r = hexdec($r);
        $g = hexdec($g);
        $b = hexdec($b);
        return array('r' => $r, 'g' => $g, 'b' => $b);
    }
    /**
     * Display image
     */
    function showImage() {
        header('Content-Type: image/png');
        return imagepng($this->image);
    }
    /**
     * Save image as png format
     * @param string file name to save
     * @param string location to save image file
     */
    function saveAsPng($fileName = 'text-image', $location = '') {
        $fileName = $fileName . ".png";
        $fileName = !empty($location) ? $location . $fileName : $fileName;
        return imagepng($this->image, $fileName);
    }
    /**
     * Save image as jpg format
     * @param string file name to save
     * @param string location to save image file
     */
    function saveAsJpg($fileName = 'text-image', $location = '') {
        $fileName = $fileName . ".jpg";
        $fileName = !empty($location) ? $location . $fileName : $fileName;
        return imagejpeg($this->image, $fileName);
    }
}

Now, create your project file where you want to create the image of your text dynamically, and just include class and create an object like this:

//include phpTextToImage class
require_once 'phpTextToImage.php';
//create img object
$img = new phpTextToImage;

After that, simply use this $img object to create your image with createImage function:

$text = 'Welcome to Legend Blogs.\nConvert Text To Image In PHP.';
$img->createImage($text);

If you want to save the image in your physical location you just need to call a saveAsPng() or saveAsJpg() function with your filename and location:

$fileName = "legendblogs";
$img->saveAsPng($fileName);

Your final code is:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<?php
//include phpTextToImage class
require_once 'phpTextToImage.php';
//create img object
$img = new phpTextToImage;
?>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <title>Convert Text To Image In PHP</title>
        <meta charset="utf-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/css/bootstrap.min.css">
        <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
        <script src="//maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.2.0/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.3.1/css/all.css" crossorigin="anonymous">
    </head>
    <body>
        <div class="container">
            <h2 class="text-danger">Convert Text To Image In PHP</h2>
            <h4>Refresh Your Page To Change Color</h4>
            <?php
            //create image from text
            $text = 'Welcome to Legend Blogs.\nConvert Text To Image In PHP.';
            $img->createImage($text);
            //display image
            
            $fileName = "legendblogs";
            $img->saveAsPng($fileName);
            
            ?>
            <img src="<?php echo $fileName; ?>.png" />
        </div>
    </body>
</html>

The output of the given text: