phpgdeffectsdynamic-image-generation

Generating an image with a "Gold-plated" text effect using PHP/GD

I'm dynamically generating a PNG image using PHP 7.3/GD based on a text provided by the user.

Everything works as expected, but I'd like to apply some kind of filter/effect to obtain a Gold-plated style, such as below:

Gold-plated effect

Any idea how to achieve this? I've found solutions to apply blur/glow/shadow or to solve this via HTML5/CSS3 but I must use GD/PHP for this project.

Here's my current code:

<?php

putenv('GDFONTPATH='.realpath('.'));
header('Content-Type: image/png');
$im = imagecreatetruecolor(300, 200);
$bg = imagecolorallocate($im, 255, 255, 255);
imagefill($im, 0, 0, $bg);
$gold = imagecolorallocate($im, 255, 215, 0);
imagettftext($im, 28, 0, 76, 110, $gold, 'HirukoBlackAlternate.ttf', 'Stack');
imagepng($im);
imagedestroy($im);
Solution

  • Well, I played around with this a bit, and got this:

    enter image description here

    It's not exactly like the example image, but it is getting somewhat close. You'll have to fiddle it a bit more to get exactly what you want.

    I did use imagelayereffect() like this:

    // start with your code
putenv('GDFONTPATH='.realpath('.'));
header('Content-Type: image/png');
$im = imagecreatetruecolor(300, 200);
$bg = imagecolorallocate($im, 255, 255, 255);
imagefill($im, 0, 0, $bg);

// first the back drop 
$gray = imagecolorallocate($im, 80, 80, 80);
imagettftext($im, 28, 0, 76+3, 110+2, $gray, 'HirukoBlackAlternate.ttf', 'Stack');

// then the gold
$gold = imagecolorallocate($im, 180, 180, 150);
imagettftext($im, 28, 0, 76, 110, $gold, 'HirukoBlackAlternate.ttf', 'Stack');

// get a pattern image
$pattern = imagecreatefromjpeg('http://i.pinimg.com/736x/96/36/3c/96363c9337b2d1aad24323b1d9efda72--texture-metal-gold-texture.jpg');

// copy it in with a layer effect
imagelayereffect($im, IMG_EFFECT_OVERLAY);
imagecopyresampled($im, $pattern, 0, 0, 0, 0, 300, 200, 736, 552);

// output and forget
imagepng($im);
imagedestroy($im);
imagedestroy($pattern);

    So I basically used an image to get the golden shine. Seems to work, but I think this can be improved upon.