Applying Text to Image with Transparency

Header ("Content-type: image/png");

	//The copy of the image that will act as the bottom layer
	$src_img = imagecreatefromjpeg('path to the image');
	//The copy of the image that will act as the transparent top layer
	$cpy_img = imagecreatefromjpeg('same path to the image');

	//stores the image's dimensions
	$img_width = imagesx($src_img);
	$img_height = imagesy($src_img);

	//The color of the font you wish to draw 0 to 255 for each value to make a truecolor result
	$red = 0;
	$green = 0;
	$blue = 0;
	
	//allocates the font color based on the RGB value
	$font_color = imagecolorallocate($src_img, $red, $green, $blue);
	//Sets the font file, this can be just about any true type font you upload to the server
	$font_file = "/home/kb244/arial.ttf";
	//Sets the font size, based on point sizes, such as 8, 10, 14, 16, so on
	$font_size = 28;
	//Sets the angle of the font
	$angle = 0;
	
	//finds the boundary of the text box, this part is setup with the assumption of 0 degree angle
	//an angle other than zero the next three lines may not be accurate
	$textdimension = imagettfbbox($font_size,$angle, $font_file, "Karl Blessing Photography");
	$textheight = $textdimension[3] - $textdimension[5];
	$textwidth = $textdimension[2] - $textdimension[0];

	$position = "center"; //choices are top, bottom, center
	
	if (strcmp($position, "top") == 0)
		$y_start = $textheight;
	elseif (strcmp($position, "bottom") == 0)
		$y_start = $new_h - ($textheight / 2);
	else
		$y_start = ($new_h / 2) - ($textheight / 2);
	
	//Sets the horizontal starting position to allow for a horizontally centered text
	$x_start = ($new_w - ($line_width[2] - $line_width[0])) / 2;
	
	$transparency = 50; //set this reverse what you want, if you want 25% transparency on text, set this to 75
	
	//applies the text onto the bottom layer
	imagettftext($src_img, $font_size, $angle, $x_start, $y_start, $black, $font_file, "Karl Blessing Photography");
	
	//merges the top copy over the altered bottom copy causing the illusion of transparent text
	imagecopymerge( $src_img, $cpy_img, 0 , 0 , 0, 0, $new_w, $new_h, $tran);
	
	//Caches the image for later use so you dont hog the processor
	imagejpeg($src_img,$wm_cache.$gallery."_".$file.".jpg", 80); 
	
	//Sends the new data back to the browser for viewing
	imagejpeg($src_img,"",80);
	
	//Clears the images from memory
	imagedestroy($cpy_img);
	imagedestroy($src_img);

imagejpeg($src_img,'path and file name to cache folder', 80);

if ((file_exists('path to file'))
{
	$dst_img = imagecreatefromjpeg('path to file');
	imagejpeg($dst_img);
	imagedestroy($dst_img);
}