How can I create a "neon sign" dynamically? (non-Flash/Java solution)

Question

Hi,

I want to have a dynamically generated Neon sign on my site. I want to pass it some text, have it rendered as an image (in a neon sign - something like: http://www.pixelhivedesign.com/tutorials/Neon+Sign+on+a+Textured+Surface/ ) and then show the image to the user.

I dont think CSS font tricks can do this - that would have been fantastic. A php based solution would be great. No flash/java please.

Thoughts on where to start?

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Edit: I dont want to use any external sites at all. If I can freely download something and place on my *nix system, and my users never get to see it - that's fine...

Answer 1

I believe you could accomplish this with ImageMagick Font Effects, and it wouldn't be overly difficult.

Answer 2

That's way too much processing to be rendered dynamically in any reasonable amount of time for a page load. text-shadow is probably your best hope with those restrictions.

Answer 3

PHP Image manipulation tutorials

Also, a blog post on using PHP GD to add a glow effect (which would be how you'd pull this off I imagine. Have a static backdrop image, render the text string and put a colored glow to appear 'neon' then combine the 2 images.