Caution: This documentation is for eZ Publish legacy, from version 3.x to 6.x.
For 5.x documentation covering Platform see eZ Documentation Center, for difference between legacy and Platform see 5.x Architecture overview.

texttoimage

Summary

Renders a string as an image using a truetype font.

Usage

input|texttoimage( style )

Parameters

NameTypeDescriptionRequired
style string The name of the style that should be used. Yes.

Returns

Image layer.

Description

This operator creates an image that contains the input text rendered using a truetype font. The style parameter must be used to specify the desired style. If the style parameter is omitted, the default style will be used. The operator returns an "ezimagelayer" object which can be used as a parameter to the "image" operator. If this operator is called directly, eZ Publish will display the specified image using the "layer/image.tpl" template located in the "templates" directory of the current design or one of the fallback designs. It is possible to override this template using the template override system. Please note that this operator will only work if "ImageGD" is installed and enabled.

An eZ Publish distribution comes with a small collection of truetype fonts that are used by the default styles. These fonts are located in the "/design/standard/fonts" directory. The fonts included in this directory are free when it comes to costs and distribution. Information about the author of a font is placed in a directory with the same name as the font itself.

Default styles

The default styles are defined in the "texttoimage.ini" configuration file. The following list reveals the names of the default styles.

  • 1942
  • a_d_mono
  • archtura
  • arial
  • gallery
  • object_text
  • sketchy
  • smartie

Please refer to the examples below to see the default styles in action.

Custom styles

It is possible to create custom styles and to make use of custom fonts. For each style, it is possible to configure the following settings:

  • The name of the style
  • Font family
  • Point size
  • Background color
  • Text color
  • Angle/rotation
  • X adjustment
  • Y adjustment
  • Width adjustment
  • Height adjustment
  • Absolute width
  • Absolute height

When using fonts that are located outside the "/design/standard/fonts" directory, for example "/design/example/fonts", the FontDir[] array in a configuration override for "texttoimage.ini" has to include an additional FontDir[] line that specifies the secondary font directory.

Examples

Example 1

{'Another World'|texttoimage( '1942' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "1942" style.

Text rendered as image using the 1942 font.

 

Example 2

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'a_d_mono' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "a_d_mono" style.

Text rendered as image using the a_d_mono font.

 

Example 3

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'archtura' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "archtura" style.

Text rendered as image using the archtura font.

 

Example 4

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'arial' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "arial" style.

Text rendered as image using the arial font.

 

Example 5

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'gallery' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "gallery" style.

Text rendered as image using the gallery font.

 

Example 6

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'object_text' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "object_text" style.

Text rendered as image using the object_text font.

 

Example 7

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'sketchy' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "sketchy" style.

Text rendered as image using the sketchy font.

 

Example 8

{'Another World'|texttoimage( 'smartie' )}

The following output will be produced:

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "smarty" style.

Text rendered as image using the smartie font.

 

Example 9

{'Another World'|texttoimage()}

The following output will be produced (the default font will be used):

Output from "texttoimage" operator using the "a_d_mono" style.

Text rendered as image using the a_d_mono font.

 

Balazs Halasy (05/02/2004 10:38 am)

Svitlana Shatokhina (22/06/2007 9:48 am)

Balazs Halasy, Svitlana Shatokhina


Comments

  • Special characters like à é è ü

    Some special characters with 'archtura' cannot be renderer. In this case you will see an empty square.
    Just try another font...
  • is it posible to get transparent background?

    texttoimage generated png, which can have tansparency...
    • Re: is it posible to get transparent background?

      Actually exist an extension that can do it.
      After to install this new template operation in an extension, add the following parameter to font class configuration group:
      TransparentBackground=1
      


      If there is a built in mechanism, I don't know it.
  • .otf tip

    Just a tip : In some eZ/imagemagick configuration, OpenType fonts (with .otf extension) are not matched. Just rename yourfont.otf to yourfont.ttf to get your OpenType font matched by the eZ's texttoimage operator.

    By the way, to configure your own texttoimage.ini, have a look at the /settings/texttoimage.ini file, wich is a complete config and a good example.