Andrei Daneasa needed to do some fairly complex image processing and thumbnail generation: scaling, centering, resampling and finally changing the image background. He managed it all using PHP's GD extension and he's written a tutorial explaining how he did it, together with illustrative source code. An interesting read, for those looking to add even more pizzazz to their thumbnail collection. […]

If you’ve been working with PHP for a while, you already know that the language makes dynamic image generation very simple: the GD extension and a few lines of PHP code are all you need to create a JPEG, GIF or PNG image from scratch. However, while this works remarkably well for simple tasks, it can become tedious and complicated if you need to generate more complex images, such as graphs and charts, at run-time. […]

One of the most appreciated features of PHP is the ability to create and manipulate graphical images using the GD extension functions. In this article we discuss the JPEG_Reducer class written by Huda Elmatsani from Indonesia and how it uses GD to help you save space in your images directory. […]

I found a cool tutorial this morning over at webcheatsheet.com titled “PHP: Dynamic Image Generation”. I’ll trade you a click for the URL. […]

I hate repeating myself…I hate repeating myself…I hate repeating myself… So it’s time I learned to write recursive functions. Here’s a link to a tutorial on recursion in PHP as well as one on dynamically created graphics. (Charts) […]

Charts and graphs can be a very powerful means of communication. PHP, compiled with GD support, allows for dynamic image generation. This, combined with PHP’s renowned flexibility in retrieving data, gives us the perfect environment to dynamically generate charts and graphs.

The JpGraph library of PHP classes is a very useful tool. This set of graphing classes lets you easily construct professional looking graphs without having to delve into the GD library calls and their PHP wrapper functions. Now you have the power to concentrate on delivering the information and integrating graphs into your web application, instead of the tedious job of building of images from low-level graphics primitives.
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When stepping foot onto the World Wide Web, the first goal is usually to setup a Web page. The extent and complexity of that page will usually depend on what needs are trying to be met, as well as what services need to be provided. The services being provided could be as complex as a comprehensive e-commerce site or as simple as providing pictures of your child's birthday party. Mirroring the importance of presenting your information on the Web is collecting information from the people who are seeing your information, in order to justify and analyze its effectiveness. This means that you will be able to identify how many people are visiting your site as well as important information that can affect the way you design a page (i.e. their browser preference and their operating system). This can be especially helpful when optimizing a page for a specific browser type.

Raw data can be gathered dynamically from a Web page and stored in a database for study at a later point in time. From this data, statistics can be generated in real time, and updated for every visitor - not just compiled at the end of a month or the end of a year.

Furthermore, statistics can be used to justify additional funding. They can show, for example, traffic improvement or page hit ratios.

This tutorial provides instruction for developing a statistics gathering and analyzing system using PHP. Application scripts are based on a system running PHP 4.0 or higher with some sort of database to store our data (we will be using mySQL).

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This tutorial shows you how to use the GD library to dynamically create images on your site. The GD library is an external module which is accessed by a native PHP module. […]