CFX_TextEffects is a ColdFusion Custom Tag that enables your application to easily convert plain text into an image with anti-aliasing, gradients, textures, blur, transparency and more. A JPEG or PNG file will be output on the file system that you can reference with an HTML <img> tag.

Example

Installing CFX_TextEffects

1.) Copy the TextEffects.class file into your ColdFusion -> CFX -> java folder. On Windows, this folder is usually located at:
     C:CFusionJavaclasses or C:CFusionMXcfxjava

2.) Go to ColdFusion Administrator in your web browser, then click on CFX Tags (under Extensions)

3.) Click Register Java CFX

4.) For Tag Name, type: CFX_TextEffects For Class Name, type: TextEffects

5.) Submit Changes

6.) You may need to restart your ColdFusion server for the changes to take effect

DOCUMENTATION

Return Variables

TEXTEFFECTS_MESSAGE

Contains any errors generated by the tag, or "OK" if everything completed successfully.

Syntax

Note: Make sure that you place quotation marks around all attributes, including integer and boolean attributes.

Attributes

OUTPUTFILE
Required. The absolute path to the image that is output by cfx_TextEffects.
Valid File Types: jpeg and png
Example: OUTPUTFILE = "var/www/mysite/images/myimage.png"

TEXT
Required. The text used to generate the image.
Example: TEXT = "Type this"

FONTFACE
[Default = Arial]
Optional. The font face associated with the TEXT.
Note: The availability of font faces will vary depending on your server. Common fonts are Arial, Courier, Times New Roman and Verdana.
Example: FONTFACE = "TimesRoman"

FONTSIZE
[Default = 24]
Optional. The font size associated with the TEXT.
Example: FONTSIZE = "32"

FONTCOLOR
[Default = 000000 (black)]
Optional. The hexadecimal equivalent of the RGB color associated with the TEXT. If you are unfamiliar with hexadecimal colors, http://www.december.com/html/spec/color.html offers help choosing the right hex value.
Example: FONTCOLOR = "FF0000"

FONTSTYLE
[Default = Plain (no style)]
Optional. The font style associated with the TEXT.
Values: bold, italic, both
Example: FONTSTYLE = "bold"

BGCOLOR
[Default = FFFFFF (white)]
Optional. The hexadecimal equivalent of the RGB background color for the image. If you are unfamiliar with hexadecimal colors, http://www.december.com/html/spec/color.html offers help choosing the right hex value.
Example: BGCOLOR = "FF0000"

GRADIENTBGCOLOR1
[Default = none]
Optional. The hexadecimal equivalent of the RGB background gradient starting color. You must specify this parameter in conjunction with the GRADIENTBGCOLOR2 parameter.
Example: GRADIENTBGCOLOR1 = "550000"

GRADIENTBGCOLOR2
[Default = none]
Optional. The hexadecimal equivalent of the RGB background gradient ending color. You must specify this parameter in conjunction with the GRADIENTBGCOLOR1 parameter.
Example: GRADIENTBGCOLOR2 = "AA0000"

GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR1
[Default = none]
Optional. The hexadecimal equivalent of the RGB gradient starting color for the TEXT. You must specify this parameter in conjunction with the GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR2 parameter.
Example: GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR1 = "AA0000"

GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR2
[Default = none]
Optional. The hexadecimal equivalent of the RGB gradient ending color for the TEXT. You must specify this parameter in conjunction with the GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR1 parameter.
Example: GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR2 = "550000"

TEXTUREIMAGE
[Default = none]
Optional. The absolute path to the image to use as a texture for the TEXT.
Note: You can use either a TEXTUREIMAGE or a GRADIENTTEXTCOLOR, not both.
Valid File Types: jpeg, png and gif
Example: TEXTUREIMAGE = "/var/www/mysite/images/texture.png"

MAXWIDTH
[Default = none]
Optional. Specifies the maximum width (in pixels) of the image. If the width of the TEXT is wider than MAXWIDTH, the text will wrap to the next line.
Example: MAXWIDTH = "500"

ALPHA
[Default = 100]
Optional. Determines the transparency of the TEXT.  A value of 100 is fully opaque (no transparency).  A value of 0 is completely transparent.
Values: 0 to 100
Example: ALPHA = "50"

BLUR
[Default = false]
Optional. If true, adds a small amount of blur to the TEXT.
Example: BLUR = "true"