Text to Image?

Don't know if this can do this with PHP or not -- if not, then maybe someone can recommend a good program. I'm looking to save some text out to a .GIF file. For example, if I open up Macromedia's Fireworks, Photoshop or for that matter Microsoft's Paint program; within any of these programs I can open up a text document, then Save As... or Export out the text as a .GIF or .JPEG -- However, I want to do this from the *command line* !!! -- not from a GUI driven app. So, does anyone know how this can be scripted in PHP, or better yet, know of a app where I can convert a Text file to an Image File ? Thanks Jason