Question

I’m doing some txt->image generating using “convert” of ImageMagick. But it outputs only rasterized images, which saved in .eps is a bit useless. Is there any alternative to “convert” so that I can write bash scripts which, by parsing text files, gives me a vector output?

Answer 1

Found an answer. It’s not a one-liner, but still does the job.

First, you have to render the text and measure it’s dimensions – use conjure on a template file, i.e.:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<image>
   <query-font-metrics text="English (American)" font="Helvetica" pointsize="24" />
   <print output="%[msl:font-metrics.width]x%[msl:font-metrics.height]"/>
</image>

If the text is too big decrease if it’s too small increase it.

After receiving font size create an SVG file containing invisible rectangle with the dimensions given and text centred in it. Then convert it using Inkscape to .eps

TA-DA