What are some common pitfalls to avoid when replacing text with images in PHP?

One common pitfall to avoid when replacing text with images in PHP is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to security vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting attacks. To mitigate this risk, always validate and sanitize user input before using it to generate image content.

// Sanitize user input before using it to generate image content
$user_input = $_POST['user_input']; // Assuming user input is received via POST method
$sanitized_input = filter_var($user_input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

// Generate image content using sanitized input
$image = imagecreate(200, 200);
$black = imagecolorallocate($image, 0, 0, 0);
$font = 'arial.ttf';
imagettftext($image, 12, 0, 10, 50, $black, $font, $sanitized_input);

// Output image
header('Content-Type: image/png');
imagepng($image);
imagedestroy($image);