What role does the GD library play in manipulating and displaying images in PHP, and how can it be utilized effectively in this scenario?

The GD library in PHP is essential for manipulating and displaying images. It provides functions for creating, editing, and outputting images in various formats. By utilizing GD library functions, you can resize images, add text, create thumbnails, apply filters, and more.

<?php
// Create a blank image with dimensions 200x200
$image = imagecreatetruecolor(200, 200);

// Set the background color to white
$white = imagecolorallocate($image, 255, 255, 255);
imagefill($image, 0, 0, $white);

// Output the image as PNG
header('Content-Type: image/png');
imagepng($image);

// Free up memory
imagedestroy($image);
?>