$VAR1 = 'ω ∞';

And my pdf generation code:

sub create {
  # $sometext is the submitted input from a webpage
  my $sometext = shift;
  my $pdf = PDF::API2->new();

  my $fonts = {
    Helvetica => {
      Bold=>$pdf->corefont('Helvetica-Bold',-encoding=>'latin1'),
      Roman=>$pdf->corefont('Helvetica',-encoding=>'latin1'),
      Italic=>$pdf->corefont('Helvetica-Oblique',-encoding=>'latin1'),
   },
  };

  my $page = $pdf->page();
  my $text = $page->text();
  $text->font($fonts->{'Helvetica'}->{Roman}, 20);
  $text->translate(50, 700);
  $text->text($sometext);
  $pdf->saveas('test.pdf');
}