1. Your code doesn't really compile... looks like it's mainly just from not posting the full script -- but you're also using "white" when you should be allocating a color.
2. Try using GD::Text::Align or GD::Text::Wrap instead of instantiating the superclass directly (i don't think the superclass can render itself)
3. When you add things to a GD::Image, you need to do it "bottom up" ... if you're not carefull, your black box will apear on top of your text (so you can't see it)

Try this...

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use GD;
use GD::Text::Align;

my $image = new GD::Image( 320, 160 );
my $black = $image->colorAllocate( 0, 0, 0 );
my $white = $image->colorAllocate( 255, 255, 255 );
my $text = new GD::Text::Align( $image, 
                font => gdLargeFont,
                text => "Perl Coder",
                color =>  $white,
                valign => "top",
                halign => "center",
                );

# the order of these two lines is important
$image->filledRectangle( 15, 15, 150, 150, $black );
$text->draw( 160 , 80 );


open( IMAGE, ">pc1.png") || die "Couldn't open file: $!\n";
binmode( IMAGE );
print IMAGE $image->png();
close IMAGE;
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