This is trivial with the GD module. From the docs:

my $im = GD::Image->new(100,100);
$im->string(gdSmallFont,2,10,"Peachy Keen",$color);
binmode STDOUT;
print $im->png;
[download]

Look in the docs for the 'Character and String Drawing' section for more.

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)