One problem with using separate gif glyphs created from the individual letters is that you then become responsible for kerning. This is the adjustment of letter pairs like "Te" that look best when slightly overlapped. The font metrics should give you the info needed to do this properly, but you won't be able just to tack letters next to each other and expect professional-looking results. I'd favor a more Postscript-centric approach, since Postscript handles the kerning details for you.