Merging two images with PHP

Solution 1:

I got it working from one I made.

<?php
$dest = imagecreatefrompng('vinyl.png');
$src = imagecreatefromjpeg('cover2.jpg');

imagealphablending($dest, false);
imagesavealpha($dest, true);

imagecopymerge($dest, $src, 10, 9, 0, 0, 181, 180, 100); //have to play with these numbers for it to work for you, etc.

header('Content-Type: image/png');
imagepng($dest);

imagedestroy($dest);
imagedestroy($src);
?>

Solution 2:

Question is about merging two images, however in this specified case you shouldn't do that. You should put Content Image (ie. cover) into <img /> tag, and Style Image into CSS, why?

1. As I said the cover belongs to the content of the document, while that vinyl record and shadow are just a part of the page styles.
2. Such separation is much more convenient to use. User can easily copy that image. It's easier to index by web-spiders.
3. Finally, it's much easier to maintain.

So use a very simple code:

<div class="cover">
   <img src="/content/images/covers/movin-mountains.png" alt="Moving mountains by Pneuma" width="100" height="100" />
</div>

.cover {
    padding: 10px;
    padding-right: 100px;

    background: url(/style/images/cover-background.png) no-repeat;
}