From access counters and log-report graphs to scientific plots and on-the-fly animated GIFs, graphics scripting is within the grasp of most Web authors. This text is aimed at intermediate and advanced Web users who want to use CGI scripts to generate dynamic graphic content. It also aims to help demystify the manipulation of graphics formats for newcomers to the Web. The book covers the following: a tour through the most popular Web graphics file formats by implementing parsers for GIF, JPEG, and PNG files; descriptions of the PNG, JPEG and giflib libraries, as well as many other free and proprietary libraries and SDKs; documentation and examples using the Perl graphics modules GD and GIFgraph, and the Perl interface; powerful ImageMagick libraries; documentation on the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) and the Perl interface that lets you easily script plug-ins or interface to the GIMP via the Web; the creation of image maps from data extracted from a database; the implementation of several Perl modules for the creation of neatly formatted PostScript files; details on interfacing to a fax gateway; reusable recipes for many popular applications such as Web counters and Web cam; the creation of animated GIFs on-the-fly; and optimizing graphics generation on the server-side.