Utility to automatically insert positioned text into a bitmap

[hot_pastrami]

Hey guys,

For a work-related task I need a simple utility I can use to insert text into a bitmap, to automate the process of building InstallShield splash screens. All of our products require a splash screen with our logo, the product name, and the release date, and right now I have to edit these bitmaps by hand. It is the only portion of the build process I haven't found a way to automate yet.

Anybody know of a command-line utility that accomplishes this? Or alternatively, does anyone know of a code snippet in Perl or Java which could be adapted to do this? I need to be able to place black text of a specific font (Arial Unicode MS) on top of a white-background bitmap centered under our logo.

Most of my devlopment has been back-end and web stuff, so I know little about bimap manipulation in Perl and Java. I queried Google, the Perlmonks search, and CPAN, and didn't find much to help me.

Thanks for any help.