Efficient way to convert string into images?

[green_meep]

Hey all,

I'm working on getting card documentation for a game I'm working on with a friend online. I've been mostly successful just parsing an xml document which is stored on the website. However, some cards will include symbols a la Magic the Gathering.

I figured I could parse single letters like 'n' or 'a' and convert them directly into image form. There's two problems with this, though:

Some symbols are used to represent several different costs. For example, you might see a '3 gold' symbol, but also a '2 gold' symbol somewhere else. It would be easier to upload a single, blank image, then essentially "write" each number on the image as needed.

There are hybrid symbols. For example, I might have a symbol that is partially 'n' and partially 'a'. I need help correctly parsing not only the single characters 'n' and 'a', but also things like 'n/a'.

Thanks in advance.