<?php
// Setup an image
$im = imagecreatetruecolor(100, 100);
// Set a background
imagefilledrectangle($im, 0, 0, 100, 100, imagecolorallocate($im, 220, 220, 220));
// Apply the overlay alpha blending flag
imagelayereffect($im, IMG_EFFECT_OVERLAY);
// Draw two grey ellipses
imagefilledellipse($im, 50, 50, 40, 40, imagecolorallocate($im, 100, 255, 100));
imagefilledellipse($im, 50, 50, 50, 80, imagecolorallocate($im, 100, 100, 255));
imagefilledellipse($im, 50, 50, 80, 50, imagecolorallocate($im, 255, 100, 100));
// Output
header('Content-type: image/png');
imagepng($im);
imagedestroy($im);
?>
The above example will output
something similar to: