I am trying to use a custom font in an image made with PHP GD.
I intend to call int imageloadfont(string $file), but I'm not sure what $file to give if I want to get a Google Font directly from their website.
Do I need to download the font or is there a way to get it remotely?
You can use the .ttf file from Google servers directly if you have allow_url_fopen enabled in your PHP installation. Look into the stylesheet to get the correct url.
However, for best performance, availability and security, you should download the file and use a local path.