add shadow to a layer - ios

Question

I can add shadow to imageView layer using the following code.
self.imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"test.png"]];
self.imageView.center = self.view.center;
CALayer *containerLayer= [CALayer layer];
containerLayer.shadowColor = [UIColor blackColor].CGColor;
containerLayer.shadowRadius = 10.0f;
containerLayer.shadowOffset = CGSizeMake(10.0f, 5.0f);
containerLayer.shadowOpacity = .8f;
[containerLayer addSublayer:self.imageView.layer];
[self.view.layer addSublayer:containerLayer];
1 . The problem is that I don't know why I have to add imageView.layer to containerLayer to get the imageView shadow effect. However, if I add containerLayer to imageView.layer, there's no shadow in imageView, why?
The error code is:
self.imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"test.png"]];
self.imageView.center = self.view.center;
CALayer *containerLayer= [CALayer layer];
/*same as before*/
[self.imageView.layer addSublayer:containerLayer];
[self.view.layer addSublayer:self.imageView.layer];
Question2: the containerLayer's(used to provide shadow to imageView) frame = {{0, 0}, {0, 0}}, but the final position is in the center of screen. why?

Answer 1

A layer needs something opaque inside it to create a shadow around (unless you've specified a shadowPath explicitly). So your first version of the code works because the containerLayer has the imageView's layer as a sublayer. But, as you noticed from Question #2, the containerLayer's frame indicates that it is actually located in the upper left corner with a size of (0,0). The reason you can still see the image is that containerLayer is not masking to its bounds. Add this line to your first version, and the image disappears:
[containerLayer setMasksToBounds: YES]; // kitten (and shadow) is gone
Your version #2 of the code does not display a shadow because, in part, the containerLayer does not "contain" anything. If you use version #2 but give the containerLayer a new frame and an opaque background color, a shadow appears. (But this obviously isn't a solution, because the image is covered up...) Also note that there is no shadow when the layer's background is [UIColor clearColor].
[self.imageView.layer addSublayer:containerLayer];
containerLayer.frame = self.imageView.layer.bounds;
containerLayer.backgroundColor = [UIColor yellowColor].CGColor; // yellow box w/shadow
// containerLayer.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor].CGColor; // no shadow here
If you wanted to have a container with a shadow that houses the UIImageView, you could do something like this:
UIView * shadowView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame: self.imageView.frame];
shadowView.layer.shadowColor = [UIColor blackColor].CGColor;
shadowView.layer.shadowRadius = 10.0f;
shadowView.layer.shadowOffset = CGSizeMake(10.0f, 5.0f);
shadowView.layer.shadowOpacity = .8f;
[self.view addSubview: shadowView];
self.imageView.frame = (CGRect) { CGPointZero, self.imageView.frame.size };
[shadowView addSubview: self.imageView];
A CALayer could be used instead of a UIView in a similar way. Or you could apply shadow attributes to the imageView's layer directly, making sure that neither the view nor the layer is clipping/masking to bounds.

Answer 2

If you want to add a shadow over the imageview just change the alpha value (0.0 min - 1.0 max) of that imageview. This will give you the shadow effect and whenever you want to remove the shadow just restore the alpha value to 1.0.
For ex:
self.imageview.alpha = 0.5 // shadow state
self.imageview.alpha = 1.0 // original state