Drawing a very thin line with CGContextAddLineToPoint and CGContextSetLineWidth - ios

I want to draw a very thin hairline width of a line in my UIView's drawRect method. The line I see that has a value 0.5 for CGContextSetLineWidth doesn't match the same 1.0 width value that is used to draw a border CALayer.
You can see the difference between the two - the red line (width = 1) is a lot thinner than the purple/blue line (width = 0.5).
Here's how I am drawing my pseudo 1.0 width horizontal line:
CGContextRef ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(ctx, [UIColor blueColor].CGColor);
CGContextSetLineWidth(ctx, 0.5); // I expected a very thin line
CGContextMoveToPoint(ctx, 0, y);
CGContextAddLineToPoint(ctx, self.bounds.size.width, y);
CGContextStrokePath(ctx);
Here's a border for the same view, this time using 1.0 border width:
UIView *myView = (UIView *)self;
CALayer *layer = myView.layer;
layer.borderColor = [UIColor redColor].CGColor;
layer.borderWidth = 1.0;
What do I need to do differently to draw my own custom line that's the same width as the CALayer version?

When you stroke a path, the stroke straddles the path. To say it another way, the path lies along the center of the stroke.
If the path runs along the edge between two pixels, then the stroke will (partially) cover the pixels on both sides of that edge. With a line width of 0.5, a horizontal stroke will extend 0.25 points into the pixel above the path, and 0.25 points into the pixel below the path.
You need to move your path so it doesn't run along the edge of the pixels:
CGFloat lineWidth = 0.5f;
CGContextSetLineWidth(ctx, lineWidth);
// Move the path down by half of the line width so it doesn't straddle pixels.
CGContextMoveToPoint(ctx, 0, y + lineWidth * 0.5f);
CGContextAddLineToPoint(ctx, self.bounds.size.width, y + lineWidth * 0.5f);
But since you're just drawing a horizontal line, it's simpler to use CGContextFillRect:
CGContextSetFillColorWithColor(ctx, [UIColor blueColor].CGColor);
CGContextFillRect(ctx, CGRectMake(0, y, self.bounds.size.width, 0.5f));

You need to turn off antialiasing to get a thin line when not drawn on an integral.
CGContextSetShouldAntialias(ctx, NO)

Related

iOS - 2D line drawing on negative coordinates

I am developing an app in which user can draw lines. The desktop version of the same app is able to draw lines on negative coordinates and I would like to have same capability in iOS app too.
What I've tried so far:-
I have a UIViewController inside which I have overridden - (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect and drawn the line. Here is the code I am using:-
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextClearRect(context, self.bounds);
CGPoint startPoint = CGPointMake(self.startHandle.frame.origin.x + self.startHandle.frame.size.width/2, self.startHandle.frame.origin.y + self.startHandle.frame.size.height/2);
CGPoint endPoint = CGPointMake(self.endHandle.frame.origin.x + self.endHandle.frame.size.width/2, self.endHandle.frame.origin.y + self.endHandle.frame.size.height/2);
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(context, [UIColor blackColor].CGColor);
CGContextSetLineWidth(context, 2.0f);
CGContextMoveToPoint(context, startPoint.x, startPoint.y ); //start at this point
CGContextAddLineToPoint(context, endPoint.x, endPoint.y); //draw to this point
It works very well until I have startPoint.x as a negative value. With negative value, I don't see the portion of line that is behind 0,0 coordinates. Any help or information is appreciated.
Following on from what #matt said (he has since deleted his answer, shame as it was still useful), you simply want to apply a transform to the context in order to draw in a standard cartesian coordinate system, where (0,0) is the center of the screen.
The context provided to you from within drawRect has its origin at the top left of the screen, with the positive y-direction going down the screen.
So first, we'll want to first flip the y-axis so that the positive y-direction goes up the screen.
We can do this by using CGContextScaleCTM(context, 1, -1). This will reflect the y-axis of the context. Therefore, this reflected context will have a y-axis where the positive direction goes up the screen.
Next, we want to translate the context to the correct position, so that (0,0) corresponds to the center of the screen. We should therefore shift the y-axis down by half of the height (so that 0 on the y-axis is now at the center), and the x-axis to the right by half of the width.
We can do this by using CGContextTranslateCTM(context, width*0.5, -height*0.5), where width and height are the width and height of your view respectively.
Now your context coordinates will look like this:
You could implement this into your drawRect like so:
-(void) drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
CGContextRef ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGFloat width = self.bounds.size.width;
CGFloat height = self.bounds.size.height;
// scale and translate to the standard cartesian coordinate system where the (0,0) is the center of the screen.
CGContextScaleCTM(ctx, 1, -1);
CGContextTranslateCTM(ctx, width*0.5, -height*0.5);
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(ctx, [UIColor redColor].CGColor);
CGContextSetLineWidth(ctx, 2.0);
// add y-axis
CGContextMoveToPoint(ctx, 0, -height*0.5);
CGContextAddLineToPoint(ctx, 0, height*0.5);
// add x-axis
CGContextMoveToPoint(ctx, -width*0.5, 0);
CGContextAddLineToPoint(ctx, width*0.5, 0);
// stroke axis
CGContextStrokePath(ctx);
// define start and end points
CGPoint startPoint = CGPointMake(-100, 100);
CGPoint endPoint = CGPointMake(100, -200);
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(ctx, [UIColor blackColor].CGColor);
CGContextSetLineWidth(ctx, 5.0);
CGContextMoveToPoint(ctx, startPoint.x, startPoint.y );
CGContextAddLineToPoint(ctx, endPoint.x, endPoint.y);
CGContextStrokePath(ctx);
}
This will give the following output:
I added the red lines to represent the y and x axis, in order to clarify what we've done here.
CGContextClearRect(context, self.bounds);
You can draw out of this bounds,please make a larger rect.

iOS draw filled Circles

Not a graphics programmer here, so I'm trying to stumble through this. I'm trying to draw 9 filled circles, each a different color, each with a white border. The UIView's frame is CGRectMake (0,0,60,60). See attached image.
The problem is I'm getting "flat spots" on the borders on each side. Following is my code (from the UIView subclass):
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
CGRect borderRect = CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 60.0, 60.0);
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetRGBStrokeColor(context, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
CGContextSetRGBFillColor(context, colorRed, colorGreen, colorBlue, 1.0);
CGContextSetLineWidth(context, 2.0);
CGContextFillEllipseInRect (context, borderRect);
CGContextStrokeEllipseInRect(context, borderRect);
CGContextFillPath(context);
}
If I change to CGRectMake(0,0,56,56) in drawRect, I get flat spots only on the top and left sides, and the bottom & right sides look fine.
Can anyone suggest how I might fix this? It seems to me the border is being clipped by the UIView, but not knowing much about this, I really don't know how to fix it.
Thanks, in advance, for any of you graphics experts' suggestions.
I like the answer from #AaronGolden, just wanted to add:
CGRect borderRect = CGRectInset(rect, 2, 2);
Or, better:
CGFloat lineWidth = 2;
CGRect borderRect = CGRectInset(rect, lineWidth * 0.5, lineWidth * 0.5);
Those circles are just getting clipped to the bounds of the views that draw them. The views must be slightly larger than the circles to be drawn. You can imagine the CGContextStrokeEllipseInRect call tracing a circle of radius 30 and then painting one pixel on each side of the traced curve. Well on the far edges you're going to have one of those pixels just outside the boundary of the view.
Try making your views something like 62x62, or make the circle radius slightly smaller to leave room for the thick stroke in your 60x60 views.
I Wrote this so that you can draw many circles easily.
Add the following code to your .m file:
- (void) circleFilledWithOutline:(UIView*)circleView fillColor:(UIColor*)fillColor outlineColor:(UIColor*)outlinecolor{
CAShapeLayer *circleLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
float width = circleView.frame.size.width;
float height = circleView.frame.size.height;
[circleLayer setBounds:CGRectMake(2.0f, 2.0f, width-2.0f, height-2.0f)];
[circleLayer setPosition:CGPointMake(width/2, height/2)];
UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:CGRectMake(2.0f, 2.0f, width-2.0f, height-2.0f)];
[circleLayer setPath:[path CGPath]];
[circleLayer setFillColor:fillColor.CGColor];
[circleLayer setStrokeColor:outlinecolor.CGColor];
[circleLayer setLineWidth:2.0f];
[[circleView layer] addSublayer:circleLayer];
}
Then Add the following code to your view did load and replace "yourView" with any view that you want to place the circle in. If you want to make a bunch of circles just add some small views to the page and repeat the code below. The circle will become the size of the view you make.
[self circleFilledWithOutline:self.yourView fillColor:[UIColor redColor] outlineColor:[UIColor purpleColor]];
There is a simple way to draw a fill circle
CGContextFillEllipseInRect(context, CGRectMake(x,y,width,height))
Trianna Brannon's answer on Swift 3
func circleFilledWithOutline(circleView: UIView, fillColor: UIColor, outlineColor:UIColor) {
let circleLayer = CAShapeLayer()
let width = Double(circleView.bounds.size.width);
let height = Double(circleView.bounds.size.height);
circleLayer.bounds = CGRect(x: 2.0, y: 2.0, width: width-2.0, height: height-2.0)
circleLayer.position = CGPoint(x: width/2, y: height/2);
let rect = CGRect(x: 2.0, y: 2.0, width: width-2.0, height: height-2.0)
let path = UIBezierPath.init(ovalIn: rect)
circleLayer.path = path.cgPath
circleLayer.fillColor = fillColor.cgColor
circleLayer.strokeColor = outlineColor.cgColor
circleLayer.lineWidth = 2.0
circleView.layer.addSublayer(circleLayer)
}
And invoke func via:
self.circleFilledWithOutline(circleView: myCircleView, fillColor: UIColor.red, outlineColor: UIColor.blue)

iOS Direction Glow

I'm trying to create a "mini-map." It's a circle filled with markers, and I want the border of the circle to glow in places to indicate to the user to indicate that more markers are beyond the minimap in a given direction.
I can give the circle a 'glowing' blue border by drawing, below it, a blue circle with a slightly larger radius. I think that I can make this blue border brighter in some places than others by giving its CALayer a mask. (I've tried giving it a gradient mask, and it works.)
Assuming that I can make the proper calculations to determine how bright a given pixel should be (given the position of markers beyond the minimap's viewport), how do I set the individual pixels of a CALayer? Or is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm looking for besides making a complicated alpha value calculation for each pixel in the circle?
Thanks.
Here's my solution. I drew a series of 1-pixel arcs, each with a different stroke color.
void AddGlowArc(CGContextRef context, CGFloat x, CGFloat y, CGFloat radius, CGFloat peakAngle, CGFloat sideAngle, CGColorRef colorRef){
CGFloat increment = .05;
for (CGFloat angle = peakAngle - sideAngle; angle < peakAngle + sideAngle; angle+=increment){
CGFloat alpha = (sideAngle - fabs(angle - peakAngle)) / sideAngle;
CGColorRef newColor = CGColorCreateCopyWithAlpha(colorRef, alpha);
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(context, newColor);
CGContextAddArc(context, x, y, radius, angle, angle + increment, 0);
CGContextStrokePath(context);
}
}
And then, in DrawRect,
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetLineWidth(context, 2.0);
AddGlowArc(context, 160, 160, 160, angle, .2, [UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:.76 blue:.87 alpha:1].CGColor);
This was my [much longer] solution which would allow each glow-point layer to be added and animated individually if needed. The small circle is added on the circumference of a larger one and that larger circle is rotated. Enjoyed getting my head around this even though you answered the question
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
CGPoint circleCenter = CGPointMake(300.f, 300.f);
CALayer *outerCircle = [self outerCircleToRotateWithCenter:circleCenter andRadius:100.f];
[self.view.layer addSublayer:outerCircle];
CGFloat rotationAngleInDeg = 270.f;
CGFloat rotationAngle = (M_PI * -rotationAngleInDeg)/180.f;
CATransform3D transform = CATransform3DIdentity;
transform = CATransform3DRotate(transform, rotationAngle, 0.f, 0.f, -1.f);
[outerCircle setTransform:transform];
}
Using method:
- (CALayer *)outerCircleToRotateWithCenter:(CGPoint)circleCenter andRadius:(CGFloat )radius {
// outer circle
CAShapeLayer *container = [CAShapeLayer layer];
UIBezierPath *containerCircle = [UIBezierPath
bezierPathWithOvalInRect:CGRectMake(0.f, 0.f, radius, radius)];
[container setPath:containerCircle.CGPath];
[container setBounds:CGPathGetBoundingBox(containerCircle.CGPath)];
[container setPosition:circleCenter];
[container setAnchorPoint:CGPointMake(0.5f, 0.5f)];
[container setStrokeColor:[UIColor blackColor].CGColor]; // REMOVE
[container setFillColor:nil];
// smaller circle
CAShapeLayer *circle = [[CAShapeLayer alloc] init];
[container addSublayer:circle];
UIBezierPath *circlePath = [UIBezierPath
bezierPathWithOvalInRect:CGRectMake(0.f, 0.f, 25.f, 25.f)];
[circle setPath:circlePath.CGPath];
[circle setBounds:CGPathGetBoundingBox(circlePath.CGPath)];
[circle setFillColor:[UIColor orangeColor].CGColor];
[circle setAnchorPoint:CGPointMake(0.5f, 0.5f)];
[circle setPosition:CGPointMake(radius/2.f, 0.f)];
[circle setOpacity:0.4f];
// shadow
[circle setShadowOpacity:0.8f];
[circle setShadowRadius:4.f];
[circle setShadowOffset:CGSizeMake(0.f, 0.f)];
[circle setShadowColor:[UIColor orangeColor].CGColor];
[circle setShadowPath:circlePath.CGPath];
return container;
}
I'm guessing the smaller circle could be added and rotated in a single transform rather then being a sublayer.

iPhone Pixel Coordinate Issue

I am trying to make a line graph using the drawRect method but I have came across a major problem. The 0 point on the iPhone screen is in the top left corner. Is there any way to either relocate the 0,0 point or change the coordinates input to where they would be if the 0,0 point was in the bottom left corner?
Heres My drawRect method
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetLineWidth(context, 1.0);
CGColorSpaceRef colorspace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB();
CGFloat components[] = {0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 1.0};
CGColorRef color = CGColorCreate(colorspace, components);
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(context, [UIColor blackColor].CGColor);
//Coordinates of bottom left corner (480 went off screen)
CGContextMoveToPoint(context, 0, 460);
CGContextAddLineToPoint(context, 320, 0);
CGContextStrokePath(context);
CGColorSpaceRelease(colorspace);
CGColorRelease(color);
}
This page describes how to treat it as a right-hand coordinate system instead of a left-hand, which sounds like what you want

iOS Animate Dashed Rectangle Border

I have a UIImageView displaying an image. I want to "highlight" a portion of the image by drawing a rounded rectangle outline. I would like to have the outline drawn with a thick, dashed line that "animates" by continually varying where the "beginning" of the line starts.
I thought about drawing a circle that had the look I want and then simply animating it, but I really need a rectangular solution, so that's out.
Background:
I'm drawing the rounded rectangle border by calculating 8 points and drawing 4 straight lines and 4 curves. (Maybe this can be easier, but it's not the broken part!)
My thinking is that I'll use an "offset" variable that starts at the top-left of the rounded rectangle, where the top-left curve meets the top straight piece. Then, I will increment this "offset" across the top of the rounded rectangle until it reaches the top-right curve, whereupon I will "reset" the "offset" variable to its original value.
This is working pretty much as I'd like, until the "reset" occurs. At this point, the animation is jerky (kind of expected), but it also appears to travel in reverse for a small portion of the time, before resuming "forward" motion. Finally, at the beginning/end of my dashed line, I get an extra long segment on the dashed line. I know they can't all be equal-length (can they? how to calculate?), but how can I make 2 shorter segments rather than 1 longer segment?
Anybody have an idea of what I can do to get a smooth "marching ants" kind of look? Any other ideas on a good way to (using animation) call the user's eye to a particular area of the screen? (It needs to surround a particular area without obscuring it.)
Current code:
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextClearRect(context, rect);
// Rounded corner will be 10% of average side length (i.e., (w + h) / 2)
float averageSide = ([self HighlightRect].size.width + [self HighlightRect].size.height) / 2.0;
float roundSize = averageSide * 0.10;
// offset is a static, class variable
offset += roundSize / 4.0;
if ([WhereIAmView offset] < roundSize) {
offset = roundSize;
}
if ([WhereIAmView offset] > ([self HighlightRect].size.width - roundSize)) {
offset = roundSize;
}
// Set the "main" color of the rounded rectangle
UIColor *lineColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:027.0/255.0 green:050.0/255.0 blue:224.0/255.0 alpha:1.0];
CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(context, [lineColor CGColor]);
CGContextSetLineWidth(context, 16.0);
CGFloat pattern[] = {25.0, 5.0};
CGContextSetLineDash(context, offset, pattern, 2);
CGRect rRect = [self HighlightRect];
// The top left corner
CGPoint topLeft = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x, rRect.origin.y);
// The top right corner
CGPoint topRight = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + rRect.size.width, rRect.origin.y);
// The bottom right corner
CGPoint bottomRight = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + rRect.size.width, rRect.origin.y + rRect.size.height);
// The bottom left corner
CGPoint bottomLeft = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x, rRect.origin.y + rRect.size.height);
// The two points across the top of the rounded rectangle (left to right)
CGPoint point1 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + roundSize, rRect.origin.y);
CGPoint point2 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + rRect.size.width - roundSize, rRect.origin.y);
// The two points along the right of the rounded rectangle (top to bottom)
CGPoint point3 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + rRect.size.width, rRect.origin.y + roundSize);
CGPoint point4 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + rRect.size.width, rRect.origin.y + rRect.size.height - roundSize);
// The two points along the bottom of the rounded rectangle (right to left)
CGPoint point5 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + rRect.size.width - roundSize, rRect.origin.y + rRect.size.height);
CGPoint point6 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x + roundSize, rRect.origin.y + rRect.size.height);
// The two points along the left of the rounded rectangle (bottom to top)
CGPoint point7 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x, rRect.origin.y + rRect.size.height - roundSize);
CGPoint point8 = CGPointMake(rRect.origin.x, rRect.origin.y + roundSize);
// Move to point 1
CGContextMoveToPoint(context, point1.x, point1.y);
// Add line to point 2 (this is the straight portion across the top)
CGContextAddLineToPoint(context, point2.x, point2.y);
// Add curve to point 3 (this is the rounded portion in top right)
CGContextAddArcToPoint(context, topRight.x, topRight.y, point3.x, point3.y, roundSize);
// Add line to point 4 (this is the straight portion across the right)
CGContextAddLineToPoint(context, point4.x, point4.y);
// Add curve to point 5 (this is the rounded portion in bottom right)
CGContextAddArcToPoint(context, bottomRight.x, bottomRight.y, point5.x, point5.y, roundSize);
// Add line to point 6 (this is the straight portion across the bottom)
CGContextAddLineToPoint(context, point6.x, point6.y);
// Add curve to point 7 (this is the rounded portion in bottom left)
CGContextAddArcToPoint(context, bottomLeft.x, bottomLeft.y, point7.x, point7.y, roundSize);
// Add line to point 8 (this is the straight portion across the left)
CGContextAddLineToPoint(context, point8.x, point8.y);
// Add curve to point 1 (this is the rounded portion in top left)
CGContextAddArcToPoint(context, topLeft.x, topLeft.y, point1.x, point1.y, roundSize);
// Stroke the path
CGContextStrokePath(context);
}
bump
bump bump
Try Using CAShapeLayer with CGPath of your shape.
Rounded rectangle path can be constructed using Uibezierpath convenience method.
You can set a line pattern for the shape layer. Animating the line property of the shape layer would give the "marching ants like effect".
shapeLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
CGRect shapeRect = CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 200.0f, 100.0f);
[shapeLayer setBounds:shapeRect];
[shapeLayer setPosition:CGPointMake(160.0f, 140.0f)];
[shapeLayer setFillColor:[[UIColor clearColor] CGColor]];
[shapeLayer setStrokeColor:[[UIColor blackColor] CGColor]];
[shapeLayer setLineWidth:1.0f];
[shapeLayer setLineJoin:kCALineJoinRound];
[shapeLayer setLineDashPattern:
[NSArray arrayWithObjects:[NSNumber numberWithInt:10],
[NSNumber numberWithInt:5],
nil]];
UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:shapeRect cornerRadius:15.0];
[shapeLayer setPath:path.CGPath];
[[imageview layer] addSublayer:shapeLayer];
The animation function can be,
- (void)toggleMarching
{
if ([shapeLayer animationForKey:#"linePhase"])
[shapeLayer removeAnimationForKey:#"linePhase"];
else {
CABasicAnimation *dashAnimation;
dashAnimation = [CABasicAnimation
animationWithKeyPath:#"lineDashPhase"];
[dashAnimation setFromValue:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:0.0f]];
[dashAnimation setToValue:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:15.0f]];
[dashAnimation setDuration:0.75f];
[dashAnimation setRepeatCount:10000];
[shapeLayer addAnimation:dashAnimation forKey:#"linePhase"];
}
}

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