UIBarButtonItem not shown the same way in UIToolBar and UINavigationBar - ios

Question

I need to use a simple UIBarButtonItem in a UIToolBar.
I used this code to add the button with my custom image to the navigation bar:
UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"image_sheep.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:#selector(clone)];
NSArray *rightItems = [NSArray arrayWithObject:cloneButton];
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItems = rightItems;
The result is what I want and it looks like this
navigation bar http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3383/navigationbara.jpg
When doing the same thing in a UIToolBar that I'm adding to a UITableViewCell's contentView
UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"image_sheep.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:#selector(clone)];
UIBarButtonItem *leftSpace = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil];
toolbar.items = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:leftSpace, cloneButton, nil];
The problem is that I get something like this:
toolbar http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1374/toolbary.jpg
This is surely due to the fact that UINavigationBar and UIToolBar are not drawn the same way...
Can someone please point out how to resolve this problem?

Answer 1

On your UIToolbar use UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered instead of UIBarButtonItemStylePlain.
UINavigationBar will not draw the button the same without the button look.

Answer 2

That's how UIToolbar is supposed to work. Per the documentation:
Toolbar images that represent normal and highlighted states of an item derive from the image you set using the inherited image property from the UIBarItem class. For example, the image is converted to white and then bevelled by adding a shadow for the normal state.
That said, you might be able to get the result you want by creating a UIBarButtonItem with a custom view instead of an image. Like so:
UIImage *sheepImage = [UIImage imageNamed:#"image_sheep.png"];
UIButton *sheepButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[sheepButton setImage:sheepImage forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[sheepButton addTarget:self action:#selector(clone) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[sheepButton setShowsTouchWhenHighlighted:YES];
[sheepButton sizeToFit];
UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:sheepButton];
I haven't tested this, so I don't know if it will work.

Answer 3

I cannot see the images posted in the question anymore. But I am pretty sure that we're trying to mimic the UIBarButtonItemStylePlain of the UIToolBar in a UINavigationBar.
Benzado is pretty much spot on except for this line:
[sheepButton setImage:sheepImage forState:UIControlStateNormal];
This puts the image in front of the touch indicator. The UIToolBar shows the touch in front of the image. So to mimic the UIToolBar style in a UINavigationBar:
UIImage *sheepImage = [UIImage imageNamed:#"image_sheep.png"];
UIButton *sheepButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[sheepButton setBackgroundImage:sheepImage forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[sheepButton addTarget:self action:#selector(clone) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[sheepButton setShowsTouchWhenHighlighted:YES];
[sheepButton sizeToFit];
UIBarButtonItem *cloneButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:sheepButton];