307
votes

My code works fine for normal devices but creates blurry images on retina devices.

Does anybody know a solution for my issue?

+ (UIImage *) imageWithView:(UIView *)view
{
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(view.bounds.size);
    [view.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];

    UIImage * img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    return img;
}
17
blurry. It seems to me the right scale got lost...Daniel
me too. met the same issue.RainCast
Where are you displaying the result image? As others have explained, I believe you are rendering the view onto an image with scale 1, while your device has scale 2 or 3. So you are downscaling to a lower resolution. This is a loss of quality but should not blur. But when you are looking at this image again (on the same screen?) on a device with scale 2 it will convert from the low resolution to higher, using 2 pixels per pixel in the screenshot. This upscaling uses interpolation most likely (default on iOS), averaging color values for the extra pixels.Hans Terje Bakke

17 Answers

676
votes

Switch from use of UIGraphicsBeginImageContext to UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions (as documented on this page). Pass 0.0 for scale (the third argument) and you'll get a context with a scale factor equal to that of the screen.

UIGraphicsBeginImageContext uses a fixed scale factor of 1.0, so you're actually getting exactly the same image on an iPhone 4 as on the other iPhones. I'll bet either the iPhone 4 is applying a filter when you implicitly scale it up or just your brain is picking up on it being less sharp than everything around it.

So, I guess:

#import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h>

+ (UIImage *)imageWithView:(UIView *)view
{
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.opaque, 0.0);
    [view.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];

    UIImage * img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    return img;
}

And in Swift 4:

func image(with view: UIView) -> UIImage? {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.isOpaque, 0.0)
    defer { UIGraphicsEndImageContext() }
    if let context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext() {
        view.layer.render(in: context)
        let image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        return image
    }
    return nil
}
235
votes

The currently accepted answer is now out of date, at least if you are supporting iOS 7.

Here is what you should be using if you are only supporting iOS7+:

+ (UIImage *) imageWithView:(UIView *)view
{
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.opaque, 0.0f);
    [view drawViewHierarchyInRect:view.bounds afterScreenUpdates:NO];
    UIImage * snapshotImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
    return snapshotImage;
}

Swift 4:

func imageWithView(view: UIView) -> UIImage? {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.isOpaque, 0.0)
    defer { UIGraphicsEndImageContext() }
    view.drawHierarchy(in: view.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: true)
    return UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
}

As per this article, you can see that the new iOS7 method drawViewHierarchyInRect:afterScreenUpdates: is many times faster than renderInContext:. benchmark

32
votes

I have created a Swift extension based on @Dima solution:

extension UIImage {
    class func imageWithView(view: UIView) -> UIImage {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.opaque, 0.0)
        view.drawViewHierarchyInRect(view.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: true)
        let img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return img
    }
}

EDIT: Swift 4 improved version

extension UIImage {
    class func imageWithView(_ view: UIView) -> UIImage {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.isOpaque, 0)
        defer { UIGraphicsEndImageContext() }
        view.drawHierarchy(in: view.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: true)
        return UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext() ?? UIImage()
    }
}

Usage:

let view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 100, height: 100))  
let image = UIImage.imageWithView(view)
29
votes

iOSSwift

Using modern UIGraphicsImageRenderer

public extension UIView {
    @available(iOS 10.0, *)
    public func renderToImage(afterScreenUpdates: Bool = false) -> UIImage {
        let rendererFormat = UIGraphicsImageRendererFormat.default()
        rendererFormat.opaque = isOpaque
        let renderer = UIGraphicsImageRenderer(size: bounds.size, format: rendererFormat)

        let snapshotImage = renderer.image { _ in
            drawHierarchy(in: bounds, afterScreenUpdates: afterScreenUpdates)
        }
        return snapshotImage
    }
}
24
votes

To improve answers by @Tommy and @Dima, use the following category to render UIView into UIImage with transparent background and without loss of quality. Working on iOS7. (Or just reuse that method in implementation, replacing self reference with your image)

UIView+RenderViewToImage.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface UIView (RenderToImage)

- (UIImage *)imageByRenderingView;

@end

UIView+RenderViewToImage.m

#import "UIView+RenderViewToImage.h"

@implementation UIView (RenderViewToImage)

- (UIImage *)imageByRenderingView
{
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.bounds.size, NO, 0.0);
    [self drawViewHierarchyInRect:self.bounds afterScreenUpdates:YES];
    UIImage * snapshotImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
    return snapshotImage;
}

@end
15
votes

Swift 3

The Swift 3 solution (based on Dima's answer) with UIView extension should be like this:

extension UIView {
    public func getSnapshotImage() -> UIImage {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.bounds.size, self.isOpaque, 0)
        self.drawHierarchy(in: self.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: false)
        let snapshotImage: UIImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()!
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return snapshotImage
    }
}
6
votes

Drop-in Swift 3.0 extension that supports the new iOS 10.0 API & the previous method.

Note:

  • iOS version check
  • Note the use of defer to simplify the context cleanup.
  • Will also apply the opacity & current scale of the view.
  • Nothing is just unwrapped using ! which could cause a crash.

extension UIView
{
    public func renderToImage(afterScreenUpdates: Bool = false) -> UIImage?
    {
        if #available(iOS 10.0, *)
        {
            let rendererFormat = UIGraphicsImageRendererFormat.default()
            rendererFormat.scale = self.layer.contentsScale
            rendererFormat.opaque = self.isOpaque
            let renderer = UIGraphicsImageRenderer(size: self.bounds.size, format: rendererFormat)

            return
                renderer.image
                {
                    _ in

                    self.drawHierarchy(in: self.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: afterScreenUpdates)
                }
        }
        else
        {
            UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.bounds.size, self.isOpaque, self.layer.contentsScale)
            defer
            {
                UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
            }

            self.drawHierarchy(in: self.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: afterScreenUpdates)

            return UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        }
    }
}
5
votes

Swift 2.0:

Using extension method:

extension UIImage{

   class func renderUIViewToImage(viewToBeRendered:UIView?) -> UIImage
   {
       UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions((viewToBeRendered?.bounds.size)!, false, 0.0)
       viewToBeRendered!.drawViewHierarchyInRect(viewToBeRendered!.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: true)
       viewToBeRendered!.layer.renderInContext(UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()!)

       let finalImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
       UIGraphicsEndImageContext()

       return finalImage
   }

}

Usage:

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    //Sample View To Self.view
    let sampleView = UIView(frame: CGRectMake(100,100,200,200))
    sampleView.backgroundColor =  UIColor(patternImage: UIImage(named: "ic_120x120")!)
    self.view.addSubview(sampleView)    

    //ImageView With Image
    let sampleImageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRectMake(100,400,200,200))

    //sampleView is rendered to sampleImage
    var sampleImage = UIImage.renderUIViewToImage(sampleView)

    sampleImageView.image = sampleImage
    self.view.addSubview(sampleImageView)

 }
5
votes

For Swift 5.1 you can use this extension:

extension UIView {

    func asImage() -> UIImage {
        let renderer = UIGraphicsImageRenderer(bounds: bounds)

        return renderer.image {
            rendererContext in

            layer.render(in: rendererContext.cgContext)
        }
    }
}
3
votes

Swift 3.0 implementation

extension UIView {
    func getSnapshotImage() -> UIImage {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(bounds.size, isOpaque, 0)
        drawHierarchy(in: bounds, afterScreenUpdates: false)
        let snapshotImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()!
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return snapshotImage
    }
}
3
votes

All Swift 3 answers did not worked for me so I have translated the most accepted answer:

extension UIImage {
    class func imageWithView(view: UIView) -> UIImage {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(view.bounds.size, view.isOpaque, 0.0)
        view.layer.render(in: UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()!)
        let img: UIImage? = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return img!
    }
}
3
votes

Here's a Swift 4 UIView extension based on the answer from @Dima.

extension UIView {
   func snapshotImage() -> UIImage? {
       UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(bounds.size, isOpaque, 0)
       drawHierarchy(in: bounds, afterScreenUpdates: false)
       let image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
       UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
       return image
   }
}
1
votes

UIGraphicsImageRenderer is a relatively new API, introduced in iOS 10. You construct a UIGraphicsImageRenderer by specifying a point size. The image method takes a closure argument and returns a bitmap that results from executing the passed closure. In this case, the result is the original image scaled down to draw within the specified bounds.

https://nshipster.com/image-resizing/

So be sure the size you are passing into UIGraphicsImageRenderer is points, not pixels.

If your images are larger than you are expecting, you need to divide your size by the scale factor.

0
votes

Some times drawRect Method makes problem so I got these answers more appropriate. You too may have a look on it Capture UIImage of UIView stuck in DrawRect method

0
votes
- (UIImage*)screenshotForView:(UIView *)view
{
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(view.bounds.size);
    [view.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
    UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    // hack, helps w/ our colors when blurring
    NSData *imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(image, 1); // convert to jpeg
    image = [UIImage imageWithData:imageData];

    return image;
}
-2
votes

In this method just pass a view object and it will returns a UIImage object.

-(UIImage*)getUIImageFromView:(UIView*)yourView
{
 UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(yourView.bounds.size);
 [yourView.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
 UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
 UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
 return image;
}
-6
votes

Add this to method to UIView Category

- (UIImage*) capture {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(self.bounds.size);
    CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    [self.layer renderInContext:context];
    UIImage *img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
    return img;
}