The rounded pure color image created by code is blur - objective-c

Question

In objective-c, I make a circle shape programmatically by following codes:
+(UIImage *)makeRoundedImage:(CGSize) size backgroundColor:(UIColor *) backgroundColor cornerRadius:(int) cornerRadius
{
UIImage* bgImage = [self imageWithColor:backgroundColor andSize:size];;
CALayer *imageLayer = [CALayer layer];
imageLayer.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, size.width, size.height);
imageLayer.contents = (id) bgImage.CGImage;
imageLayer.masksToBounds = YES;
imageLayer.cornerRadius = cornerRadius;
UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(bgImage.size);
[imageLayer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
UIImage *roundedImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return roundedImage;
}
The imageWithColor method is as following:
+(UIImage *)imageWithColor:(UIColor *)color andSize:(CGSize)size
{
//quick fix, or pop up CG invalid context 0x0 bug
if(size.width == 0) size.width = 1;
if(size.height == 0) size.height = 1;
//---quick fix
UIImage *img = nil;
CGRect rect = CGRectMake(0, 0, size.width, size.height);
UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(rect.size);
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetFillColorWithColor(context,
color.CGColor);
CGContextFillRect(context, rect);
img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return img;
}
Then I used it to create a pure color circle shape image, but what I found is the circle image is not perfect rounded. As an example, please see following code:
CGSize size = CGSizeMake(diameter, diameter);
int r = ceil((float)diameter/2.0);
UIImage *imageNormal = [self makeRoundedImage:size backgroundColor:backgroundColor cornerRadius:r];
[slider setThumbImage:imageNormal forState:UIControlStateNormal];
First I created a circle image, then I set the image as the thumb to a UISlider. But what shown is as the picture shown below:
You can see the circle is not an exact circle. I'm thinking probably it caused by the screen resolution issue? Because if I use an image resource for the thumb, I need add #2x. Anybody know the reason? Thanx in advance.
updated on 8th Aug 2015.
Further to this question and the answer from #Noah Witherspoon, I found the blurry edge issue has been solved. But still, the circle looks like being cut. I used the code as following:
CGRect rect = CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, radius*2.0f, radius*2.0f);
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(rect.size, NO, 0.0);
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetFillColorWithColor(context, color.CGColor);
CGContextFillEllipseInRect(context, rect);
UIImage* image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return image;
And the circle looks like:
You can see the edge has been cut.
I changed the code as following:
CGRect rect = CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, radius*2.0f+4, radius*2.0f+4);
CGRect rectmin = CGRectMake(2.0f, 2.0f, radius*2, radius*2);
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(rect.size, NO, 0.0);
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetFillColorWithColor(context, color.CGColor);
CGContextFillEllipseInRect(context, rectmin);
UIImage* image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return image;
You can see the circle looks better(The top edge and the bottom edge):
I made the fill rect size smaller, and the edge looks better, but I don't think it's a nice solution. Still, does anybody know why this happen?

Answer 1

From your screenshot it looks like you do actually have a circular image, but its scale is wrong—it’s not Retina—so it looks blurry and not-circular. The key thing is that instead of using UIGraphicsBeginImageContext which defaults to a scale of 1.0 (as compared to your screen, which is at a scale of 2.0 or 3.0), you should be using UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions. Also, you don’t need to make a layer or a view to draw a circle in an image context.
+ (UIImage *)makeCircleImageWithDiameter:(CGFloat)diameter color:(UIColor *)color {
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(CGSizeMake(diameter, diameter), NO, 0 /* scale (0 means “use the current screen’s scale”) */);
[color setFill];
CGContextFillEllipseInRect(UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext(), CGRectMake(0, 0, diameter, diameter));
UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return image;
}

Answer 2

If you want to get a circle every time try this:
- (UIImage *)makeCircularImage:(CGSize)size backgroundColor:(UIColor *)backgroundColor {
CGSize squareSize = CGSizeMake((size.width > size.height) ? size.width : size.height,
(size.width > size.height) ? size.width : size.height);
UIView *circleView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, squareSize.width, squareSize.height)];
circleView.layer.cornerRadius = circleView.frame.size.height * 0.5f;
circleView.backgroundColor = backgroundColor;
circleView.opaque = NO;
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(circleView.bounds.size, circleView.opaque, 0.0);
[circleView.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
UIImage * img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return img;
}