Changing UIImage color

Question

I'm trying to change color of UIImage. My code:

-(UIImage *)coloredImage:(UIImage *)firstImage withColor:(UIColor *)color {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(firstImage.size);

    CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    [color setFill];

    CGContextTranslateCTM(context, 0, firstImage.size.height);
    CGContextScaleCTM(context, 1.0, -1.0);

    CGContextSetBlendMode(context, kCGBlendModeCopy);
    CGRect rect = CGRectMake(0, 0, firstImage.size.width, firstImage.size.height);
    CGContextDrawImage(context, rect, firstImage.CGImage);

    CGContextClipToMask(context, rect, firstImage.CGImage);
    CGContextAddRect(context, rect);
    CGContextDrawPath(context,kCGPathElementMoveToPoint);

    UIImage *coloredImg = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    return coloredImg;
}

This code works, but obtained image is not so well as shoud be: bounds pixels of returned image are intermittent and not so smooth as in my first image. How can I resolve this problem?

Answer 1

Since iOS 7, this is the most simple way of doing it.

Objective-C:

theImageView.image = [theImageView.image imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysTemplate];
[theImageView setTintColor:[UIColor redColor]];

Swift 2.0:

theImageView.image = theImageView.image?.imageWithRenderingMode(.AlwaysTemplate) 
theImageView.tintColor = UIColor.magentaColor()

Swift 4.0:

theImageView.image = theImageView.image?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysTemplate) 
theImageView.tintColor = .magenta

Storyboard:

First configure the image as template ( on right bar - Render as) in your assets. Then the color of the image would be the tint color applied.

Answer 2

This is pretty much the answer above, but slightly shortened. This only takes the image as a mask and does not actually "multiply" or color the image.

Objective C:

    UIColor *color = <# UIColor #>;
    UIImage *image = <# UIImage #>;// Image to mask with
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(image.size, NO, image.scale);
    CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    [color setFill];
    CGContextTranslateCTM(context, 0, image.size.height);
    CGContextScaleCTM(context, 1.0, -1.0);
    CGContextClipToMask(context, CGRectMake(0, 0, image.size.width, image.size.height), [image CGImage]);
    CGContextFillRect(context, CGRectMake(0, 0, image.size.width, image.size.height));

    UIImage *coloredImg = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

Swift:

    let color: UIColor = <# UIColor #>
    let image: UIImage = <# UIImage #> // Image to mask with
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(image.size, false, image.scale)
    let context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()
    color.setFill()
    context?.translateBy(x: 0, y: image.size.height)
    context?.scaleBy(x: 1.0, y: -1.0)
    context?.clip(to: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: image.size.width, height: image.size.height), mask: image.cgImage!)
    context?.fill(CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: image.size.width, height: image.size.height))
    let coloredImg = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext()

Answer 3

Another way to tint an image is to simply multiply it by a constant color. Sometimes, this is preferable because it doesn't "lift" the color values in black areas; it keeps the relative intensities in the image the same. Using an overlay as a tint tends to flatten out the contrast.

This is the code I use:

UIImage *MultiplyImageByConstantColor( UIImage *image, UIColor *color ) {

    CGSize backgroundSize = image.size;
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(backgroundSize);

    CGContextRef ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();

    CGRect backgroundRect;
    backgroundRect.size = backgroundSize;
    backgroundRect.origin.x = 0;
    backgroundRect.origin.y = 0;

    CGFloat r,g,b,a;
    [color getRed:&r green:&g blue:&b alpha:&a];
    CGContextSetRGBFillColor(ctx, r, g, b, a);
    CGContextFillRect(ctx, backgroundRect);

    CGRect imageRect;
    imageRect.size = image.size;
    imageRect.origin.x = (backgroundSize.width - image.size.width)/2;
    imageRect.origin.y = (backgroundSize.height - image.size.height)/2;

    // Unflip the image
    CGContextTranslateCTM(ctx, 0, backgroundSize.height);
    CGContextScaleCTM(ctx, 1.0, -1.0);

    CGContextSetBlendMode(ctx, kCGBlendModeMultiply);
    CGContextDrawImage(ctx, imageRect, image.CGImage);

    UIImage *newImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    return newImage;
}

Swift version

extension UIImage{

    static func multiplyImageByConstantColor(image:UIImage,color:UIColor)->UIImage{
        let backgroundSize = image.size
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(backgroundSize)

        let ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()

        var backgroundRect=CGRect()
        backgroundRect.size = backgroundSize
        backgroundRect.origin.x = 0
        backgroundRect.origin.y = 0

        var r:CGFloat
        var g:CGFloat
        var b:CGFloat
        var a:CGFloat
        color.getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a)
        CGContextSetRGBFillColor(ctx, r, g, b, a)
        CGContextFillRect(ctx, backgroundRect)

        var imageRect=CGRect()
        imageRect.size = image.size
        imageRect.origin.x = (backgroundSize.width - image.size.width)/2
        imageRect.origin.y = (backgroundSize.height - image.size.height)/2

        // Unflip the image
        CGContextTranslateCTM(ctx, 0, backgroundSize.height)
        CGContextScaleCTM(ctx, 1.0, -1.0)

        CGContextSetBlendMode(ctx, .Multiply)
        CGContextDrawImage(ctx, imageRect, image.CGImage)

        let newImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return newImage
    }
}