I was looking to be able to turn any UIColor into a gradient. The way I am intending to do this is by using Core Graphics to draw a gradient. What I am trying to do is to get a color, lets say:
[UIColor colorWithRed:0.5 green:0.5 blue:0.5 alpha:1.0];
and get a UIColor which is a few shades darker and a few shades lighter. Does anyone know how to do this? Thank you.
- (UIColor *)lighterColorForColor:(UIColor *)c
{
CGFloat r, g, b, a;
if ([c getRed:&r green:&g blue:&b alpha:&a])
return [UIColor colorWithRed:MIN(r + 0.2, 1.0)
green:MIN(g + 0.2, 1.0)
blue:MIN(b + 0.2, 1.0)
alpha:a];
return nil;
}
- (UIColor *)darkerColorForColor:(UIColor *)c
{
CGFloat r, g, b, a;
if ([c getRed:&r green:&g blue:&b alpha:&a])
return [UIColor colorWithRed:MAX(r - 0.2, 0.0)
green:MAX(g - 0.2, 0.0)
blue:MAX(b - 0.2, 0.0)
alpha:a];
return nil;
}
Use it like this:
UIColor *baseColor = // however you obtain your color
UIColor *lighterColor = [self lighterColorForColor:baseColor];
UIColor *darkerColor = [self darkerColorForColor:baseColor];
EDIT: as @Anchu Chimala pointed out, for maximum flexibility, these methods should be implemented as an UIColor category. Also, from @Riley's idea, it may be a better idea to make the color proprtionally darker or lighter instead of adding or subtracting constant values. As @jrturton pointed out, it's not necessary to manipulate the RGB components; it's better to modify the brightness property itself. All in all:
@implementation UIColor (LightAndDark)
- (UIColor *)lighterColor
{
CGFloat h, s, b, a;
if ([self getHue:&h saturation:&s brightness:&b alpha:&a])
return [UIColor colorWithHue:h
saturation:s
brightness:MIN(b * 1.3, 1.0)
alpha:a];
return nil;
}
- (UIColor *)darkerColor
{
CGFloat h, s, b, a;
if ([self getHue:&h saturation:&s brightness:&b alpha:&a])
return [UIColor colorWithHue:h
saturation:s
brightness:b * 0.75
alpha:a];
return nil;
}
@end