Shadow layer implements the Material Design specifications for elevation and shadows. By simulating the physical properties of paper, elevation and light source, shadows give visual depth to components. Shadow layer provides an elevation property which affects a shadow's depth and strength, automatically handling shadow diffusion based on the shadow's elevation.
MDCShadowLayer
provides a Core Animation CALayer
that will render a shadow based on its
elevation property. UIViews
can use this by overriding their layerClass method to
return MDCShadowLayer
.
elevation
sets the diffusion level of the shadow. The higher the shadow elevation, the more
diffused the shadow becomes. Elevation uses points as a unit to specify height. Common shadow
elevations are defined in MDCShadowElevations and range from 0 to 24 points.
The shadow diffusion effect diminishes as elevations exceed 24 points. The default value is 0 (no
shadow).
Set shadowMaskEnabled
to ensure the interior, non-shadow portion of the layer is visible.
This is enabled by default and the internal portion of the layer is cut out.
MDCShadowMetrics
is a series of properties used to set MDCShadowLayer
. MDCShadowLayer
consists
of two distinct layers. The overlay of these two layers generates a single Material Design
shadow that adheres to defined height and light source principles.
To add this component to your Xcode project using CocoaPods, add the following to your Podfile
:
pod 'MaterialComponents/ShadowLayer'
Then, run the following command:
pod install
Before using shadow layer, you'll need to import it:
import MaterialComponents
#import "MaterialShadowLayer.h"
Example of a custom button based on UIButton with Material Design shadows:
class ShadowButton: UIButton {
override class var layerClass: AnyClass {
return MDCShadowLayer.self
}
}
@interface ShadowButton : UIButton
@end
@implementation ShadowButton
+ (Class)layerClass {
return [MDCShadowLayer class];
}
@end
Add the custom button to view:
let button = ShadowButton(type: .system)
button.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 200, height: 50)
button.setTitle("Button", for: .normal)
let buttonLayer = button.layer as! MDCShadowLayer
buttonLayer.elevation = ShadowElevation(6)
addSubview(button)
ShadowButton *button = [ShadowButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeSystem];
button.frame = CGRectMake(100, 100, 200, 50);
[button setTitle: @"Button" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[(MDCShadowLayer *)button.layer setElevation:6];
[self addSubview:button];
Creating a custom UIView with a shadow:
class ShadowedView: UIView {
override class var layerClass: AnyClass {
return MDCShadowLayer.self
}
var shadowLayer: MDCShadowLayer {
return self.layer as! MDCShadowLayer
}
var elevation: ShadowElevation {
get {
return self.shadowLayer.elevation
}
set {
self.shadowLayer.elevation = newValue
}
}
}
@interface ShadowedView : UIView
@end
@implementation ShadowedView
+ (Class)layerClass {
return [MDCShadowLayer class];
}
- (MDCShadowLayer)shadowLayer {
return (MDCShadowLayer *)self.layer;
}
- (void)setElevation:(CGFloat)points {
[(MDCShadowLayer *)self.layer setElevation:points];
}
@end
To improve performance, consider rasterizing MDCShadowLayer when the view using the shadow is not animating or changing size.
layer.shouldRasterize = true
layer.rasterizationScale = UIScreen.main.scale
self.layer.shouldRasterize = YES;
self.layer.rasterizationScale = [UIScreen mainScreen].scale;
Disable rasterization before animating MDCShadowLayer.