Issue in adding a shadow to view layer

Question

In one of my view I am adding shadow to a view. Thing is that the shadow shows white spaces on left & right edges. I want to remove these spaces.

Here is my code:

UIView *myView = [[ISTView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 320.0, 35)];
myView.backgroundColor = [UIColor greyColor];
[myView.layer setShadowOffset:CGSizeMake(0.0, 5.0)];
[myView.layer setShadowOpacity:0.8];
[myView.layer setShadowRadius:2.0];
[myView.layer setShadowColor:[UIColor blackColor].CGColor];
[self.view addSubview:myView];
[myView release];

Here is my view's o/p:

Answer 1

If you want homogenous shadow without side effects you can draw it in graphics editor, save to png and place UIImageView with stretchable image on your view. And don't forget to set clipToBounds to NO.

UIView *myView = [[ISTView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 320.0, 35)];
myView.backgroundColor = [UIColor greyColor];
myView.clipToBounds = NO;

UIImageView *shadowView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0, 35, 320, 10)];
shadowView.image = [UIImage imageWithName:@"my-shadow.png"];
[myView addSubview:shadowView];
[shadowView release];

[self.view addSubview:myView];
[myView release];

It would be cheaper for system to draw cached existing image above view hierarcy than calculate layer's shadow.

Answer 2

Use shadowPath to make the shadow larger then the view

view.layer.shadowPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRect:CGRectMake(0, 0, view.frame.size.width+30, view.frame.size.height)].CGPath;

Answer 3

One solution I could think of and is working also is to adjust the view's frame by 2 pixels in X position and width:

UIView *myView = [[ISTView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(-2.0, 0.0, 324.0, 35)];

But this is not a cleaner approach of doing this. If anyone has better solution, please guide.

Answer 4

Try this, remove the code: [myView.layer setShadowRadius:2.0];