Get Slightly Lighter and Darker Color from UIColor

Question

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.

Answer 1

All other answers in this thread use either the RGB color system or simply change the hue or brightness value of the HSB system. As explained in detail in this great blog post the correct way of making a color lighter or darker is to change its luminance value. None of the other answers does that. If you want to do it right, then use my solution or write your own after reading the blog post.

---

Unfortunately it's quite a hassle to change any of the attributes of a UIColor by default. Also Apple doesn't even support any LAB-based color space like HCL in the UIColor class (the L in LAB is the luminance value we are looking for).

Using HandyUIKit (install it via Carthage) adds support for HCL and makes your life a lot easier:

import HandyUIKit    

let color = UIColor(red: 0.5, green: 0.5, blue: 0.5, alpha: 1.0)

// create a new UIColor object with a specific luminance (slightly lighter)
color.change(.luminance, to: 0.7)

There is also an option to apply a relative change (recommended):

// create a new UIColor object with slightly darker color
color.change(.luminance, by: -0.2)

Note that HandyUIKit also adds some other handy UI features into your project – checkout its README on GitHub for more details.

I hope it helps!

Answer 2

UIColor extension and fixing lighterColorForColor

extension UIColor {
  class func darkerColorForColor(color: UIColor) -> UIColor {
    var r:CGFloat = 0, g:CGFloat = 0, b:CGFloat = 0, a:CGFloat = 0
    if color.getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a){
      return UIColor(red: max(r - 0.2, 0.0), green: max(g - 0.2, 0.0), blue: max(b - 0.2, 0.0), alpha: a)
    }
    return UIColor()
  }

  class func lighterColorForColor(color: UIColor) -> UIColor {
    var r:CGFloat = 0, g:CGFloat = 0, b:CGFloat = 0, a:CGFloat = 0
    if color.getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a){
      let tmpColor = UIColor(red: min(r + 0.2, 1.0), green: min(g + 0.2, 1.0), blue: min(b + 0.2, 1.0), alpha: a)
      println(tmpColor)
      return tmpColor
    }
    return UIColor()
  }
}

Answer 3

Here is a UIColor category that also allows control over the amount of color change.

- (UIColor *)lighterColorWithDelta:(CGFloat)delta
{
    CGFloat r, g, b, a;
    if ([self getRed:&r green:&g blue:&b alpha:&a])
        return [UIColor colorWithRed:MIN(r + delta, 1.0)
                               green:MIN(g + delta, 1.0)
                                blue:MIN(b + delta, 1.0)
                               alpha:a];
    return nil;
}

- (UIColor *)darkerColorWithDelta:(CGFloat)delta
{
    CGFloat r, g, b, a;
    if ([self getRed:&r green:&g blue:&b alpha:&a])
        return [UIColor colorWithRed:MAX(r - delta, 0.0)
                               green:MAX(g - delta, 0.0)
                                blue:MAX(b - delta, 0.0)
                               alpha:a];
    return nil;
}

Answer 4

None of the solutions posted quite worked for all colours and shades, but then I stumbled across this library which provides a set of very well implemented extensions to UIColor.

Specifically it has a lighten function as part of its HSL implementation: (UIColor *)lighten:(CGFloat)amount - which works perfectly.

Answer 5

user529758's solution in Swift:

Darker color:

func darkerColorForColor(color: UIColor) -> UIColor {

       var r:CGFloat = 0, g:CGFloat = 0, b:CGFloat = 0, a:CGFloat = 0

       if color.getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a){
           return UIColor(red: max(r - 0.2, 0.0), green: max(g - 0.2, 0.0), blue: max(b - 0.2, 0.0), alpha: a)
       }

       return UIColor()
}

Lighter color:

func lighterColorForColor(color: UIColor) -> UIColor {

       var r:CGFloat = 0, g:CGFloat = 0, b:CGFloat = 0, a:CGFloat = 0

       if color.getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a){
           return UIColor(red: min(r + 0.2, 1.0), green: min(g + 0.2, 1.0), blue: min(b + 0.2, 1.0), alpha: a)
       }

       return UIColor()
}

Answer 6

- (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