How to take a screenshot programmatically on iOS

Question

I want a screenshot of the image on the screen saved into the saved photo library.

Answer 1

I'm answering this question as it's a highly viewed, and there are many answers out there plus there's Swift and Obj-C.

Disclaimer This is not my code, nor my answers, this is only to help people that land here find a quick answer. There are links to the original answers to give credit where credit is due!! Please honor the original answers with a +1 if you use their answer!

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Using QuartzCore

#import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h> 

if ([[UIScreen mainScreen] respondsToSelector:@selector(scale)]) {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.window.bounds.size, NO, [UIScreen mainScreen].scale);
} else {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(self.window.bounds.size);
}

[self.window.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
NSData *imageData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(image);
if (imageData) {
    [imageData writeToFile:@"screenshot.png" atomically:YES];
} else {
    NSLog(@"error while taking screenshot");
}

---

In Swift

func captureScreen() -> UIImage
{

    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.view.bounds.size, false, 0);

    self.view.drawViewHierarchyInRect(view.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: true)

    let image: UIImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext()

    return image
}

Note: As the nature with programming, updates may need to be done so please edit or let me know! *Also if I failed to include an answer/method worth including feel free to let me know as well!

Answer 2

I think the following snippet would help if you want to take a full screen(except for status bar),just replace AppDelegate with your app delegate name if necessary.

- (UIImage *)captureFullScreen {

    AppDelegate *_appDelegate = (AppDelegate *)[UIApplication sharedApplication].delegate;

    if ([[UIScreen mainScreen] respondsToSelector:@selector(scale)]) {
        // for retina-display
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(_appDelegate.window.bounds.size, NO, [UIScreen mainScreen].scale);
        [_appDelegate.window drawViewHierarchyInRect:_appDelegate.window.bounds afterScreenUpdates:NO];
    } else {
        // non-retina-display
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(_bodyView.bounds.size);
        [_appDelegate.window drawViewHierarchyInRect:_appDelegate.window.bounds afterScreenUpdates:NO];
    }

    UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
    return image;
}

Answer 3

Swift 4:

func makeImage(withView view: UIView) -> UIImage? {

    let rect = view.bounds

    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(rect.size, true, 0)

    guard let context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext() else {
      assertionFailure()
      return nil
    }

    view.layer.render(in: context)

    guard let image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext() else {
      assertionFailure()
      return nil
    }

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext()

    return image
}

Answer 4

Get Screenshot From View

-(UIImage *)getScreenshotImage {
    if ([[UIScreen mainScreen] scale] == 2.0) {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.view.frame.size, FALSE, 2.0);
    } else {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.view.frame.size, FALSE, 1.0);
    }

    [self.view.window.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];

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

    return result;
}

Save Image to Photos

UIImageWriteToSavedPhotosAlbum(YOUR_IMAGE, nil, nil, nil);

How-To

UIImageWriteToSavedPhotosAlbum([self getScreenshotImage], nil, nil, nil);

Answer 5

Get Screenshot From View :

- (UIImage *)takeSnapshotView {
    CGRect rect = [myView bounds];//Here you can change your view with myView
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(rect.size,YES,0.0f);
    CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    [myView.layer renderInContext:context];
    UIImage *capturedScreen = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    return capturedScreen;//capturedScreen is the image of your view
}

Hope, this is what you're looking for. Any concern get back to me. :)

Answer 6

Considering a check for retina display use the following code snippet:

#import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h> 

if ([[UIScreen mainScreen] respondsToSelector:@selector(scale)]) {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.window.bounds.size, NO, [UIScreen mainScreen].scale);
} else {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(self.window.bounds.size);
}

[self.window.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
NSData *imageData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(image);
if (imageData) {
    [imageData writeToFile:@"screenshot.png" atomically:YES];
} else {
    NSLog(@"error while taking screenshot");
}