NSButton how to color the text

Question

on OSX I have an NSButton with a pretty dark image and unfortunately it is not possible to change the color using the attributes inspector. See picture the big black button,

Answer 1

Here is two other solutions: http://denis-druz.okis.ru/news.534557.Text-Color-in-NSButton.html

solution 1:

-(void)awakeFromNib
{
    NSColor *color = [NSColor greenColor];
    NSMutableAttributedString *colorTitle = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithAttributedString:[button attributedTitle]];
    NSRange titleRange = NSMakeRange(0, [colorTitle length]);
    [colorTitle addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:color range:titleRange];
    [button setAttributedTitle:colorTitle];
}

solution 2:

in *.m file:

- (void)setButtonTitleFor:(NSButton*)button toString:(NSString*)title withColor:(NSColor*)color
{
    NSMutableParagraphStyle *style = [[NSMutableParagraphStyle alloc] init];
    [style setAlignment:NSCenterTextAlignment];
    NSDictionary *attrsDictionary = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:color, NSForegroundColorAttributeName, style, NSParagraphStyleAttributeName, nil];
    NSAttributedString *attrString = [[NSAttributedString alloc]initWithString:title attributes:attrsDictionary];
    [button setAttributedTitle:attrString];
}

-(void)awakeFromNib
{
    NSString *title = @"+Add page";
    NSColor *color = [NSColor greenColor];
    [self setButtonTitleFor:button toString:title withColor:color];
}

Answer 2

Apple have code for setting the text colour of an NSButton as part of the Popover example.

Below is the crux of the example (modified slightly for this post, untested):

NSButton *button = ...;
NSMutableAttributedString *attrTitle =
    [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"Make Me Red"];
NSUInteger len = [attrTitle length];
NSRange range = NSMakeRange(0, len);
[attrTitle addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:[NSColor redColor] range:range];
[attrTitle fixAttributesInRange:range];
[button setAttributedTitle:attrTitle];

Note that the call to fixAttributesInRange: seems to be important (an AppKit extension), but I can't find documentation as to why that is the case. The only concern I have with using attributed strings in an NSButton is if an image is also defined for the button (such as an icon), the attributed string will occupy a large rectangle and push the image to the edge of the button. Something to bear in mind.

Otherwise it seems the best way is to make your own drawRect: override instead, which has many other pitfalls that are outside the scope of this question.

Answer 3

Add a category on the NSButton and simply set the color to what you want, and preseve the existing attributes, since the title can be centered, left aligned etc

@implementation NSButton (NSButton_IDDAppKit)

- (NSColor*)titleTextColor {

    return [NSColor redColor];

}

- (void)setTitleTextColor:(NSColor*)aColor {

    NSMutableAttributedString*  attributedString = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithAttributedString:self.attributedTitle];
    NSString*  title = self.title;
    NSRange  range = NSMakeRange(0.0, self.title.length);

    [attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:aColor range:range];
    [self setAttributedTitle:attributedString];
    [attributedString release];

}

@end

Answer 4

A really simple, reusable solution without subclassing NSButton:

[self setButton:self.myButton fontColor:[NSColor whiteColor]] ;

-(void) setButton:(NSButton *)button fontColor:(NSColor *)color {
    NSMutableAttributedString *colorTitle = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithAttributedString:[button attributedTitle]];
    [colorTitle addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:color range:NSMakeRange(0, button.attributedTitle.length)];
    [button setAttributedTitle:colorTitle];
}

Answer 5

Swift 5

You can use this extension:

extension NSButton {

@IBInspectable var titleColor: NSColor? {
    get {
        return   NSColor.white
    }
    set {
        let pstyle = NSMutableParagraphStyle()
        pstyle.alignment = .center
        
        self.attributedTitle = NSAttributedString(
            string: self.title,
            attributes: [ NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor :newValue, NSAttributedString.Key.paragraphStyle: pstyle])
        
    }
   }
 }

Now you can set title color in storyboard easily. Cheers!

Answer 6

When your target is macOS 10.14 or newer, you can use the new contentTintColor property of the NSButton control to set the text color.

button.contentTintColor = NSColor.systemGreenColor;