Drawing attributed strings that are both filled and stroked

Q:  How can I draw a string that specifies both a fill color and a stroke width?

A: Supply a negative value for NSStrokeWidthAttributeName when you wish to draw a string that is both filled and stroked.

This is because the sign of the value for NSStrokeWidthAttributeName is interpreted as a mode; it indicates whether the attributed string is to be filled, stroked, or both. Specifically, a zero value displays a fill only, while a positive value displays a stroke only. A negative value allows displaying both a fill and stroke.

The code in Listing 1 demonstrates a custom view rendering an attributed string that's both filled and stroked. The results are in Figure 3.

Listing 1  Render a filled and stroked attributed string.

- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)rect {

    NSString    *string = @"Got Fill?";

    NSMutableDictionary *stringAttributes = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];

    // Define the font and fill color

    [stringAttributes setObject: [NSFont fontWithName:@"Arial-Black" size:64] forKey: NSFontAttributeName];

    [stringAttributes setObject: [NSColor whiteColor] forKey: NSForegroundColorAttributeName];

    // Supply a negative value for stroke width that is 2% of the font point size in thickness

    [stringAttributes setObject: [NSNumber numberWithFloat: -2.0] forKey: NSStrokeWidthAttributeName];

    [stringAttributes setObject: [NSColor blackColor] forKey: NSStrokeColorAttributeName];

    // Paint the background

    [[NSColor grayColor] set];

    [NSBezierPath fillRect: [self bounds]];

    // Draw the string

    [string drawAtPoint: NSMakePoint(100, 100) withAttributes: stringAttributes];

}

See Also

For more information on drawing strings, see the String Programming Guide for Cocoa, the Attributed Strings Programming Guide and Cocoa Drawing Guide: Text.

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