# UIGraphicsRenderer An abstract base class for creating graphics renderers. ``` class UIGraphicsRenderer ``` ## Overview Don’t use [`UIGraphicsRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer) directly. Instead, either use one of the concrete subclasses ([`UIGraphicsImageRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsImageRenderer) or [`UIGraphicsPDFRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsPDFRenderer)), or create your own subclass. Graphics renderers provide memory-efficient management of Core Graphics contexts. Core Graphics contexts represent the drawing environment and backing store for 2D Graphics. As you reuse a graphics renderer, it in turn reuses Core Graphics contexts. ### Subclassing notes You can’t use [`UIGraphicsRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer) directly, but if the concrete subclasses ([`UIGraphicsPDFRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsPDFRenderer) and [`UIGraphicsImageRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsImageRenderer)) don’t provide the functionality you require, you can create your own subclass. Consider creating a subclass any time you need to create multiple Core Graphics contexts, each with the same dimensions and attributes, and one of the concrete subclasses ([`UIGraphicsPDFRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsPDFRenderer) or [`UIGraphicsImageRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsImageRenderer)) doesn’t provide the functionality you require. To create a subclass of [`UIGraphicsRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer), first import the appropriate submodule or header, as shown in the following code. ```objc #import ``` A graphics renderer manages a pool of Core Graphics contexts that are reused with repeated uses of the renderer. The renderer creates these objects using the [`context(with:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/context(with:)) class method, and then wraps each of them in an instance of the class returned by the [`rendererContextClass()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/rendererContextClass()) class method. You must therefore override these two methods in your graphics renderer subclass. To perform drawing actions on a Core Graphics context, call the [`runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)) method, providing two blocks. Both of these blocks have a [`UIGraphicsRendererContext`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRendererContext) argument, providing access to a Core Graphics context. It is recommended that you create a public method on your renderer subclass that internally wraps the [`runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)) method. This is how the rendering methods operate on the concrete subclasses, for example the [`image(actions:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsImageRenderer/image(actions:)) method on [`UIGraphicsImageRenderer`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsImageRenderer). Each time the [`runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)) method is called, the renderer calls the [`prepare(_:with:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/prepare(_:with:)) method with the and [`UIGraphicsRendererContext`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRendererContext) as arguments. Override the [`prepare(_:with:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/prepare(_:with:)) method to apply the [`UIGraphicsRendererContext`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRendererContext) configuration to the underlying before the renderer invokes the drawing actions. ## Topics ### Initializing a graphics renderer [`init(bounds:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/init(bounds:)) Creates a new graphics renderer with the specified bounds and a default format. [`init(bounds:format:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/init(bounds:format:)) Creates a new graphics renderer with the given bounds and format. ### Configuring the renderer [`allowsImageOutput`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/allowsImageOutput) A Boolean value specifying whether the renderer can create output images. [`format`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/format) The format used to create the graphics renderer. ### Running the drawing actions [`runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/runDrawingActions(_:completionActions:)) Performs drawing actions on a Core Graphics context that the renderer prepares. [`UIGraphicsDrawingActions`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsDrawingActions) A closure that executes a set of drawing instructions that the renderer applies to the Core Graphics context. ### Managing graphics contexts [`context(with:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/context(with:)) Creates a Core Graphics context configured according to the supplied format object. [`prepare(_:with:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/prepare(_:with:)) Applies the configuration specified in the renderer context to the Core Graphics context. [`rendererContextClass()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIGraphicsRenderer/rendererContextClass()) Specifies the drawing context class used by this graphics renderer. --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)