How can I take a snapshot of a UIView that isn't rendered?

Question

I use this method for taking a snapshot: ``` UIView *snapshotView = [someView snapshotAfterScreenUpdates:NO]; ``` This gives me a UIView that I can play with. But, I need the UIImage of it and not the UIView. This is the method I use for converting a UIView to an UIImage: ``` - (UIImage *)snapshotOfView:(UIView *)view { UIImage *snapshot; UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(view.frame.size); [view.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()]; snapshot = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext(); UIGraphicsEndImageContext(); return snapshot; } ``` It doesn't work, the snapshot is a blank UIImage because the snapshotView isn't rendered. The obvious thing to do is to directly take a snapshot of the view instead of taking the snapshot in the form of a UIView and then converting it. The problem with the obvious method is that I'm using a WKWebView that has a huge bug that doesn't allow you to take screenshots. And that's true, I even reported the bug and they said they are trying to fix…

Accepted Answer

`drawViewHierarchyInRect` will work for you. You can use this directly on your WKWebView.

There is some useful detail on this Apple Technical Q&A. Also I touch on it here in answer to a slightly different question.

I use it in a category on UIView:

```
@implementation UIView (ImageSnapshot)
- (UIImage*)imageSnapshot {
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(self.bounds.size, 
                                    YES, self.contentScaleFactor);
    [self drawViewHierarchyInRect:self.bounds afterScreenUpdates:YES];
    UIImage* newImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
    return newImage;
}
@end
```

I don't know what you mean by 'the obvious method' - but I have tested this on a WKWebView and it works.

How can I take a snapshot of a UIView that isn't rendered?

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