How to shadow documentView in NSScrollView? - cocoa

Question

How to shadow documentView in NSScrollView?
The effect look likes iBook Author:

Answer 1

You need to inset the content in your document view to allow space for the shadow to be displayed, then layer back the view and set a shadow on it. Example:
view.wantsLayer = YES;
NSShadow *shadow = [NSShadow new];
shadow.shadowColor = [NSColor blackColor]
shadow.shadowBlurRadius = 4.f;
shadow.shadowOffset = NSMakeSize(0.f, -5.f);
view.shadow = shadow;

Answer 2

The NSScrollView contentView is an NSView subclass, which has a shadow field, if you create a shadow object and assign it to this field, the view will automatically show a drop shadow when drawn
NSShadow* shadow = [[NSShadow alloc] init];
shadow.shadowBlurRadius = 2; //set how many pixels the shadow has
shadow.shadowOffset = NSMakeSize(2, -2); //the distance from the view the shadow is dropped
shadow.shadowColor = [NSColor blackColor];
self.scrollView.contentView.shadow = shadow;
This works because all views when are drawn on drawRect use this shadow property by using [shadow set].
doing [shadow set] during a draw operation makes whatever is drawn after that to be replicated underneath

Answer 3

I'm new to entering posts on stack overflow but I had the same issue and have solved it so I thought after searching the net for hours to find a solution it would be nice to answer it.
My solution is to create a subclass for NSClipView with the following code for drawRect...
- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)dirtyRect
{
[super drawRect:dirtyRect];
NSRect childRect = [[self documentView] frame];
[NSGraphicsContext saveGraphicsState];
// Create the shadow below and to the right of the shape.
NSShadow* theShadow = [[NSShadow alloc] init];
[theShadow setShadowOffset:NSMakeSize(4.0, -4.0)];
[theShadow setShadowBlurRadius:3.0];
// Use a partially transparent color for shapes that overlap.
[theShadow setShadowColor:[[NSColor grayColor]
colorWithAlphaComponent:0.95f]];
[theShadow set];
[[self backgroundColor] setFill];
NSRectFill(childRect);
// Draw your custom content here. Anything you draw
// automatically has the shadow effect applied to it.
[NSGraphicsContext restoreGraphicsState];
}
You then need to create an instance of the subclass and set it with the setContentView selector.
You also need to repaint the clip view every time the content view size changes. If you have your content view set up to change in terms of canvas size when the user wants then unless you repaint the clip view some nasty shadow marks will left behind.
You don't need to mess about with clips as others have suggested.
Hope it helps!