How to get UIImage from EAGLView?

Question

I am trying to get a UIImage from what is displayed in my EAGLView. Any suggestions on how to do this?

Answer 1

Here is a cleaned up version of Quakeboy's code. I tested it on iPad, and works just fine. The improvements include:

• works with any size EAGLView
• works with retina display (point scale 2)
• replaced nested loop with memcpy
• cleaned up memory leaks
• saves the UIImage in the photoalbum as a bonus.

Use this as a method in your EAGLView:

-(void)snapUIImage
{
    int s = 1;
    UIScreen* screen = [ UIScreen mainScreen ];
    if ( [ screen respondsToSelector:@selector(scale) ] )
        s = (int) [ screen scale ];

    const int w = self.frame.size.width;
    const int h = self.frame.size.height;
    const NSInteger myDataLength = w * h * 4 * s * s;
    // allocate array and read pixels into it.
    GLubyte *buffer = (GLubyte *) malloc(myDataLength);
    glReadPixels(0, 0, w*s, h*s, GL_RGBA, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, buffer);
    // gl renders "upside down" so swap top to bottom into new array.
    // there's gotta be a better way, but this works.
    GLubyte *buffer2 = (GLubyte *) malloc(myDataLength);
    for(int y = 0; y < h*s; y++)
    {
        memcpy( buffer2 + (h*s - 1 - y) * w * 4 * s, buffer + (y * 4 * w * s), w * 4 * s );
    }
    free(buffer); // work with the flipped buffer, so get rid of the original one.

    // make data provider with data.
    CGDataProviderRef provider = CGDataProviderCreateWithData(NULL, buffer2, myDataLength, NULL);
    // prep the ingredients
    int bitsPerComponent = 8;
    int bitsPerPixel = 32;
    int bytesPerRow = 4 * w * s;
    CGColorSpaceRef colorSpaceRef = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB();
    CGBitmapInfo bitmapInfo = kCGBitmapByteOrderDefault;
    CGColorRenderingIntent renderingIntent = kCGRenderingIntentDefault;
    // make the cgimage
    CGImageRef imageRef = CGImageCreate(w*s, h*s, bitsPerComponent, bitsPerPixel, bytesPerRow, colorSpaceRef, bitmapInfo, provider, NULL, NO, renderingIntent);
    // then make the uiimage from that
    UIImage *myImage = [ UIImage imageWithCGImage:imageRef scale:s orientation:UIImageOrientationUp ];
    UIImageWriteToSavedPhotosAlbum( myImage, nil, nil, nil );
    CGImageRelease( imageRef );
    CGDataProviderRelease(provider);
    CGColorSpaceRelease(colorSpaceRef);
    free(buffer2);
}