Manipulate alpha bytes of Java/Android color int

Question

If I have an int in Java that I\'m using as an Android color (for drawing on a Canvas), how do I manipulate just the alpha component of that int? For example, how can I use an o

Answer 1

An alternative is:

int myOpaqueColor = 0xffffffff;
byte factor = 20;// 0-255;
int color = ( factor << 24 ) | ( myOpaqueColor & 0x00ffffff );

Or using float:

int myOpaqueColor = 0xffffffff;
float factor = 0.7f;// 0-1;
int color = ( (int) ( factor * 255.0f ) << 24 ) | ( myOpaqueColor & 0x00ffffff);

You can change any channel by changing the bitwise value 24.

public final static byte ALPHA_CHANNEL = 24;
public final static byte RED_CHANNEL   = 16;
public final static byte GREEN_CHANNEL =  8;
public final static byte BLUE_CHANNEL  =  0;

// using:
byte red   = 0xff;
byte green = 0xff;
byte blue  = 0xff;
byte alpha = 0xff;
int color = ( alpha << ALPHA_CHANNEL ) | ( red << RED_CHANNEL ) | ( green << GREEN_CHANNEL ) | ( blue << BLUE_CHANNEL );// 0xffffffff