How to draw shapes using UIBezierPath

Swift version: 5.10

Paul Hudson @twostraws May 28th 2019

UIBezierPath is a simple and efficient class for drawing shapes using Swift, which you can then put into CAShapeLayer, SKShapeNode, or other places. It comes with various shapes built in, so you can write code like this to create a rounded rectangle or a circle:

let rect = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 256, height: 256)
let roundedRect = UIBezierPath(roundedRect: rect, cornerRadius: 50)
let circle = UIBezierPath(ovalIn: rect)

You can also create custom shapes by moving a pen to a starting position then adding lines:

let freeform = UIBezierPath()
freeform.move(to: .zero)
freeform.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 50, y: 50))
freeform.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 50, y: 150))
freeform.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 150, y: 50))
freeform.addLine(to: .zero)

If your end result needs a CGPath, you can get one by accessing the cgPath property of your UIBezierPath.