I’m working on an Android app and need to recreate shadow effects from my design files. The shadows have specific properties like X offset, Y offset, blur radius, spread radius, and shadow color. I can’t figure out how to match these exact shadow properties in Android.
I need to apply these shadow effects to buttons and card views. Some components require multiple shadow layers stacked together. I tried using a few third-party libraries and custom drawable approaches but the results don’t match what I see in my design tool.
Is there a reliable way to achieve precise shadow control in Android? I’m looking for solutions that can handle both single and multiple shadow effects with full control over offset values, blur intensity, spread distance, and color properties.
elevation nd layering XML drawables is the way to go. try using a layer-list for multiple shadows. it might not be an exact match to figma but it’ll get u realy close if u adjust the values right.
drop shadow in xml with shape drawables works for most cases. set gradient to radial and adjust colors to match ur design. much simpler than custom drawing and won’t hurt perfomance like other solutions.
Had this exact issue matching Figma shadows in Android. Best solution I found: custom drawable layers + ViewOutlineProvider for elevation. For single shadows - combine android:translationZ with custom shadow drawables using gradient radials. Convert your design values by multiplying blur radius by 0.5-0.75 and handle spread with drawable padding. Multiple shadows are trickier. Stack background drawables in a layer-list, each with different blur/offset values. I built a helper class that converts design specs to Android values automatically. Watch out for performance with multiple shadows - consider pre-rendered assets for complex ones. Also, elevation shadows act weird across different API levels, so test everything thoroughly.
Dealt with this exact issue for months. Paint shadows + custom view drawing works best - way more accurate than other methods. Make a custom view class, override onDraw, then use Paint.setShadowLayer() for each shadow you need. Handles everything you mentioned - offset, blur, spread, color. Just calculate canvas translation for X/Y offsets and draw multiple times if you’re stacking shadows. Performance beats layer-list approaches since you’re not inflating a bunch of drawables. I built a ShadowView wrapper that takes design specs as attributes and renders programmatically. Works great for buttons and cards, but remember to account for shadow bounds in your measurements or they’ll get clipped.