In this article, we will learn how to create android ImageView programmatically in Kotlin. We will go through various steps that explains how to create ImageView and add it in kotlin file, use different attributes to customise it etc. in any android application. For example, how to set text in ImageView programmatically, how to set id of ImageView, how to capitalise text of ImageView dynamically etc. We will get answer to all such questions in this post.

Learn to use Different Attributes of ImageView in XML File to Customize it.

Output

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic ImageView Output

Getting Started

We can define android ImageView widget as below –

ImageView is subclass of view that displays image. It is also used to handle image tinting and scaling.

Now, how do we use ImageView in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access ImageView in Kotlin file without using findViewById() method.

Setup ViewBinding

Add viewBinding true in app/build.gradle file.

 
 android { 
 	// OTHER CODE... 
 	buildFeatures { 
 		viewBinding true 
 	} 
 } 
 

Now, set content in activity using view binding.
Open MainActivity.kt file and write below code in it.

 
 class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() { 
 	
 	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding 
 	
 	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { 
 		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) 
 		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater) 
 		val view = binding.root 
 		setContentView(view) 
 	} 
 } 
 

Now, we can access view in Kotlin file without using findViewById() method.

Since we have a new project, we will modify the xml and class file to use ImageView programmatically in kotlin. Please follow the steps below.

2. Modify Values Folder

Open res/values/strings.xml file. Add below code into it.

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">DynamicImageView</string>
    <string name="change_image">Change Image</string>
</resources>

Other values folders have not been changed. So, we are not going to mention it here.

3. Modify Layout Folder

Open res/layout/activity_main.xml file. Add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/rootContainer"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:orientation="vertical">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/changeImage"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
        android:text="@string/change_image" />

</LinearLayout>

Note that LinearLayout has id rootContainer. In Kotlin file, we will create ImageView Dynamically and add it into this LinearLayout having id rootContainer.

4. Create Android ImageView programmatically in Kotlin

Open src/main/java/com.tutorialwing.dynamicimageview/MainActivity.kt file. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.dynamicimageview

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.ImageView
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import com.tutorialwing.dynamicimageview.databinding.ActivityMainBinding

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding

	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
		val view = binding.root
		setContentView(view)

		addImageView()
	}

	private fun addImageView() {
		val imageView = ImageView(this)
		imageView.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(160, 160) // value is in pixels

		val imgResId = R.drawable.ic_launcher_background
		var resId = imgResId
		imageView.setImageResource(imgResId)

		binding.changeImage.setOnClickListener {
			resId =
				if (resId == R.drawable.ic_launcher_background) R.mipmap.ic_launcher else R.drawable.ic_launcher_background
			imageView.setImageResource(resId)
		}

		// Add ImageView to LinearLayout
		binding.rootContainer.addView(imageView)
	}
}

Finally, when you run the application, you will get output as shown above.

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic ImageView Output

Now, Let’s check how to use different attributes of ImageView to customize it dynamically –

Set Id of ImageView

Follow steps below to set id of ImageView programmatically –

• Create ids.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code into it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <item type="id" name="imageView_ID" />
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set id of ImageView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  imageView.id = R.id.imageView_ID  // ImageView
  

  Here, we have set id of ImageView using property access syntax – imageView.id

Learn to Set ID of ImageView Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of ImageView

We use layoutParams to set width and height of any View programmatically. In this article, we have added ImageView in LinearLayout. So, we will define LayoutParams as below –

imageView.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
)

Here, we have set width and height as WRAP_CONTENT. Some of possible values for width and height are –

• WRAP_CONTENT: Sets value of width or height depending on text inside it.
• MATCH_PARENT: Sets value of width of height depending on width or height of parent layout . i.e. width or height of ImageView will be same as width or height of parent layout.
• Fixed Value: Sets width or height as per value provided.

Learn to Set Width or Height of ImageView Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of ImageView

Follow steps below to set padding of ImageView Dynamically –

• If there is no dimens.xml file, create dimens.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <dimen name="text_padding">16dp</dimen>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set padding of ImageView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val padding = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_padding).toInt()
  imageView.setPadding(padding, padding, padding, padding)
  

  Here, we have accessed dimension defined in dimens.xml using getDimension() method. Then, set padding of ImageView using setPadding() method.

Learn to Set Padding of ImageView Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of ImageView

Follow steps below to set margin of ImageView Dynamically –

• If there is no dimens.xml file, create dimens.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <dimen name="text_margin">16dp</dimen>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set margin of ImageView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val margin = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_margin).toInt()
  val layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
  	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
  	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
  )
  layoutParams.setMargins(margin, margin, margin, margin)
  imageView.layoutParams = layoutParams
  

  Here, we have accessed dimension defined in dimens.xml using getDimension() method. Then, we have defined layoutParams, set margin to layoutParams. After that, set layoutParams to ImageView.

Learn to Set Margin of ImageView Using XML Attribute

Set Background of ImageView

Follow steps below to set background of ImageView programmatically –

• If there is no colors.xml file, create colors.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <color name="purple_200">#FFBB86FC</color>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set background of ImageView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val color = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.purple_200)
  imageView.setBackgroundColor(color)
  

  Here, we used setBackgroundColor() method to set background color in imageView.

Learn to Set Background of ImageView Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of ImageView

We can set visibility of ImageView programmatically as –

imageView.visibility = View.VISIBLE

Here, we have set visibility of ImageView using imageView.visibility attribute. Visibility can be of three types – gone, visible and invisible.
Learn to Set Visibility of ImageView Using XML Attribute

That’s end of tutorial on ImageView Programmatically in Kotlin With Example.