How to add spacing between UITableViewCell

Is there any way to add spacing between UITableViewCell?

I have created a table and each cell only contain an image. The image is assigned to the cell like this:

cell.imageView.image = [myImages objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];

but this make the image enlarged and fit into the whole cell, and there are no spacing between the images.

Or lets say in this way, the height of image are e.g. 50, and I want to add 20 spacing between the images. Is there any way to accomplish this?

My easy solution using Swift :

// Inside UITableViewCell subclass

override func layoutSubviews() {
    super.layoutSubviews()

    contentView.frame = contentView.frame.inset(by: UIEdgeInsets(top: 10, left: 10, bottom: 10, right: 10))
}

Result

Swift Version

Updated for Swift 3

This answer is somewhat more general than the original question for the sake of future viewers. It is a supplemental example to the basic UITableView example for Swift.

Overview

The basic idea is to create a new section (rather than a new row) for each array item. The sections can then be spaced using the section header height.

How to do it

• Set up your project as described in UITableView example for Swift. (That is, add a UITableView and hook up the tableView outlet to the View Controller).

• In the Interface Builder, change the main view background color to light blue and the UITableView background color to clear.

• Replace the ViewController.swift code with the following.

ViewController.swift

import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
    
    // These strings will be the data for the table view cells
    let animals: [String] = ["Horse", "Cow", "Camel", "Sheep", "Goat"]
    
    let cellReuseIdentifier = "cell"
    let cellSpacingHeight: CGFloat = 5
    
    @IBOutlet var tableView: UITableView!
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        // These tasks can also be done in IB if you prefer.
        self.tableView.register(UITableViewCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: cellReuseIdentifier)
        tableView.delegate = self
        tableView.dataSource = self
    }
    
    // MARK: - Table View delegate methods
    
    func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
        return self.animals.count
    }
    
    // There is just one row in every section
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return 1
    }
    
    // Set the spacing between sections
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat {
        return cellSpacingHeight
    }
    
    // Make the background color show through
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
        let headerView = UIView()
        headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
        return headerView
    }
    
    // create a cell for each table view row
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        
        let cell:UITableViewCell = self.tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: cellReuseIdentifier) as UITableViewCell!
        
        // note that indexPath.section is used rather than indexPath.row
        cell.textLabel?.text = self.animals[indexPath.section]
        
        // add border and color
        cell.backgroundColor = UIColor.white
        cell.layer.borderColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
        cell.layer.borderWidth = 1
        cell.layer.cornerRadius = 8
        cell.clipsToBounds = true
        
        return cell
    }
    
    // method to run when table view cell is tapped
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        // note that indexPath.section is used rather than indexPath.row
        print("You tapped cell number \(indexPath.section).")
    }
}

Note that indexPath.section is used rather than indexPath.row in order to get the proper values for the array elements and tap positions.

How did you get the extra padding/space on the right and left?

I got it the same way you add spacing to any view. I used auto layout constraints. Just use the pin tool in the Interface Builder to add spacing for the leading and trailing constraints.

The way I achieve adding spacing between cells is to make numberOfSections = "Your array count" and make each section contains only one row. And then define headerView and its height.

- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
	return yourArry.count;
}

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
	return 1;
}

-(CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    return cellSpacingHeight;
}

-(UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    UIView *v = [UIView new];
    [v setBackgroundColor:[UIColor clearColor]];
    return v;
}

I needed to do the same concept of having UITableCells have a "space" between them. Since you can't literally add space between cells you can fake it by manipulating the UITableView's cell height and then adding a UIView to the contentView of your cell. Here is a screen shot of a prototype I did in another test project when I was simulating this:

Here is some code (Note: there are lots of hard coded values for demonstration purposes)

First, I needed to set the heightForRowAtIndexPath to allow for different heights on the UITableViewCell.

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    
    NSString *text = [self.newsArray  objectAtIndex:[indexPath row]];
    if ([text isEqual:@"December 2012"])
    {
        return 25.0;
    }

    return 80.0;
}

Next, I want to manipulate the look and feel of the UITableViewCells so I do that in the willDisplayCell:(NewsUITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath method.

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(NewsUITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    if (cell.IsMonth)
    {
        UIImageView *av = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(20, 20, 20, 20)];
        av.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
        av.opaque = NO;
        av.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"month-bar-bkgd.png"];
        UILabel *monthTextLabel = [[UILabel alloc] init];
        CGFloat font = 11.0f;
        monthTextLabel.font = [BVFont HelveticaNeue:&font];
    
        cell.backgroundView = av;
        cell.textLabel.font = [BVFont HelveticaNeue:&font];
        cell.textLabel.textColor = [BVFont WebGrey];
    }
    
    
    if (indexPath.row != 0)
    {
        cell.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
        UIView *whiteRoundedCornerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10,10,300,70)];
        whiteRoundedCornerView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
        whiteRoundedCornerView.layer.masksToBounds = NO;
        whiteRoundedCornerView.layer.cornerRadius = 3.0;
        whiteRoundedCornerView.layer.shadowOffset = CGSizeMake(-1, 1);
        whiteRoundedCornerView.layer.shadowOpacity = 0.5;
        [cell.contentView addSubview:whiteRoundedCornerView];
        [cell.contentView sendSubviewToBack:whiteRoundedCornerView];

    }
}

Note that I made my whiteRoundedCornerView height 70.0 and that's what causes the simulated space because the cell's height is actually 80.0 but my contentView is 70.0 which gives it the appearance.

There might be other ways of accomplishing this even better but it's just how I found how to do it. I hope it can help someone else.

You will have to set frame to your image. Untested code is

cell.imageView.frame = CGRectOffset(cell.frame, 10, 10);

I was in the same boat. At first I tried switching to sections, but in my case it ended up being more of a headache than I originally thought, so I've been looking for an alternative. To keep using rows (and not mess with how you access your model data), here's what worked for me just by using a mask:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath)
{
    let verticalPadding: CGFloat = 8

    let maskLayer = CALayer()
    maskLayer.cornerRadius = 10    //if you want round edges
    maskLayer.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
    maskLayer.frame = CGRect(x: cell.bounds.origin.x, y: cell.bounds.origin.y, width: cell.bounds.width, height: cell.bounds.height).insetBy(dx: 0, dy: verticalPadding/2)
    cell.layer.mask = maskLayer
}

All you have left to do is make the cell's height bigger by the same value as your desired verticalPadding, and then modify your inner layout so that any views that had spacing to the edges of the cell have that same spacing increased by verticalPadding/2. Minor downside: you get verticalPadding/2 padding on both the top and bottom of the tableView, but you can quickly fix this by setting tableView.contentInset.bottom = -verticalPadding/2 and tableView.contentInset.top = -verticalPadding/2. Hope this helps somebody!

I override this function is subclass of UITableViewCell, and it works OK for me

override func layoutSubviews() {
      super.layoutSubviews()
      //set the values for top,left,bottom,right margins
      let margins = UIEdgeInsets(top: 5, left: 8, bottom: 5, right: 8)
      contentView.frame = contentView.frame.inset(by: margins)
      contentView.layer.cornerRadius = 8
}

I think the most straight forward solution if your just looking for a little space and probably least expensive would be to simply set the cell border color to your tables background color then set the border width to get desired result!

    cell.layer.borderColor = blueColor.CGColor
    cell.layer.borderWidth = 3

I solved it like this way in Swift 4.

I create a extension of UITableViewCell and include this code:

override open var frame: CGRect {
    get {
        return super.frame
    }
    set (newFrame) {
        var frame =  newFrame
        frame.origin.y += 10
        frame.origin.x += 10
        frame.size.height -= 15
        frame.size.width -= 2 * 10
        super.frame = frame
    }
}

override open func awakeFromNib() {
    super.awakeFromNib()
    layer.cornerRadius = 15
    layer.masksToBounds = false
}

I hope it helps you.

If you are not using section headers (or footers) already, you can use them to add arbitrary spacing to table cells. Instead of having one section with n rows, create a table with n sections with one row each.

Implement the tableView:heightForHeaderInSection: method to control the spacing.

You may also want to implement tableView:viewForHeaderInSection: to control what the spacing looks like.

1. Use sections instead of rows
2. Each section should return one row
3. Assign your cell data using indexPath.section, instead of row
4. Implement UITableView delegate method heightForHeader and return your desired spacing

Change the number of rows in section to 1 You have changed number of sections instead number of rows

 func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        1
    }

    func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
        return 2
    }

Here you put spacing between rows

 func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat {
        return 50
    }

Example in swift 3..

1. Crease a single view application

2. add tableview in view controller

3. add a customcell for tablview cell

4. view controller code is bellow like

      class ViewController: UIViewController,UITableViewDelegate,UITableViewDataSource {
   
      @IBOutlet weak var tableView: UITableView!
   
   
       var arraytable = [[String:Any]]()
        override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
   
        arraytable = [
        ["title":"About Us","detail":"RA-InfoTech Ltd -A Joint Venture IT Company formed by Bank Asia Ltd"],
        ["title":"Contact","detail":"Bengal Center (4th & 6th Floor), 28, Topkhana Road, Dhaka - 1000, Bangladesh"]
   ]
   
   
   
   
   
   
      tableView.delegate = self
      tableView.dataSource = self
   
      //For Auto Resize Table View Cell;
     tableView.estimatedRowHeight = 44
      tableView.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension
   
      //Detault Background clear
      tableView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
   }
   

   func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int { return arraytable.count }

      func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
    return 1
    }
   
   // Set the spacing between sections
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat {
   return 10
   }
   
   // Make the background color show through
     func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
   let headerView = UIView()
   headerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
   
   return headerView
   }
   
        func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
   
        let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cell")! as! CustomCell
   
        cell.tv_title.text = arraytable[indexPath.section]["title"] as! String?
       cell.tv_details.text = arraytable[indexPath.section]["detail"] as! String?
   
      //label height dynamically increase
      cell.tv_details.numberOfLines = 0
   
   
   
   
      //For bottom border to tv_title;
      let frame =  cell.tv_title.frame
       let bottomLayer = CALayer()
      bottomLayer.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: frame.height - 1, width: frame.width, height: 1)
       bottomLayer.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
      cell.tv_title.layer.addSublayer(bottomLayer)
   
     //borderColor,borderWidth, cornerRadius
     cell.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGray
     cell.layer.borderColor = UIColor.red.cgColor
     cell.layer.borderWidth = 1
     cell.layer.cornerRadius = 8
     cell.clipsToBounds = true
   
     return cell
     }
   
      }
   

5. Download full source to Github : link

   https://github.com/enamul95/CustomSectionTable

Three approaches I can think of:

1. Create a custom table cell that lays out the view of the entire cell in the manner that you desire

2. Instead of adding the image to the image view, clear the subviews of the image view, create a custom view that adds an UIImageView for the image and another view, perhaps a simple UIView that provides the desired spacing, and add it as a subview of the image view.

3. I want to suggest that you manipulate the UIImageView directly to set a fixed size/padding, but I'm nowhere near Xcode so I can't confirm whether/how this would work.

Does that make sense?

Yes you can increase or decrease the spacing(padding) between two cell by creating one base view on content view in cell.Set clear colour for content view background and you can adjust the height of the base view to create space between cells.

Based on Husam's answer: Using the cell layer instead of content view allows for adding a border around the entire cell and the accessory if need. This method requires careful adjustment of the bottom constraints of the cell as well as those insets otherwise the view will not proper.

@implementation TableViewCell

- (void)awakeFromNib { 
    ... 
}

- (void) layoutSubviews {
    [super layoutSubviews];

    CGRect newFrame = UIEdgeInsetsInsetRect(self.layer.frame, UIEdgeInsetsMake(4, 0, 4, 0));
    self.layer.frame = newFrame;
}

@end

I think this is the cleanest solution:

class MyTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
    override func awakeFromNib() {
        super.awakeFromNib()
        layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsMake(8, 0, 8, 0)
    }
}

This article helped, it's pretty much what the other answers said but summarize and concise

https://medium.com/@andersongusmao/left-and-right-margins-on-uitableviewcell-595f0ba5f5e6

In it, he only applies them to left and right sides but the UIEdgeInsetsMake init allows to add padding to all four points.

> func UIEdgeInsetsMake(_ top: CGFloat, _ left: CGFloat, _ bottom: CGFloat, _ right: CGFloat) -> UIEdgeInsets

> Description Creates an edge inset for a button or view. An inset is a margin around a rectangle. Positive values represent margins closer to the center of the rectangle, while negative values represent margins further from the center.

> Parameters top: The inset at the top of an object.
left: The inset on the left of an object
bottom: The inset on the bottom of an object.
right: The inset on the right of an object.

> Returns An inset for a button or view

Note that UIEdgeInsets can also be used to achieve the same.

Xcode 9.3/Swift 4

If you don't want to change the section and row number of your table view (like I did), here's what you do:

1. Add an ImageView to the bottom of your table cell view.

2. Make it the same colour as the background colour of the table view.

I've done this in my application and it works perfectly. Cheers! :D

Using a bunch of different sections is not needed. The other answers use frame insets and CGRect and layers and... BLAH. Not good; use auto layout and a custom UITableViewCell. In that UITableViewCell, instead of sub viewing your content inside the contentView, make a new containerView (a UIView), subview the container view inside the contentView, then subview all your views inside the container view.

To make the spacing now, simply edit the layout margins of the container view, like so:

class CustomTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
    let containerView = UIView()
    let imageView = UIImageView()

    required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {super.init(coder: aDecoder)}

    override init(style: UITableViewCell.CellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)

        containerView.translatesAutoResizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        imageView.translatesAutoResizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        contentView.addSubview(containerView)
        containerView.addSubview(imageView)

        contentView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsets(top: 15, left: 3, bottom: 15, right: 3)
        containerView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsets(top: 15, left: 17, bottom: 15, right: 17) // It isn't really necessary unless you've got an extremely complex table view cell. Otherwise, you could just write e.g. containerView.topAnchor

        let cg = contentView.layoutMarginsGuide
        let lg = containerView.layoutMarginsGuide
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            containerView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cg.topAnchor),
            containerView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cg.leadingAnchor),
            containerView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cg.trailingAnchor),
            containerView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cg.bottomAnchor),
            imageView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: lg.topAnchor),
            imageView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: lg.leadingAnchor),
            imageView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: lg.trailingAnchor),
            imageView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: lg.bottomAnchor)
        ])
    }
}

Read this after reading other people answers

I'd like to warn everyone who wants to use the solution like adding headers that will serve the purpose of spacing. If you do this, you will not be able to animate cells insertions, deletions, etc.. For example, you may get this kind of error if you use that method

Invalid update: invalid number of sections. The number of sections contained in the table view after the update (6) must be equal to the number of sections contained in the table view before the update (5), plus or minus the number of sections inserted or deleted (0 inserted, 0 deleted).

In case you need to animate insertions and deletions of rows I would go with adding this space in the cells itself. If you are concern about highlighting, then you can override method
func setHighlighted(_ highlighted: Bool, animated: Bool) and set the highlighting yourself

Try looking into - (UIEdgeInsets)layoutMargins; on the cell

My situation was i used custom UIView to viewForHeader in section also heightForHeader in section return constant height say 40, issue was when there is no data all header views were touched to each other. so i wanted to space between the section in absent of data so i fixed by just changing "tableview style" plane to "Group".and it worked for me.

Check out my solution on GitHub with subclassing of UITableView and using runtime features of Objective-C.
It basically uses Apple's private data structure UITableViewRowData that I got searching private runtime header of UITableView:

https://github.com/JaviSoto/iOS10-Runtime-Headers/blob/master/Frameworks/UIKit.framework/UITableView.h,

and here's desired private class that contains everything you need to layout your cells' spacings however you want without setting it in cells' classes:

https://github.com/JaviSoto/iOS10-Runtime-Headers/blob/master/Frameworks/UIKit.framework/UITableViewRowData.h

I was having trouble getting this to work alongside background colours and accessory views in the cell. Ended up having to:

1. Set the cells background view property with a UIView set with a background colour.

   let view = UIView() view.backgroundColor = UIColor.white self.backgroundView = view

2. Re-position this view in layoutSubviews to add the idea of spacing

   override func layoutSubviews() { super.layoutSubviews() backgroundView?.frame = backgroundView?.frame.inset(by: UIEdgeInsets(top: 2, left: 0, bottom: 0, right: 0)) ?? CGRect.zero }

Using the headers as spacing would work fine I guess if you don't want to use any headers. Otherwise, probably not the best idea. What I'm thinking is create a custom cell view.

Examples:

• Using Nib
• In code

In the custom cell, make a background view with constraints so that it doesn't fill the entire cell, give it some padding.

Then, make the tableview background invisible and remove the separators:

// Make the background invisible
tableView.backgroundView = UIView()
tableView.backgroundColor = .clear

// Remove the separators
tableview.separatorStyle = .none

You can simply use constraint in code like this :

class viewCell : UITableViewCell 
{

@IBOutlet weak var container: UIView!



func setShape() {
    self.container.backgroundColor = .blue
    self.container.layer.cornerRadius = 20
    container.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
    self.container.widthAnchor.constraint(equalTo:contentView.widthAnchor , constant: -40).isActive = true
           self.container.heightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.heightAnchor,constant: -20).isActive = true
           self.container.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
           self.container.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.centerYAnchor).isActive = true

    }
}

it's important to add subview (container) and put other elements in it.

Just adding to the pool of answers with what worked for me.

I’ve added a view (purple view) within the TableViewCell that I use as my cell’s content view. And constrain the purple view to have padding on top and bottom, or however you’d like, but I think this way creates a little more flexibility.

add a inner view to the cell then add your own views to it.

To add spacing between rows, a second prototype cell is to be used.

Add a different cell Identifier to the second prototype cell, then add an empty view and constraint its edges to the edges of the cell, then set the emptyView's color to "clear".

Then in your code:

import UIKit

class YourViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
        
        @IBOutlet weak var yourTableView: UITableView!
        
        let yourArray = ["data1", "data2", "data3" /* so on */ ]

        let emptyTransparentRowHeight: CGFloat = 10
        
        override func viewDidLoad() {
            super.viewDidLoad()
    
            yourTableView.dataSource = self
            yourTableView.delegate = self
        }
            

        func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
            return (yourArray.count * 2)
        }
        
        func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
            
            guard indexPath.row % 2 == 0,
                let usableCell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "Your First Cell Prototype Identifier") as? YourTableViewCellSubClass
            else {
                
                return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "The Second and Empty Cell Prototype Identifier")!
            }
      
            usableCell.Label?.text = yourArray[indexPath.row/2]
            
            return usableCell
    
        }
        
        func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGFloat {
            if indexPath.row % 2 == 0 {
                return tableView.rowHeight
            }
            
            return self.emptyTransparentRowHeight
        }
        
    }

here is the actual solution

use sections instead of rows because every row has 1 section so you can give space to the header and the footer of the section here is the code just paste it in to your viewcontroller class where you create your tableview outlet

if you want top spacing just use heightForHeaderInSection if you want bottom spacing just use heightForFooterInSection as shown below

just copy and paste it

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForFooterInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat {
    return 20
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForFooterInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let v = UIView()
    v.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
    return v
}

    func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
        return 10
    }

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return 1
    }

Use UITableViewDelegate, heightForRowAtIndexPath and return the height of row.

 (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
 return 100.0f ;
}