Is there any way to draw onto an independent layer...

# compose

[Albert Chang]

Is there any way to draw onto an independent layer with transparent background? graphicsLayer() doesn't seem to work. (Details in thread)

[Albert Chang]

Canvas(Modifier.fillMaxWidth().height(200.dp).graphicsLayer()) {
    drawRect(
        Color.Blue,
        topLeft = Offset(size.width / 3, 0f),
        size = Size(size.width / 3, size.height)
    )
    drawRect(
        Color.Red,
        topLeft = Offset(0f, size.height / 3),
        size = Size(size.width, size.height / 3),
        blendMode = BlendMode.Xor
    )
}

This results in the first, while what I want is the second.

[Nader Jawad]

I believe we might need to force a composition layer to support some blendmode operations. We force this implicitly whenever alpha is applied to a graphicsLayer but we don't expose a way to force it directly. As a test if you try providing a slight opacity like 0.99f on the graphics layer it might get the result you are looking for.

[Nader Jawad]

Yup just tried the following and I got what looks like the intended output:

// Configure alpha to almost 1 but not quite 1 to force graphics layer into
    // offscreen composition to ensure XOR blends against transparent pixels
    // otherwise the contents are drawn directly
    Canvas(Modifier.fillMaxWidth().height(200.dp).graphicsLayer(alpha = 0.99f)) {
        drawRect(
            Color.Blue,
            topLeft = Offset(size.width / 3, 0f),
            size = Size(size.width / 3, size.height)
        )
        drawRect(
            Color.Red,
            topLeft = Offset(0f, size.height / 3),
            size = Size(size.width, size.height / 3),
            blendMode = BlendMode.Xor
        )
    }

[Nader Jawad]

In the future it will look something like useCompositingLayer = true instead of using alpha to force this behavior