How to Create New ImageView Dynamically on Button Click in Android?

Last Updated : 23 Apr, 2021

In this article, we are going to implement a very important feature related to ImageView. Here we are going to add ImageView dynamically. We will be just changing the background color. Whenever we click on a button a new ImageView will be created. So here we are going to learn how to implement that feature. A sample video is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article. Note that we are going to implement this project using the Java language.

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. Note that select Java as the programming language.

Step 2: Working with the activity_main.xml file

Navigate to the app > res > layout > activity_main.xml and add the below code to that file. Below is the code for the activity_main.xml file.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
    android:gravity="center_horizontal"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">
    
    <!--Adding the Button in the layout-->
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/addiview"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:background="@color/purple_500"
        android:text="Add Image View"
        android:textColor="@color/black" />
    
</LinearLayout>

Step 3: Working with the MainActivity.java file

Go to the MainActivity.java file and refer to the following code. Here we are creating an ImageView and a layout and will add the ImageView in the layout. This is how we are creating an ImageView

ImageView imageView=new ImageView(AddImageViw.this);
// adding the image in ImageView
imageView.setImageResource(R.mipmap.ic_launcher);

This is how we are adding the newly created image view in our layout.

LinearLayout.LayoutParams params=new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(width,height);
        params.setMargins(0,10,0,10); // setting the margin in the layout 
        imageView.setLayoutParams(params);
        layout.addView(imageView);    // adding the image in the layout

Below is the complete code for the MainActivity.java file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Java

import android.graphics.Color;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.LinearLayout;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

import java.util.Random;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    Button addview;
    LinearLayout layout;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        
        // initialising layout
        addview = findViewById(R.id.addiview);
        layout = findViewById(R.id.layout);
        
        // we will click on the add view button
        addview.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                
                // initialising new layout
                ImageView imageView = new ImageView(MainActivity.this);
                
                // setting the image in the layout
                imageView.setImageResource(R.mipmap.ic_launcher);
                
                // calling addview with width and height
                addvieW(imageView, 200, 200);

                // adding the background color
                colorrandom(imageView);
            }
        });
    }

    public void colorrandom(ImageView imageView) {

        // Initialising the Random();
        Random random = new Random();
        
        // adding the random background color
        int color = Color.argb(255, random.nextInt(256), random.nextInt(256), random.nextInt(256));
        
        // setting the background color
        imageView.setBackgroundColor(color);
    }

    private void addvieW(ImageView imageView, int width, int height) {
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams params = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(width, height);
        
        // setting the margin in linearlayout
        params.setMargins(0, 10, 0, 10);
        imageView.setLayoutParams(params);
        
        // adding the image in layout
        layout.addView(imageView);
    }
}