The top label shows the default behavior of a UILabel when the text is left aligned that the label maintains its intrinsic content size. The bottom label is a simple (almost trivial) subclass of UILabel. The bottom label does not clip the 'j' or the 'l'; instead, it gives the text some room to breathe at the left and right edges without center aligning the text (yuck).
![enter image description here]()
Although the labels themselves don't appear aligned on screen, their text does appear aligned; and what's more, in IB, the labels actually have their left edges aligned because I override alignmentRectInsets in a UILabel subclass.
![enter image description here]()
Here's the code that configures the two labels:
#import "ViewController.h"
#import "NonClippingLabel.h"
@interface ViewController ()
@property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet UILabel *topLabel;
@property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet NonClippingLabel *bottomLabel;
@end
@implementation ViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
NSString *string = @"jupiter ariel";
UIFont *font = [UIFont fontWithName:@"Helvetica-BoldOblique" size:28];
NSDictionary *attributes = @{NSFontAttributeName: font};
NSAttributedString *attrString = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:string attributes:attributes];
self.topLabel.attributedText = attrString;
self.bottomLabel.attributedText = attrString;
}
Here's the implementation of the NonClippingLabel subclass:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
@interface NonClippingLabel : UILabel
@end
@implementation NonClippingLabel
#define GUTTER 4.0f // make this large enough to accommodate the largest font in your app
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
// fixes word wrapping issue
CGRect newRect = rect;
newRect.origin.x = rect.origin.x + GUTTER;
newRect.size.width = rect.size.width - 2 * GUTTER;
[self.attributedText drawInRect:newRect];
}
- (UIEdgeInsets)alignmentRectInsets
{
return UIEdgeInsetsMake(0, GUTTER, 0, GUTTER);
}
- (CGSize)intrinsicContentSize
{
CGSize size = [super intrinsicContentSize];
size.width += 2 * GUTTER;
return size;
}
@end
No editing a font file, no using Core Text; just a relatively simple UILabel subclass for those using iOS 6+ and Auto Layout.
Update:
Augie caught the fact that my original solution prevented word wrapping for multi-lined text. I fixed that issue by using drawInRect: instead of drawAtPoint: to draw the text in the label's drawRect: method.
Here's a screenshot:
![enter image description here]()
The top label is a plain-vanilla UILabel. The bottom label is a NonClippingLabel with an extreme gutter setting to accommodate Zapfino at size 22.0. Both labels are left and right aligned using Auto Layout.
![enter image description here]()
