Brushes in Windows Phone
02 Sep
2012
This article shows how to use the Silverlight Brush API in Windows Phone 7 using XAML. The Brush classes allow you to paint an area of the screen, to set the background color or image, and also to access the device camera using the video brush.
Article Metadata
Code Example
Source file: Media:WP Brushes.zip
Tested with
SDK: Windows Phone 7.1
Devices(s): Nokia Lumia 710
Compatibility
Platform(s): Windows Phone 7.5 (mango)
Device(s): must have camera
Article
Created: pavan.pareta
(20 Jul 2012)
Last edited: hamishwillee
(10 Apr 2013)
Contents |
Types of Brush
In Windows Phone 7 SDK, Silverlight supports five different types of brushes:
In this example I have used separate panoramic pages to achieve functionality on different drawing objects such as (Rectangle, Circle, Polygon, Text and Page Background)
SolidColorBrush
Solid Color Brush API used to paint/fill with a single color with transparency of color using set opacity property between 0 and 1. Where 0 is fully transparent and 1 is fully opaque.
Solid colour brush in the XAML Page Design View
Create a SolidColorBrush in XAML, see the below code snippet.
<SolidColorBrush Color="Green" Opacity="0.5" />PPSolidColorBrush.xaml
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<controls:Panorama Title="solid color brush">
<!--Panorama item one-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="fill property">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<SolidColorBrush Color="Green" Opacity="0.5" />
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item two-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="stroke property">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250" Stroke="Tomato" StrokeThickness="10">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<SolidColorBrush Color="Green" Opacity="0.5" />
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item three-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="RadiusX/Y">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250" Stroke="Tomato" StrokeThickness="10" RadiusX="50" RadiusY="40">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<SolidColorBrush Color="Green" Opacity="0.5" />
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item four-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="RadiusX/Y">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250" Stroke="Tomato" StrokeThickness="10" RadiusX="50" RadiusY="40">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<SolidColorBrush Color="Green" Opacity="0.5" />
</Rectangle.Fill>
<Rectangle.RenderTransform>
<RotateTransform Angle="35" CenterX="120" CenterY="140" />
</Rectangle.RenderTransform>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
</controls:Panorama>
</Grid>
LinearGradientBrush
Linear Gradient Brush used to paint more than two colors with a linear gradient using two main properties StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="1,0" which is a by default values.
Linear Gradient brush in the XAML Page Design View
Create a LinearGradientBrush in XAML, see the below code snippet.
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="1,0">
<GradientStop Color="Yellow" Offset="0.0" />
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.25" />
<GradientStop Color="Blue" Offset="0.75" />
<GradientStop Color="LimeGreen" Offset="1.0" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
LinearGradientBrush.xaml
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<controls:Panorama Title="linear gradient brush">
<!--Panorama item one-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="horizontal">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="1,0">
<GradientStop Color="Yellow" Offset="0.0" />
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.25" />
<GradientStop Color="Blue" Offset="0.75" />
<GradientStop Color="LimeGreen" Offset="1.0" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item two-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="vertical">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="0,1">
<GradientStop Color="Yellow" Offset="0.0" />
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.25" />
<GradientStop Color="Blue" Offset="0.75" />
<GradientStop Color="LimeGreen" Offset="1.0" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item three-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="diagonal">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="1,1">
<GradientStop Color="Green" Offset="0.0" />
<GradientStop Color="Yellow" Offset="0.25" />
<GradientStop Color="Blue" Offset="0.75" />
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="1.0" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
</controls:Panorama>
</Grid>
RadialGradientBrush
Radial Gradient Brush used to paint or fill more than two colors in the circular gradient or a circular manner.
Radial Gradient brush in the XAML Page Design View
Create a RadialGradientBrush in XAML, see the below code snippet.
<RadialGradientBrush RadiusX=".5" RadiusY=".5" GradientOrigin=".0,.5" SpreadMethod="Reflect">
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.5" />
<GradientStop Color="BlueViolet" Offset="1" />
</RadialGradientBrush>
Here:
- Radius x, Radius y:' This property used to set Gradient x-Radius and y-Radius.
- GradientOrigin: This property used to set Focal point to the radial.
- SpreadMethod: This property used to set Gradient Reflect.
RadialGradientBrush.xaml
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<controls:Panorama Title="radial gradient brush">
<!--Panorama item one-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="rectangle">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250" RadiusX="100" RadiusY="100">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<RadialGradientBrush RadiusX=".5" RadiusY=".5" GradientOrigin=".0,.5" SpreadMethod="Reflect">
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.5" />
<GradientStop Color="BlueViolet" Offset="1" />
</RadialGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item two-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="rectangle">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<RadialGradientBrush>
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset=".1"/>
<GradientStop Color="Blue" Offset=".2"/>
<GradientStop Color="Wheat" Offset=".3"/>
<GradientStop Color="Green" Offset=".4"/>
<GradientStop Color="Yellow" Offset=".6"/>
<GradientStop Color="BlueViolet" Offset="1"/>
</RadialGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item three-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="ellipse">
<Grid>
<Ellipse Height="300" Width="300">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<RadialGradientBrush>
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.0"/>
<GradientStop Color="LightPink" Offset="0.5"/>
<GradientStop Color="DarkGray" Offset="1.0"/>
</RadialGradientBrush>
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="ellipse">
<Grid>
<Ellipse Height="300" Width="300">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<RadialGradientBrush>
<GradientStop Color="Red" Offset="0.0"/>
<GradientStop Color="Yellow" Offset="0.5"/>
<GradientStop Offset="1.0"/>
</RadialGradientBrush>
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
</controls:Panorama>
</Grid>
Tip: By default windows phone 7 app runs on 16-bit colour. However we can also use 32-bit color to get better color effect binding in gradient brush or image resources to set BitsPerPixel attributes inside the App tag of WMAppManifest.xml - see here for more information.
ImageBrush
Image Brush used to paint or fill the area with an image, to specify by its ImageSource property and Stretch property by default use Fill.
Image brush in the XAML Page Design View
Create an ImageBrush in XAML, see the below code snippet.
<ImageBrush ImageSource="images/Flower.jpg" Stretch="Fill" AlignmentX="Center" AlignmentY="Center" />Here:
- AlignmentX: use to sets the horizontal alignment
- AlignmentY: use to set the vertical alignment
PPImageBrush.xaml
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<controls:Panorama Title="image brush">
<!--Panorama item one-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="rectangle">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="300" Height="250" >
<Rectangle.Fill>
<ImageBrush ImageSource="images/Flower.jpg"
Stretch="Fill"
AlignmentX="Center"
AlignmentY="Center" />
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item two-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="ellipse">
<Grid>
<Ellipse Height="300" Width="300">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<ImageBrush ImageSource="images/Flower.jpg"
AlignmentX="Center"
AlignmentY="Center" />
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item three-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="text">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="#WP7" FontSize="150" FontWeight="ExtraBlack" Margin="0,120">
<TextBlock.Foreground>
<ImageBrush ImageSource="images/Flower.jpg"
Stretch="Fill"
AlignmentX="Center"
AlignmentY="Center" />
</TextBlock.Foreground>
</TextBlock>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
</controls:Panorama>
</Grid>
VideoBrush
Video Brush used to paint or fill with running video in the specific area with MediaElement class object. MediaElement object supports audio or video both. I have used in this application mp4 file (video file) to play a video, see Supported Media Codes for Windows Phone in the Silverlight documentation on MSDN. Apart from that I have also integrated live camera as with VideoBrush and end item of panorama, you can access through the *camera open* button in this component.
Video brush in the XAML Page Design View
Create a VideoBrush and MediaElement object in XAML, see the below code snippet:
<MediaElement x:Name="media1" Source="video/NokiaLumia710.mp4"
IsMuted="False"
Opacity="0.0"
Volume="10"
IsHitTestVisible="False"/>
<VideoBrush x:Name="viewVideo" SourceName="media1"/>
PPVideoBrushes.xaml
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<MediaElement x:Name="media1"
Source="video/NokiaLumia710.mp4"
IsMuted="False"
Opacity="0.0"
Volume="10"
IsHitTestVisible="False" />
<controls:Panorama x:Name="vp" Title="video brushes">
<!--Panorama item one-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="rectangle">
<Grid>
<Rectangle Width="372" Height="340" Stroke="White" StrokeThickness="5" Margin="21,88,27,70">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<VideoBrush x:Name="viewVideo" SourceName="media1"/>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="circle">
<Grid>
<Ellipse Margin="44,98,48,106"
Height="294"
Width="328"
StrokeThickness="5"
Stroke="White">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<VideoBrush x:Name="viewVideoc" SourceName="media1"/>
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="polygon">
<Grid>
<Polygon Points="5,270 270,270 270,10"
Stroke="White"
StrokeThickness="10"
Margin="51,104,57,114" Height="280" Width="312" >
<Polygon.Fill>
<VideoBrush x:Name="viewVideoP" SourceName="media1"/>
</Polygon.Fill>
</Polygon>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="star">
<Grid>
<Polygon Points="240 48, 352 396, 58 180, 422 180, 128 396"
Stroke="Magenta"
StrokeThickness="10" FillRule="NonZero" Margin="-22,0,2,0" Width="440">
<Polygon.Fill>
<VideoBrush x:Name="viewVideoT" SourceName="media1"/>
</Polygon.Fill>
</Polygon>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item four-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="text block">
<Grid>
<TextBlock FontFamily="Verdana"
Margin="0,50"
FontSize="120"
FontWeight="Bold"
Text="PHONE">
<TextBlock.Foreground>
<VideoBrush SourceName="media1" />
</TextBlock.Foreground>
</TextBlock>
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
<!--Panorama item five-->
<controls:PanoramaItem Header="camera">
<Grid>
<Button Content="open camera" Height="72" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="76,198,0,0" Name="button1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="239" Click="button1_Click" />
</Grid>
</controls:PanoramaItem>
</controls:Panorama>
</Grid>
Camera with video brush
Image brush in the XAML Page Design View
To play camera using video brush, tap on open camera button and it will navigate to camera screen and add the below mentioned code in PPCamera.xaml.cs class
PPCamera.xaml
public partial class PPCamera : PhoneApplicationPage
{
private PhotoCamera devicePhotoCamera;
public PPCamera()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(PPCamera_Loaded);
}
void PPCamera_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
devicePhotoCamera = new PhotoCamera();
viewCamera1.SetSource(devicePhotoCamera);
}
}
~ Happy Coding ~
Summary
Silverlight Brush API is very useful to create elegant UI (User Interface) for developing Metro style app for Windows Phone 7.5.
Hamishwillee - Nice introduction to the topic!
Hi Pavan
Thanks, another really useful article. I've restructured and updated to use wiki styles - ie Icode for inline code, and link for first instance where a code item occurs. I've also put the images before the XAML which creates them, since that helps people work out whether the code is relevant faster. I've also created heading sections to make it easier to navigate.
I think that perhaps the section on the camera should be extended - I'm not sure this is sufficient.
Are there any other guides or links on MSDN to this topic that it is worth linking to?
Regards
Hamishhamishwillee 06:23, 2 August 2012 (EEST)
Joaocardoso - Nice one
That's a well written and useful article.
Keep up the good work Pavan :)
Cheers
Joao Cardosojoaocardoso 03:37, 3 September 2012 (EEST)