DropShadowEffect with Semi Transparent Grid - c#

I am trying to create a grid (with 30% opacity) and drop shadow from it. I have done a mock up in photoshop and this is what I want to achieve:
This is how I tried to implement it in xaml:
<Grid Background="#808080">
<Grid Width="100"
Height="100"
HorizontalAlignment="Center"
VerticalAlignment="Center">
<Grid Background="White"
Opacity="0.3">
<Grid.Effect>
<DropShadowEffect />
</Grid.Effect>
</Grid>
</Grid>
</Grid>
Unfortunately, this is how it turned out:
As you can see from the image above, the shadow effect can seen underneath the 30% grid. How do I remove the shadow effect within the grid and only make the shadow appear outside the grid (on the bottom right)?

Easy solution, drop the opacity. But I guess that would not be acceptable, so another solution which is more of a workaround.
Add a Border inside your inner grid and drop shadow on that border, also make the border thickness disappear on 2 sides on which you do not want the shadow. Something like this:
<Grid Background="White" Opacity="0.3">
<Border BorderBrush="White" BorderThickness="0,0,1,1">
<Border.Effect>
<DropShadowEffect />
</Border.Effect>
</Border>
</Grid>

Related

Blur images no matter what in WPF

I have a button with an image and no matter what I do the image looks blurry after rendered/compiled.
FYI - The image looks good when not in WPF controls
The image on the left is before compiled, the image on the right is blurry after compiled.
I tried applying UseLayoutRounding, applying SnapsToDevicePixels,
RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode and removing the antialiasing directly in the button and directly to the image but nothing.
Any idea how can I improve the quality of the images in WPF?
XAML:
Styles applied directly to the button:
<Grid>
<Button x:Name="recentButton" UseLayoutRounding="True" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" SnapsToDevicePixels="True" RenderOptions.EdgeMode="Aliased"
Margin="10,137,302,10"
Width="auto"
Height="23"
HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
BorderBrush="{x:Null}"
Foreground="White"
BorderThickness="0"
Style="{StaticResource {x:Static ToolBar.ButtonStyleKey}}">
<Image Source="/Tool;component/Design/Images/more-icon-active.png" Stretch="None"/>
</Button>
</Grid>
Styles applied directly to the image:
<Grid>
<Button x:Name="recentButton"
Margin="10,137,302,10"
Width="auto"
Height="23"
HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
BorderBrush="{x:Null}"
Foreground="White"
BorderThickness="0"
Style="{StaticResource {x:Static ToolBar.ButtonStyleKey}}">
<Image Source="/Tool;component/Design/Images/more-icon-active.png" UseLayoutRounding="True" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" SnapsToDevicePixels="True" RenderOptions.EdgeMode="Aliased" Stretch="None"/>
</Button>
</Grid>
The problem is you're using UseLayoutRounding on the control directly.
But, be aware of this note in the linked documentation,
You should set UseLayoutRounding to true on the root element. The layout system adds child coordinates to the parent coordinates; therefore, if the parent coordinates are not on a pixel boundary, the child coordinates are also not on a pixel boundary. If UseLayoutRounding cannot be set at the root, set SnapsToDevicePixels on the child to obtain the effect that you want.
Therefore, use it on the parent container instead. In your case, that would be on the on the <grid> element.
Other recommandations
Recommended by #Clemens in the comment section,
Depending on the kind of image, RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="NearestNeighbor" may add some sharpness.
Note that you will have to apply that on the image directly.
Recommended by #BradleyUffner in the comment section,
Setting TextOptions.TextFormattingMode="Display" on your top level elements to greatly improve text rendering on desktop computers.

WPF ScrollViewer is not working

I want to add scroll view to my program and I tried ScrollView control but that don't take effect. It's my first time dealing with scrolls please help me :).
My xaml Code:
<DockPanel Grid.Row="1" Background="#FF695887">
<ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" Height="795">
<Canvas Name="zemelapis" Height="Auto" Width="Auto">
<Image Name="pav_kelias" />
<Image Name="car1" />
</Canvas>
</ScrollViewer>
</DockPanel>
Because these 2 images is not fitting here I need a scroll for them. Maybe I should use ScrollBar?
My program example: https://gyazo.com/a4ba7e4d5004632e2229a87e686c4c09
, as you can see bottom image is not fitting in range of window.
You have specified Auto as Height and Width. This implies that the Canvas will fill the height available to it.
From the documentation:
Auto sizing behavior implies that the element will fill the height
available to it.
In this case the available height is the height of the ScrollViewer.
If you want the Canvas to be bigger, and hence the ScrollViewer to scroll, you should set a height on Canvas that is bigger than the height of ScrollViewer.
So, for example:
<DockPanel Grid.Row="1" Background="#FF695887">
<ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" Height="795">
<Canvas Name="zemelapis" Height="1000" Width="Auto">
<Image Name="pav_kelias" />
<Image Name="car1" />
</Canvas>
</ScrollViewer>
</DockPanel>
If you want your ScrollViewer to work easily, use a Grid instead of a Canvas:
<DockPanel Background="#FF695887">
<ScrollViewer >
<Grid Name="zemelapis">
<Image Name="pav_kelias" Source="acteurs.png"/>
<Image Name="car1" Source="public.jpg"/>
</Grid>
</ScrollViewer>
</DockPanel>
As explain by Domysee, Canvas gives you total control of the layout. Grid however will automatically adjust its size depending on the content.
See http://www.wpf-tutorial.com/panels/introduction-to-wpf-panels/

WPF How to make a Viewbox aware of its available space from within a StackPanel

I have a custom WPF control based on Soroosh Davaee’s ImageButton example at http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/773386/WPF-ImageButton. The custom control combines an Image and TextBlock in a horizontal StackPanel within a Button. (BTW, to get Soroosh’s example to run, I had to edit the solution properties so that “SampleView” is the startup project rather than “ExtendedButton” being the startup project.)
I want the text in the TextBlock to automatically shrink if necessary to avoid clipping at the right edge if the text is too long to fit naturally in the button. For example, if I edit Soroosh's MainWindow.xaml to make the button text too long to fit...
...
<EB:ImageButton Width="100" Height="30" Content="TextTooLongToFitInTheButton" Grid.Row="2"
...
<EB:ImageButton Width="100" Height="30" Content="TextTooLongToFitInTheButton" Grid.Row="2"
...
...the result is the following buttons with clipped text:
In researching this, it seems the simplest way to auto-shrink the content of a TextBlock is to wrap it within a Viewbox:
<Viewbox StretchDirection="DownOnly" Stretch="Fill">
<TextBlock ... />
</Viewbox>
DownOnly apparently prevents the Viewbox from enlarging the text to fill the space, and Fill (as opposed to Uniform) seems to tell it to stretch (shrink) only the dimension that needs to shrink (i.e. the horizontal dimension in my case).
In Soroosh's example Generic.xaml file, I wrapped the TextBlock in such a Viewbox:
<Button >
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Margin="2 0"
Source="{TemplateBinding Image}"
Width="{TemplateBinding ImageWidth}"
Height="{TemplateBinding ImageHeight}"
Visibility="{TemplateBinding Image,Converter={StaticResource VisibilityConvertor}}"
VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
I added--> <Viewbox StretchDirection="DownOnly" Stretch="Fill">
<TextBlock Text="{TemplateBinding Content}"
VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
I added--> </Viewbox>
</StackPanel>
</Button>
This produced exactly the same clipped button text. Just experimenting, I tried forcing the Viewbox to have a fixed width...
<Viewbox StretchDirection="DownOnly" Stretch="Fill" Width="60">
...which produced this:
...which shows the capability of the Viewbox, if only it could somehow know its available width when it's inside the StackPanel.
I did note that if I wrap the Viewbox around the whole StackPanel, it successfully auto-shrinks the entire content of the StackPanel:
<Button >
<Viewbox StretchDirection="DownOnly" Stretch="Fill" Width="60">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Margin="2 0"
Source="{TemplateBinding Image}"
Width="{TemplateBinding ImageWidth}"
Height="{TemplateBinding ImageHeight}"
Visibility="{TemplateBinding Image,Converter={StaticResource VisibilityConvertor}}"
VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
<TextBlock Text="{TemplateBinding Content}"
VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
</StackPanel>
</Viewbox>
</Button>
...which produces very nearly what I want:
...but both the image and text are shrunk, and I want only the text shrunk.
How can I make the Viewbox, wrapping only the TextBox, know its available width (and height, I suppose) from within a cell of the StackPanel?
This is a common problem. The solution is simply to not use a StackPanel to do any kind of layout that requires re-sizing of child controls. It's simply not the correct Panel for the job. Instead, try using a Grid panel, which will resize its child controls. The StackPanel control is really only good for the most basic of layout duties... try anything more adventurous and you'll find yourself getting these issues.
One other alternative is to use the TextBlock.TextTrimming Property to trim the text instead... you could put the full text into a ToolTip too.

How can I layer a Polygon over a StackPanel, which is inside a ScrollViewer?

I have a horizontal ScrollViewer that contains a single StackPanel, which is initially empty. UserControls are created on button-click, and added to the StackPanel. The code looks something like this:
<ScrollViewer Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" RequestedTheme="Dark" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollMode="Auto" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollMode="Disabled" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Hidden">
<StackPanel x:Name="Container" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="Auto">
<!--User controls added here dynamically-->
</StackPanel>
</ScrollViewer>
As you can see the ScrollViewer is itself in a larger Grid. Now I would like a Polygon to be added to this ScrollViewer, but I cannot add it as a child directly, since "Content can only be set once". If I add it to the StackPanel in code-behind (after setting Canvas left, top and ZIndex), the UserControls are added below the Polygon. I want them to be under or over, either will do. Is this even possible? Right now, my Polygon shares the same Grid Row and Column as the ScrollViewer. Here is my Polygon:
<Polygon x:Name="Gripper" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" Points="0,0 0,730 -30,750 -30,800 30,800 30,750 0,730 0,100" Stroke="#DEDEDE" StrokeThickness="1" Opacity="1.0" ManipulationMode="TranslateX" ManipulationDelta="Gripper_ManipulationDelta">
<Polygon.Fill>
<SolidColorBrush Color="#FFFFFF" Opacity="0.9"/>
</Polygon.Fill>
<Polygon.RenderTransform>
<CompositeTransform />
</Polygon.RenderTransform>
</Polygon>
I am okay with adding it in XAML or C#, but I think I would prefer to do it in C# since I would like to change the points based on the size of the screen.
Put another container control between the StackPanel and the Polygon. An intermediate Grid will let you control their placement by row and column as normal. An intermediate StackPanel will let the Container stack and Polygon stack separately from the items within the Container stack:
<ScrollViewer>
<Grid>
<StackPanel x:Name="Container" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="Auto">
<!--User controls added here dynamically-->
</StackPanel>
<Polygon />
</Grid>
</ScrollViewer>

How to place a slider over on top of a videobrush

I am attempting to create a slider control which will determine the scaletransform of a videobrush in my MainPage, and was wondering if it was possible to somehow place this slider on top of the videobrush (which I would like to be full screen)? Currently I am using a grid for my layout where a videobrush takes up the whole screen except for two buttons on the bottom of the screen, but I would like to possibly use a canvas and place this slider in a way that would account for the current and future screen sizes of a Windows Phone device. I am unsure of how to exactly accomplish this without setting constant dimensions for the slider. For instance the slider may be placed horizontally near the bottom of the screen in Portrait mode and would have a 50 pixel space between the left and right sides. Could someone assist with how this could be done?
EDIT
Placing a single child element over the videobrush works, although I would like to place more than one slider which gives an error. I also wanted to add information above and below each slider so I chose a stackpanel to do this (yet only one stackpanel as a child element is allowed?).
<Border x:Name="videoRectangle" Grid.Row="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" >
<Border.Background>
<VideoBrush x:Name="viewfinderBrush">
<VideoBrush.RelativeTransform>
<CompositeTransform x:Name="viewfinderBrushTransform" CenterX=".5" CenterY=".5" Rotation="90" />
</VideoBrush.RelativeTransform>
</VideoBrush>
</Border.Background>
<!--<StackPanel VerticalAlignment="Top">
<TextBlock x:Name="resolutionValueTextBlock" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="{Binding Value, ElementName=resolutionSlider}"/>
<Slider x:Name="resolutionSlider" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="50,5,50,5"/>
<TextBlock x:Name="resolutionTextBlock" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="resolution"/>
</StackPanel>-->
<StackPanel VerticalAlignment="Bottom">
<TextBlock x:Name="zoomNumberTextBlock" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="{Binding Value, ElementName=zoomSlider}"/>
<Slider x:Name="zoomSlider" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="50,5,50,5"/>
<TextBlock x:Name="zoomTextBlock" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="zoom"/>
</StackPanel>
</Border>
If possible I would like both stackpanels to be available, but if not I guess I would have to use the bottom one only.
Stay with the Grid:
<Grid>
<Rectangle>
<Rectangle.Fill>
<VideoBrush ... />
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
<Slider HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
VerticalAlignment="Bottom"
Margin="50,5,50,5"/>
</Grid>

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