Brushes and Transforms

Abstract

In the previous chapter, you considered how you can use Shape-derived classes like the Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Polyline, and Path to create a variety of different drawings into Silverlight’s 2-D drawing model. However, shapes alone fall short of what you need to create detailed 2D vector art for a graphically rich application. There are more exotic Silverlight brushes that allow you to create gradients, tiled patterns, and bitmap fills in any shape. Silverlight’s effortless support for transparency allows you to blend multiple images and elements together. Transforms are specialized objects that can change the visual appearance of any element by scaling, rotating, or skewing it. When you combine these features—for example, tossing together a dash of transparency with the warping effect of a transform—you can create popular effects, like reflections, glows, and shadows.