WPF: Solid color ImageSource - wpf

In my app I display images I get from external DLLs, by binding the Source of an Image control to an ImageSource.
This works well, but sometimes I don't get any data from my DLL and I'd like to just show a black image. In that case, how do I create an ImageSource which contains just a solid color?

An alternative method is to give a background color, and not show the image.
// XAML
<Grid Background="Black">
<Image x:Name="imgDisplay"/>
</Grid>
// C#
imgDisplay.Source = null;
// -- OR --
imgDisplay.Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;

for example you have image somewhere in template, which binds to some property Photo. In case of failure you can return null value.
<Image Source="{Binding Path=Photo, IsAsync=True, TargetNullValue={StaticResource EmptyImageDrawing}}"/>
And somewhere in resources you need
<DrawingImage
x:Key="EmptyImageDrawing">
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<DrawingGroup>
<GeometryDrawing>
<GeometryDrawing.Brush>
<VisualBrush
AlignmentX="Center"
AlignmentY="Center"
Stretch="None">
<VisualBrush.Visual>
<TextBlock
Text="Failed to load photo"
FontFamily="Calibri"
FontSize="70"
HorizontalAlignment="Center"
VerticalAlignment="Bottom"
TextAlignment="Center"
TextWrapping="Wrap"/>
</VisualBrush.Visual>
</VisualBrush>
</GeometryDrawing.Brush>
<GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
<RectangleGeometry
Rect="0,0,1920,1080" />
</GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
</GeometryDrawing>
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>

Related

WPF use Canvas as ImageSource

I am new to WPF and trying to build a basic app with a toolbar and icons. I am testing XamRibbon from Infragistics and ButtonTool that shows on the Ribbon require ImageSource to show an image like so:
<igRibbon:ButtonTool Caption="Edit"
igRibbon:RibbonGroup.MaximumSize="ImageAndTextLarge"
LargeImage="{StaticResource stop}"
SmallImage="{StaticResource stop}" />
I have a XAML icon defined in my dictionary with key 'stop' but the icons I am using are all in Canvas form like this:
<Canvas Width="32" Height="32" Canvas.Left="0" Canvas.Top="0">
<Canvas Clip="M15.82,31.2118l2.0148,-3.8306l-0.0332,-0.0332l0.1068,-0.1068l0.5615,-1.0675l0.253,0.253l8.5884,-8.5885l-0.0112,-0.0111l1.6101,-1.5876c0.4557,-0.4557,0.923,-0.5523,1.234,-0.5523c0.311,0,0.7784,0.0967,1.239,0.5572l0.6169,0.6168V0H0v32h15.7137C15.656,31.7398,15.6889,31.4614,15.82,31.2118z">
<Canvas>
<Canvas.RenderTransform>
<TransformGroup>
<TranslateTransform X="-1" Y="-1"/>
</TransformGroup>
</Canvas.RenderTransform>
<Polygon Points="17,28 17,24.5 15,24.5 15,28 3,28 3,30 29,30 29,28" Fill="#4EA17E" StrokeLineJoin="Miter"/>
<Path Data="M18.475,31h-4.9c-0.3038,0,-0.575,-0.1962,-0.575,-0.5v-2.95c0,-0.3038,0.2712,-0.55,0.575,-0.55h4.9c0.3038,0,0.55,0.2462,0.55,0.55V30.5C19.025,30.8038,18.7788,31,18.475,31z" Fill="#797979"/>
<Path Data="M28,1H4c-0.5523,0,-1,0.4477,-1,1v5c0,0.5523,0.4477,1,1,1h24c0.5523,0,1,-0.4477,1,-1V2C29,1.4477,28.5523,1,28,1zM7,6H5V3h2V6zM28,9H4c-0.5523,0,-1,0.4477,-1,1v5c0,0.5523,0.4477,1,1,1h24c0.5523,0,1,-0.4477,1,-1v-5C29,9.4477,28.5523,9,28,9zM7,14H5v-3h2V14zM28,17H4c-0.5523,0,-1,0.4477,-1,1v5c0,0.5523,0.4477,1,1,1h24c0.5523,0,1,-0.4477,1,-1v-5C29,17.4477,28.5523,17,28,17zM7,22H5v-3h2V22z" Fill="#3E79B4"/>
<Path Data="M7,22H5v-3h2V22zM7,11H5v3h2V11zM7,3H5v3h2V3z" Fill="#FFFFFF"/>
</Canvas>
</Canvas>
<Canvas>
<Path Data="M19.2158,27.348l9.0199,-9.0199l2.1233,2.1233l-9.0199,9.0199L19.2158,27.348zM29.6123,16.9515c0.3525,-0.3525,0.7113,-0.3525,1.0638,0l1.0596,1.0596c0.3525,0.3525,0.3525,0.7113,0,1.0638l-0.8743,0.8743l-2.1388,-2.1202L29.6123,16.9515zM16.7052,31.677l2.0176,-3.8361l2.1233,2.1233l-3.8361,2.0176c-0.061,0.0321,-0.1358,0.0207,-0.1846,-0.028l-0.0923,-0.0923C16.6845,31.8128,16.6732,31.738,16.7052,31.677z" Fill="#3E79B4"/>
</Canvas>
How can I convert Canvas XAML to something that can be used as ImageSource like a DrawingImage for example? I hope this makes sense.
I don't use Infragistics controls, but I believe they follow the standard WPF controls.
I used image control and try to display your canvas path image.
define the Geometry from your canvas path in resource
<Geometry x:Key="StopGeometry">M13,11.3814v18.115c0.0083,0.2845,0.2134,0.5036,0.4896,0.5036h4c0.2807,0,0.5104,-0.2297,0.5104,-0.5104v-18.088l7.6585,7.6695c0.1259,0.1261,0.3415,0.0369,0.3415,-0.1413v-6.2525c0,-0.2125,-0.0845,-0.4162,-0.2349,-0.5663l-9.934,-9.9139c-0.2999,-0.2654,-0.4015,-0.2654,-0.6944,0.0157L5.235,12.0908c-0.1504,0.1501,-0.235,0.3539,-0.235,0.5664v6.2414c0,0.1782,0.2154,0.2674,0.3414,0.1414L13,11.3814z</Geometry>
in XAML
<Image Height="100" Width="100">
<Image.Source>
<DrawingImage >
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#3E79B4" Geometry="{StaticResource StopGeometry}"/>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
</Image.Source>
</Image>
I used the Blend for Visual studio to convert your Canvas as DrawingBrush. Now I can simply use what Blend Gave me. Only copy and paste I did.
<Image Height="32" Width="32">
<Image.Source>
<DrawingImage>
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<DrawingGroup>
<DrawingGroup ClipGeometry="M15.82,31.2118L17.8348,27.3812 17.8016,27.348 17.9084,27.2412 18.4699,26.1737 18.7229,26.4267 27.3113,17.8382 27.3001,17.8271 28.9102,16.2395C29.3659,15.7838 29.8332,15.6872 30.1442,15.6872 30.4552,15.6872 30.9226,15.7839 31.3832,16.2444L32.0001,16.8612 32.0001,0 0,0 0,32 15.7137,32C15.656,31.7398,15.6889,31.4614,15.82,31.2118z">
<DrawingGroup>
<DrawingGroup.Transform>
<MatrixTransform Matrix="1,0,0,1,-1,-1" />
</DrawingGroup.Transform>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FF4EA17E" Geometry="M17,28 L17,24.5 15,24.5 15,28 3,28 3,30 29,30 29,28 z" />
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FF797979" Geometry="M18.475,31L13.575,31C13.2712,31,13,30.8038,13,30.5L13,27.55C13,27.2462,13.2712,27,13.575,27L18.475,27C18.7788,27,19.025,27.2462,19.025,27.55L19.025,30.5C19.025,30.8038,18.7788,31,18.475,31z" />
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FF3E79B4" Geometry="M28,1L4,1C3.4477,1,3,1.4477,3,2L3,7C3,7.5523,3.4477,8,4,8L28,8C28.5523,8,29,7.5523,29,7L29,2C29,1.4477,28.5523,1,28,1z M7,6L5,6 5,3 7,3 7,6z M28,9L4,9C3.4477,9,3,9.4477,3,10L3,15C3,15.5523,3.4477,16,4,16L28,16C28.5523,16,29,15.5523,29,15L29,10C29,9.4477,28.5523,9,28,9z M7,14L5,14 5,11 7,11 7,14z M28,17L4,17C3.4477,17,3,17.4477,3,18L3,23C3,23.5523,3.4477,24,4,24L28,24C28.5523,24,29,23.5523,29,23L29,18C29,17.4477,28.5523,17,28,17z M7,22L5,22 5,19 7,19 7,22z" />
<GeometryDrawing Brush="White" Geometry="M7,22L5,22 5,19 7,19 7,22z M7,11L5,11 5,14 7,14 7,11z M7,3L5,3 5,6 7,6 7,3z" />
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingGroup>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FF3E79B4" Geometry="M19.2158,27.348L28.2357,18.3281 30.359,20.4514 21.3391,29.4713 19.2158,27.348z M29.6123,16.9515C29.9648,16.599,30.3236,16.599,30.6761,16.9515L31.7357,18.0111C32.0882,18.3636,32.0882,18.7224,31.7357,19.0749L30.8614,19.9492 28.7226,17.829 29.6123,16.9515z M16.7052,31.677L18.7228,27.8409 20.8461,29.9642 17.01,31.9818C16.949,32.0139,16.8742,32.0025,16.8254,31.9538L16.7331,31.8615C16.6845,31.8128,16.6732,31.738,16.7052,31.677z" />
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
</Image.Source>
</Image>
I think this is the easiest solution.

Relative coordinates in DrawingBrush

I am somewhat confused about how relative coordinates work in WPF, especially in scenarios with DrawingBrushes.
Let's say I want to paint the background of a square area, which is flexible in it's size. I want to paint the background with a special "shape", let's say a kind of "T" laying on the side, with the vertical stroke going through the middle of the area.
Using relative coordinates (the size of the area is flexible), I came up with the following XAML:
<Window x:Class="MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="722" Width="722" UseLayoutRounding="True">
<Window.Resources>
<DrawingBrush x:Key="EdgeGrid">
<DrawingBrush.Drawing>
<GeometryDrawing>
<GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
<!-- draw a single T laying on the side -->
<GeometryGroup>
<!-- top to bottom -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.5,0.0" EndPoint="0.5,1"/>
<!-- left to right -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.5,0.5" EndPoint="1,0.5"/>
</GeometryGroup>
</GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen Thickness="0.01" Brush="Black" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
</DrawingBrush.Drawing>
</DrawingBrush>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid Name="LayoutRoot">
<Rectangle Width="400" Height="400" Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="1" Fill="{StaticResource EdgeGrid}">
</Rectangle>
</Grid>
But the result I get looks like this:
(source: bilder-hochladen.net)
Shouldn't the vertical stroke go right through the middle (X coordinate is 0.5)?
And also how can I set the pen thickness to be 1 or 2 pixels in relative mode?
Any ideas?
You'll have to set the ViewboxUnits property of the DrawingBrush to Absolute (instead of the default RelativeToBoundingBox). The Viewbox would still be (0,0,1,1).
See the TileBrush Overview article on MSDN for details about a brush's viewbox and viewport.
<DrawingBrush x:Key="EdgeGrid" ViewboxUnits="Absolute">
<DrawingBrush.Drawing>
<GeometryDrawing>
<GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
<GeometryGroup>
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.5,0.0" EndPoint="0.5,1"/>
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.5,0.5" EndPoint="1,0.5"/>
</GeometryGroup>
</GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen Thickness="0.01" Brush="Black" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
</DrawingBrush.Drawing>
</DrawingBrush>
Of course this won't let you define stroke widths in pixels. Making the drawing in absolute coordinates and then putting the whole thing in a Viewbox won't also help much, because strokes would still be scaled.
In order to get a scalable drawing with fixed stroke width, you would have to use a Path element, where you set the StrokeThickness and Data properties and assign a ScaleTransform to the Transform property of the Geometry used as Data.
In your special case of drawing a centered, T-shaped figure with fixed stroke width, you may simply draw two (very long) Lines in a Canvas, where the coordinate origin is centered by putting the Canvas in a 2x2 Grid. You may even choose to have different strokes and stroke widths for the two Lines.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Canvas Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
<Line Y1="-10000" Y2="10000" Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="1"/>
<Line X2="10000" Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="1"/>
</Canvas>
</Grid>
To get vertical stroke right you need to do it like this:
<GeometryGroup>
<!-- top to bottom -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.75,0.0"
EndPoint="0.75,1" />
<!-- left to right -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.5,0.5"
EndPoint="1,0.5" />
</GeometryGroup>
But that won't help you with pen thickness. In general, if you want to scale a geometry - first create it using absolute coordinates you like (say in 0-100 range), then put that into ViewBox or use ScaleTransform, like this:
<Viewbox Width="400"
Height="400">
<Path Stroke="Black"
StrokeThickness="1">
<Path.Data>
<GeometryGroup>
<!-- top to bottom -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="75,0"
EndPoint="75, 100" />
<!-- left to right -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="50,50"
EndPoint="100, 50" />
</GeometryGroup>
</Path.Data>
</Path>
</Viewbox>
Let's see how the proposed solution would look like.
Let's assume we want to show the shapes in a kind of grid and draw various shapes depending on the data (by selecting an appropriate DateTemplate). For simplicity, in this example, let's draw only one kind of shape (a cross, as in my initial question):
<Window x:Class="MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="722" Width="722" UseLayoutRounding="True">
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding data}">
<ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<UniformGrid Columns="10" Rows="10">
</UniformGrid>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Grid x:Name="Cell">
<Path StrokeThickness="2" Stroke="Blue" SnapsToDevicePixels="True">
<Path.Data>
<GeometryGroup>
<GeometryGroup.Transform>
<ScaleTransform ScaleX="{Binding ElementName=Cell, Path=ActualWidth}" ScaleY="{Binding ElementName=Cell, Path=ActualHeight}"/>
</GeometryGroup.Transform>
<!-- top to bottom -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0.5,0.0" EndPoint="0.5,1"/>
</GeometryGroup>
</Path.Data>
</Path>
<Path StrokeThickness="1" Stroke="Black" SnapsToDevicePixels="True">
<Path.Data>
<GeometryGroup>
<GeometryGroup.Transform>
<ScaleTransform ScaleX="{Binding ElementName=Cell, Path=ActualWidth}" ScaleY="{Binding ElementName=Cell, Path=ActualHeight}"/>
</GeometryGroup.Transform>
<!-- left to right -->
<LineGeometry StartPoint="0,0.5" EndPoint="1,0.5"/>
</GeometryGroup>
</Path.Data>
</Path>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Window>
#Clemens Is this the solution you had in mind? Is this the correct way of doing it?
The only problem I have with the result is that the lines are blurry and there is even a break to be seen in the horizontal line. Is there any solution for this?

How do I create vector images for WPF

I want to use vector images in my WPF-application (for buttons and menus). How do I do that? Which tools should I use? Can someone show my a complete example?
##Tools to create XAML vector images##
Probably the best application to create XAML vector images is Microsoft Expression Design. It’s a free tool that could be downloaded from http://expressiondesign4.com/
When you have installed Expression Design, launch it and select Edit -> Options -> Clipboards (XAML). Change Clipboard format to XAML WPF Resource Dictionary. Also change Group By to Document (otherwise each layer will be an image).
Edit your image in Expression Design. When you are done, select everything and open the Edit menu and then Copy XAML. Paste this in appropriate XAML-file. You see in the example below how it should look like. One thing to note is that you need to change DrawingImage tag to DrawingBrush.
When you are drawing the image set the document size to the size you want in your WPF-application (like 32x32 pixels). It not necessary but make the work easier. Before copy the image to XAML you probably want to make a transparent rectangle that has the same size as the document (otherwise the margins could be wrong). Or you could add this manually in the drawing group children:
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#00FFFFFF" Geometry="M 0,0L 32,0L 32,32L 0,32L 0,0 Z " />
###If you are using Inkscape###
Inkscape has support to generate XAML-files. However - this is probably not the format you want! WPF has two different ways to handle graphics in XAML – shapes and geometries. You can find more details about this here: http://www.intertech.com/Blog/WPF-Shapes-vs-WPF-Geometries/.
But in short shapes has support for inputs, while geometries is just pure drawing and therefor more lightweight.
Inkscape generate files in shape-format, which is good for some cases but not for images that should be used in buttons and similar. So what you want is to get your images into Expression Design. You could do that by saving your image as a PDF-file, change the file extension to AI and then in Expression Design use File, Import Adobe Illustrator File. Using EPS is another option.
Most things could be imported to Expression Design. But it might be some issues with borders for instance. When you have got what you want to Expression Design it’s probably better to do all the work in there. If needed you could export your images to SVG which could be used in Inkscape, that normally works without any problems.
#Example#
When you have created XAML-code for the image it’s then quite straight forward. Below is an example where a vector image is used on a menu and two button.
If you want to draw a very thin line (1 pixel), you may want to add RenderOptions.EdgeMode="Aliased" and SnapsToDevicePixels="True" to the attributes to the control that is drawing the image.
Another thing to have in mind is what to do when a button is disabled. In the example below the image looks the same no matter if the button is enabled or not (this is true for ordinary bitmaps too). Changing the opacity to 50% is one approach that looks quite OK. Converting it grey scale is harder but there is solutions for this too.
<Window xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
xmlns:ei="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactions"
x:Class="VectorGraphicsDemo.MainWindow"
Title="MainWindow"
Height="350"
Width="616">
<Window.Resources>
<!-- Note: When Expression Designed generated the code it was generated
as DrawingBrush. Remember to change this to DrawingImage. -->
<DrawingImage x:Key="TestImage">
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<DrawingGroup>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#00FFFFFF"
Geometry="M 0,0L 32,0L 32,32L 0,32L 0,0 Z " />
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FFFF0000"
Geometry="F1 M 6.25,3.97918L 23.125,3.97918L 23.125,16.1458L 6.25,16.1458L 6.25,3.97918 Z ">
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen LineJoin="Round"
Brush="#FF000000" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FF00C800"
Geometry="F1 M 21.8542,11.0625C 26.399,11.0625 30.0833,14.7468 30.0833,19.2917C 30.0833,23.8365 26.399,27.5208 21.8542,27.5208C 17.3093,27.5208 13.625,23.8365 13.625,19.2917C 13.625,14.7468 17.3093,11.0625 21.8542,11.0625 Z ">
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen LineJoin="Round"
Brush="#FF000000" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#FFFFFF00"
Geometry="F1 M 16.8731,14.9035L 11.9668,16.2498L 8.58953,12.5761L 8.25831,17.6042L 3.62852,19.7405L 8.33013,21.5017L 8.84603,26.4958L 12.083,22.5562L 17.0316,23.5064L 14.3306,19.3103L 16.8731,14.9035 Z ">
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen LineJoin="Round"
Brush="#FF000000" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
<DrawingImage x:Key="TestThinLineImage">
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<DrawingGroup>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="#00FFFFFF"
Geometry="M 0,0L 32,0L 32,32L 0,32L 0,0 Z " />
<GeometryDrawing Geometry="F1 M 2,2L 30,2L 30,30L 2,30L 2,2 Z ">
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen LineJoin="Round"
Brush="#FF000000" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
<GeometryDrawing Geometry="F1 M 7,8L 25,8L 25,24L 7,24L 7,8 Z ">
<GeometryDrawing.Pen>
<Pen LineJoin="Round"
Brush="#FFFF0000" />
</GeometryDrawing.Pen>
</GeometryDrawing>
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<!-- Menu with image -->
<Menu HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
VerticalAlignment="Top">
<MenuItem Header="Hello">
<MenuItem Header="World">
<MenuItem.Icon>
<Image Source="{StaticResource TestImage}" />
</MenuItem.Icon>
</MenuItem>
</MenuItem>
</Menu>
<!-- Small standard image -->
<Button HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="12,66,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="142"
Height="43">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image x:Name="imageSmall"
Source="{StaticResource TestImage}"
Height="32"
Width="32" />
<Label VerticalAlignment="Center"
Content="Small image" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
<!-- Large standard image -->
<Button HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="12,149,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="142"
Height="75">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image x:Name="imageLarge"
Source="{StaticResource TestImage}"
Height="64"
Width="64">
</Image>
<Label VerticalAlignment="Center"
Content="Large image" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
<!-- Small image with thin line with antialising enabled - looks bad! -->
<Button HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="180,67,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="177"
Height="43">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image x:Name="imageSmall1"
Source="{StaticResource TestThinLineImage}"
Height="32"
Width="32" />
<Label VerticalAlignment="Center"
Content="Small thin anti alias" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
<!-- Large image with thin line with antialising enabled - looks bad! -->
<Button HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="180,149,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="177"
Height="75">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="{StaticResource TestThinLineImage}"
Height="64"
Width="64">
</Image>
<Label VerticalAlignment="Center"
Content="Large thin anti alias" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
<!-- Small image with thin line with antialising disabled - looks OK! -->
<Button HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="391,67,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="177"
Height="43">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image SnapsToDevicePixels="True"
RenderOptions.EdgeMode="Aliased"
Source="{StaticResource TestThinLineImage}"
Height="32"
Width="32" />
<Label VerticalAlignment="Center"
Content="Small thin alias" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
<!-- Large image with thin line with antialising disabled - looks OK! -->
<Button HorizontalAlignment="Left"
SnapsToDevicePixels="True"
RenderOptions.EdgeMode="Aliased"
Margin="391,149,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="177"
Height="75">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="{StaticResource TestThinLineImage}"
Height="64"
Width="64" />
<Label VerticalAlignment="Center"
Content="Large thin alias" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
</Grid>
If you've got VS2013, you should have Blend. If not, you can add it from Add/Remove Programs, by modifying your Studio installation and checking the box.
Once you've got Blend, you can build vector images using the slightly too basic tools it provides; but more useful is its ability to import Adobe Illustrator files. This is still the benchmark vector graphics application to work in. This is great if you have a designer to build the assets, or have the skills to do that yourself.
If you need something between the basics of Blend and the all-singing Illustrator, Expression Design is a decent enough option (as already mentioned by #pek).

Compass with an arrow wpf

I have to show a compass with an arrow inside a circle
I have the following code:
<Page xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<Page.Resources>
<Pen x:Key="BlackPen1" Thickness="1" Brush="Black"></Pen>
</Page.Resources>
<Grid>
<!-- Image for the Circle -->
<Image>
<Image.Source>
<DrawingImage>
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<GeometryDrawing Pen="{StaticResource BlackPen1}" >
<GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
<GeometryGroup>
<EllipseGeometry RadiusX="50" RadiusY="50"></EllipseGeometry>
</GeometryGroup>
</GeometryDrawing.Geometry>
</GeometryDrawing>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
</Image.Source>
</Image>
<Path Grid.Row="1" Data="M15,0 L30,40 L0,40Z" Stroke="Black" Fill="Black" StrokeThickness="1" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
<Line Grid.Row="0" Y1="40" Y2="400" X1="0" X2="0" Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="5" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
</Grid>
</Page>
Now I have to transform this whole compass based on the input angle.
One thing I know is If I move my arrow shape into Image type I can tans form this using the following
<Image.RenderTransform>
<RotateTransform Angle="{Binding ElementName=root, Path=Angle}"/>
</Image.RenderTransform>
But I am not able to draw this geometry inside the Image tag.
How to achieve this?
Why would you need to rotate the Ellipse? Surely only the arrow moves in a compass. In order to make that job easier, why don't you create the arrow in just one Path, instead of additionally using a Line element? You could define the same arrow with rotation like this:
<Path Grid.Row="1" Data="M15,0 30,40 18,40 18,400 12,400 12,40 0,40Z" Stroke="Black"
Fill="Black" StrokeThickness="1" HorizontalAlignment="Center"
RenderTransformOrigin="0.5,0.5">
<Path.RenderTransform>
<RotateTransform Angle="{Binding Angle, ElementName=root}" />
</Path.RenderTransform>
</Path>
You can apply the rotation to the whole Grid That contains all of your controls. Don't forget to set RenderTransformOrigin="0.5,0.5" on the element you rotate so it rotates arround the center and not the top left corner.
Or you could add a RotationTransform to each of the elements Path, Line and Ellipse. However in this case Rotation centers will probably be different for each one and it makes it more complicated.

DrawingImage icon gets automatically trimmed when stretch=uniform

We use vector icons exported from Expression Design in our application, but I just noticed that all empty space in the icons gets trimmed away when they are displayed inside a stretched Image. Since the whole point of having vector icons is to allow them to stretch and scale nicely, this seems very strange.
Here is an example. Both the red and the blue star are designed in a 32 pixels wide document, but the blue star is much smaller. Setting the stretch property to Uniform suddenly makes the two icons the same size.
Is it possible to solve this and keep the whitespace around the icons? I guess a possible workaround would be to add a transparent background rectangle that covers the whole icon area, but this seems like a bad solution to me.
<Window
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Class="GeneralTest.MainWindow"
x:Name="Window"
Title="MainWindow"
Width="640" Height="480">
<Window.Resources>
<DrawingImage x:Key="small_blue_star">
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<DrawingGroup>
<DrawingGroup.Children>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="Blue" Geometry="F1 M 20.4989,22C 20.4634,22.0177 16.2771,19.0022 16.2416,19.0022C 16.2061,19.0022 12.0021,22.0177 11.9844,22C 11.9489,21.9823 13.4921,17.0332 13.4744,16.9977C 13.4744,16.9623 9.4655,14.0354 9.48323,13.9999C 9.48323,13.9644 14.45,14.0177 14.4855,13.9999C 14.5032,13.9822 16.2061,8.99765 16.2416,8.99765C 16.2771,8.99765 17.9623,13.9822 17.98,13.9999C 18.0155,14.0177 22.9823,13.9644 23,13.9999C 23,14.0354 18.9911,16.9623 18.9911,16.9977C 18.9734,17.0332 20.5166,21.9823 20.4989,22 Z "/>
</DrawingGroup.Children>
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
<DrawingImage x:Key="big_red_star">
<DrawingImage.Drawing>
<DrawingGroup>
<DrawingGroup.Children>
<GeometryDrawing Brush="Red" Geometry="F1 M 26.0781,32C 25.9941,32.0436 16.0823,24.6277 15.9983,24.6277C 15.9143,24.6277 5.96055,32.0436 5.91855,32C 5.83455,31.9564 9.48848,19.7856 9.44648,19.6983C 9.44648,19.6111 -0.0453207,12.4133 -0.00332647,12.326C -0.00332647,12.2388 11.7564,12.3697 11.8404,12.326C 11.8824,12.2824 15.9143,0.0243702 15.9983,0.0243702C 16.0823,0.0243702 20.0723,12.2824 20.1142,12.326C 20.1982,12.3697 31.958,12.2388 32,12.326C 32,12.4133 22.5082,19.6111 22.5082,19.6983C 22.4662,19.7856 26.1201,31.9564 26.0781,32 Z "/>
</DrawingGroup.Children>
</DrawingGroup>
</DrawingImage.Drawing>
</DrawingImage>
</Window.Resources>
<StackPanel x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="Stretch=None" Width="100"/>
<Image Source="{StaticResource big_red_star}" Width="32" Stretch="None"/>
<Image Source="{StaticResource small_blue_star}" Width="32" Stretch="None"/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="Stretch=Uniform" Width="100"/>
<Image Source="{StaticResource big_red_star}" Width="32" Stretch="Uniform" />
<Image Source="{StaticResource small_blue_star}" Width="32" Stretch="Uniform"/>
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</Window>

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