Introduction to Blend: Brushes - Page 1

Expression Blend is a program that allows you to easily create the user interface for applications based on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). In this introductory tutorial, I will explain not only how to use Blend, but also how to draw and modify a shape's various properties such as color, outline, etc. using Brushes.

Note - What are Brushes?

In many design programs, you directly manipulate the colors and related properties of an object. In WPF, you don't interact directly with colors. You use intermediary objects called Brushes instead, but the steps needed to change, for example, the color of something is just the same in Blend as it is almost all other programs.

The end result and the steps taken to get there are the same, but the details vary. Future tutorials will touch upon the details, but this introductory tutorial will not.

This is an introductory tutorial requiring no prior experience with any of the products or terms I mentioned in my previous paragraph. By the end of this tutorial, you will have created something that looks like the following image:

[ what your finished project looks like ]

Let's get started:

1. Launch Expression Blend. If you do not have Blend installed on your computer, you can download a fully-functional evaluation version by clicking here.
   
   When the application loads, you should see a Startup window (if you have it enabled). From this Startup window, click on the New Project link:

[ select New Project from the startup window ]

2. After clicking on New Project, the Create New Project window will appear. Select Standard Application (.exe) as your Project Type, give your project a unique name, and make sure the language is set to C#:

[ create a new Standard Application (.exe) ]

Press OK to close the Create New Project window and clear the stage for your newly created project.

3. What you see now is your main design area also known as the Artboard. It is where you will create, make, and break your designs. In our first order of business, let's change the size of our stage by making it smaller.
   
   Towards the left side of your screen, you should see a panel titled Objects and Timeline:

[ easily view all objects in your Artboard using the Objects and Timeline panel ]

This area provides you with a listing of all of your objects and controls on the stage, and this area makes it easy to select a particular object if it is buried below other objects.

So far, you have just created a new project in Blend. In the next page, let's add figure out how to spruce up our empty, default project.

Onwards to the next page!

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