Introduction to Blend: Brushes - Page 2

In the previous page, you got a brief introduction to what Blend does and how to start creating a project. We'll pick up from where we left off and look at how to change our background color.

4. Select the Window object from the Objects and Timeline panel. When you select Window in the Objects and Timeline panel, you will see your window outlined in your Artboard also.
   
   With your window selected, click on the Properties tab found on the top-right corner of your window:

[ select the property tab to view your selected window's properties ]

5. The entire right-side of your screen, also known as the Results panel, should completely change to display all of the various Window properties and settings that you can modify. From this Results panel, find the Layout area:

[ find the Layout area from your Results panel ]

In the fields for Width and Height, enter 300 and 200 respectively. You will notice your window's size has changed to fit the new values:

[ your window's width and height should now be 300 x 200 pixes ]

6. With your window resized, let's now make some background color changes. From your currently displayed Results panel, find the area with the large colored box titled Brushes:

[ the Brushes area is where you can make a lot of visual changes to your objects ]

We want to change the background color of our window. The Background property should already be selected for you (see above image), but if it isn't, select it.

7. What we really want is to have a gradient background color. To specify the gradient colors, click on the Gradient Brush tab located in the row with the five rectangular icons below the OpacityMask property:

[ click on the Gradient Brush tab ]

8. After you have clicked the Gradient Brush property, you'll notice your Artboard update to display your window's background color as the default black-to-white gradient. Let's change that default color setting to a couple shades of dark blue.
   
   Below your color box, you should see a rectangular box with two gradient stops on either side in black and white. Click on the black gradient stop first:

[ the gradient stops' colors and positions determine how your gradient looks ]

9. Once you have clicked on the black gradient stop, from the color box, select a dark blue-ish shade to change the current color from black to your new blue-ish color:

[ change your black gradient to a dark blue color ]

10. You still have another gradient stop remaining. Select the white gradient stop, as before, and change the color to a different shade of blue than the shade you selected in the above step:

[ change your white gradient to stop a slightly more lively blue color ]

Right now, with both of your gradient colors altered from the original black and white colors, your Window's background reflects the gradient choices you made in the previous few steps:

[ your background now has a nicer blue color scheme to it ]

In this page you got a feel for some of the color brushes and how they can be used to modify your design. In the next page, you will make some more modification to your gradient as well get into drawing your own shape.

Onwards to the next page!

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