Set the values of RadiusX and RadiusY to 20.Ĭhange the rectangle into a button: Select the rectangle. Round out the corners of the rectangle: Either drag the control points of the rectangle or directly set the RadiusX and RadiusY properties. Set the Window Background property to black: Select the Window, click the Properties Tab, and set the Background property to Black.ĭraw a rectangle approximately the size of a button on the Window: Select the rectangle tool on the left-hand tool panel and drag the rectangle onto the Window.
Next, you create a rounded rectangle and convert it into a button. As you might expect, the application consists of only a blank window.
Name the project CustomButton and press OK.Īt this point you have a blank WPF project. (Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Expression, and then click Microsoft Expression Blend.) To create a new project in Expression Blend Why not start with a regular button and customize it? Because a button has built-in functionality that you do not need for custom buttons, it is easier to start with a rectangle. You then add additional shapes to the template of the button, creating a more complex looking button. To do this, you first convert a rectangle to a button. In the first part of this walkthrough you create the custom look of the custom button. The following illustration shows the customized button that you will create. See Create a Button by Using XAML for more information. If you would rather work with XAML directly, there is another walkthrough that creates the same application as this one using XAML with Visual Studio rather than Blend. Microsoft Expression Blend works by generating Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) that is then compiled to make the executable program.