Ever wanted a cool gradient for the background of your Windows form application? Whether you want to cover the entire form, or just a single panel, it's actually pretty easy to do. I found an article (http://www.knowdotnet.com/articles/lineargradient.html) and added it to my own app and it worked out pretty slick. In this example, it's at the form level, but you can apply to any object in the Paint event and the Resize event. Handling the Paint event allows you to paint anything you want on your Graphics surface. The Resize event is important, since otherwise, any resizing of the form or control will simply scale your contents by default. Try adding the following C# code to your Form object and get ready for cool effects!
private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
Rectangle BaseRectangle =
new Rectangle(0, 0, this.Width - 1, this.Height - 1);
Brush Gradient_Brush =
new LinearGradientBrush(
BaseRectangle,
Color.Navy, Color.LightSlateGray,
LinearGradientMode.Vertical);
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(Gradient_Brush, BaseRectangle);
}
private void Form1_Resize(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Invalidate, or last rendered image will just be scaled
// to new size
this.Invalidate();
}
Of course if you go down this path, your apps will pretty soon be cooler than cool. Next thing you know, you'll be on talk shows, partying with Paris Hilton, and passing out in pools of money. Then, of course, you'll be cast aside, left to find your own way as everyone moves onto the next big thing. Maybe it's better to stay with the grey background. Ah, but I'll let you decide. That's the way life is!