How to: Use System Colors in a Gradient

To use a system color in a gradient, you use the *<SystemColor>*Color and *<SystemColor>*ColorKey static properties of the SystemColors class to obtain a reference to the color, where <SystemColor> is the name of the desired system color. Use the *<SystemColor>*ColorKey properties when you want to create a dynamic reference that updates automatically as the system theme changes. Otherwise, use the *<SystemColor>*Color properties.

Example

The following example uses dynamic system color resources to create a gradient.

<Page xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" 
  xmlns:x="https://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
  WindowTitle="Dynamic System Colors Example" Background="White">  
  <StackPanel Margin="20">

    <!-- Uses dynamic references to system colors to set
         the colors of gradient stops. 
         If these system colors change while this application
         is running, the gradient will be updated
         automatically.  -->
    <Button Content="Hello, World!">
      <Button.Background>
        <LinearGradientBrush>
          <LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
            <GradientStop Offset="0.0" 
              Color="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.DesktopColorKey}}" />
            <GradientStop Offset="1.0" 
              Color="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlLightLightColorKey}}" />
          </LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
        </LinearGradientBrush>
      </Button.Background>
    </Button>

  </StackPanel>
</Page>

The next example uses static system color resources to create a gradient.

<Page xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" 
  xmlns:x="https://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
  WindowTitle="Static System Colors Example" Background="White">  
  <StackPanel Margin="20">

    <!-- Uses static references to system colors to set
         the colors of gradient stops. 
         If these system colors change while this application
         is running, this button will not be updated until
         the page is loaded again. -->
    <Button Content="Hello, World!">
      <Button.Background>
        <LinearGradientBrush>
          <LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
            <GradientStop Offset="0.0" 
              Color="{x:Static SystemColors.DesktopColor}" />
            <GradientStop Offset="1.0" 
              Color="{x:Static SystemColors.ControlLightLightColor}" />
          </LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
        </LinearGradientBrush>
      </Button.Background>
    </Button>

  </StackPanel>
</Page>

See Also

Tasks

How to: Paint an Area with a System Brush

Reference

SystemColors

Concepts

Painting with Solid Colors and Gradients Overview