One of the real strengths of Expression Blend is in its deep understanding of control templates. Visual Studio doesn’t really go near control templates and so you really need Blend unless you’re a pure consumer of someone else’s templated controls.
Control templates are a complex concept in themselves and so editing them can be a bit mind-bending for the first time. If you’ve not encountered the idea of templates then perhaps the simplest thing to do is to wander into Blend and make a new project.
and then drop a simple control onto the artboard. A Checkbox is a prime example and a Button would be another. I’ll go with Checkbox.
and then wander into its control template – i.e. the visuals that represent the control’s look and feel. The ways in which you can edit the template are numerous but I think they all involve the same 2 menus which I’ve almost managed to show on this screenshot below;
Read more: Mike Taulty's Blog Part 1, Part 2
Control templates are a complex concept in themselves and so editing them can be a bit mind-bending for the first time. If you’ve not encountered the idea of templates then perhaps the simplest thing to do is to wander into Blend and make a new project.
and then drop a simple control onto the artboard. A Checkbox is a prime example and a Button would be another. I’ll go with Checkbox.
and then wander into its control template – i.e. the visuals that represent the control’s look and feel. The ways in which you can edit the template are numerous but I think they all involve the same 2 menus which I’ve almost managed to show on this screenshot below;
Read more: Mike Taulty's Blog Part 1, Part 2