Tools panel
You can use the Tools panel in Microsoft Expression Blend to create and modify objects in your application. You create the objects by selecting a tool and drawing on the artboard with your mouse. You can also change the objects on the artboard by using handles, or you can modify their properties in the Properties panel.
For more information, see Properties panel.
Note
The Tools panel looks slightly different depending on whether you are working on a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) or Microsoft Silverlight project.
Tools available in the Tools panel when you work on a WPF application
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Selection tools Use to select of objects and paths. The Direct Selection tool is used to select nested objects and path segments. |
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Path tools Pen, Pencil. |
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View tools Use to adjust the view of the artboard, such as for panning, zooming, and camera orbiting for 3D. .gif "Note") Note
The Camera Orbit tool is not available when you work on a Silverlight project.
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Shape tools Rectangle, Ellipse, Line. |
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Brush tools Use to work with the visual attributes of an object, such as transforming a brush, painting an object, or selecting the attributes of one object to apply them to another object. |
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Layout panels Grid, Canvas, StackPanel, WrapPanel, DockPanel, ScrollViewer, Border, UniformGrid, Viewbox. Note
Only the Grid, Canvas, StackPanel, ScrollViewer, and Border panels are available in a Silverlight project.
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Object tools Use to draw the most common objects on the artboard, such as paths, shapes, layout panels, text, and controls. |
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Text controls TextBox, RichTextBox, TextBlock, PasswordBox, Label, FlowDocumentScrollViewer. Note
Only the TextBox, TextBlock, and PasswordBox controls are available in a Silverlightproject.
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Asset tools Use to access the Assets panel and to show the most recently used asset from the library. For more information, see Assets panel. |
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Common controls Button, CheckBox, ComboBox, ListBox, RadioButton, ScrollBar, Slider, TabControl, GridSplitter. Note
The TabControl and GridSplitter controls are not visible in a Silverlight project, but you can select them from the Assets panel.
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See also
Concepts
Arranging objects
Choosing and using interactive controls
Working with objects and properties
Drawing shapes and paths
Drawing text
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