Getting Started with WPF Skin Manager
25 Jan 202220 minutes to read
The SfSkinManager helps you to apply the themes for both Syncfusion and Framework controls. There are 27 built-in themes that can be applied using the SfSkinManager for a rich user interface experience. Some of the built-in themes color derivations can be customized using WPF Theme Studio.
NOTE
Theme Studio-based themes provide improved consistency and uniqueness among various controls when compared to other themes. It is preferable to use Theme Studio-based themes in the application over other themes.
Themes list
The following table lists the available themes as well as the assembly or NuGet reference to be used in the application.
| Styles | Assembly | NuGet package |
|---|---|---|
| FluentLight | Syncfusion.Themes.FluentLight.Wpf.dll | |
| FluentDark | Syncfusion.Themes.FluentDark.Wpf.dll | |
| MaterialLight | Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialLight.Wpf.dll | |
| MaterialDark | Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialDark.Wpf.dll | |
| MaterialLightBlue | Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialLightBlue.Wpf.dll | |
| MaterialDarkBlue | Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialDarkBlue.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2019Colorful | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2019Colorful.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2019Black | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2019Black.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2019White | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2019White.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2019DarkGray | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2019DarkGray.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2019HighContrast | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2019HighContrast.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2019HighContrastWhite | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2019HighContrastWhite.Wpf.dll | |
| SystemTheme | Syncfusion.Themes.SystemTheme.Wpf.dll | |
| Metro | Syncfusion.Themes.Metro.Wpf.dll | |
| Lime | Syncfusion.Themes.Lime.Wpf.dll | |
| Saffron | Syncfusion.Themes.Saffron.Wpf.dll | |
| Blend | Syncfusion.Themes.Blend.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2013White | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2013White.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2013LightGray | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2013LightGray.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2013DarkGray | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2013DarkGray.Wpf.dll | |
| VisualStudio2013 | Syncfusion.Themes.VisualStudio2013.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2010Black | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2010Black.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2010Blue | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2010Blue.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2010Silver | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2010Silver.Wpf.dll | |
| Office365 | Syncfusion.Themes.Office365.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2016Colorful | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2016Colorful.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2016White | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2016White.Wpf.dll | |
| Office2016DarkGray | Syncfusion.Themes.Office2016DarkGray.Wpf.dll | |
| VisualStudio2015 | Syncfusion.Themes.VisualStudio2015.Wpf.dll |
The following table lists the available themes supported in theme studio and alternative themes suggestions to be used in the application.
| Styles | Supported in ThemeStudio | Alternative theme suggestion to use |
|---|---|---|
| FluentLight | Yes | - |
| FluentDark | Yes | - |
| MaterialLight | Yes | - |
| MaterialDark | Yes | - |
| MaterialLightBlue | Yes | - |
| MaterialDarkBlue | Yes | - |
| Office2019Colorful | Yes | - |
| Office2019Black | Yes | - |
| Office2019White | Yes | - |
| Office2019DarkGray | Yes | - |
| Office2019HighContrast | Yes | - |
| Office2019HighContrastWhite | Yes | - |
| SystemTheme | Yes | - |
| Metro | - | FluentLight, Office2019Colorful |
| Lime | - | FluentLight, Office2019Colorful |
| Saffron | - | FluentLight, Office2019Colorful |
| Blend | - | FluentDark, MaterialDark, Office2019Black |
| Office2013White | - | Office2019White |
| Office2013LightGray | - | Office2019Colorful |
| Office2013DarkGray | - | Office2019DarkGray |
| VisualStudio2013 | - | - |
| Office2010Black | - | - |
| Office2010Blue | - | - |
| Office2010Silver | - | - |
| Office365 | - | Office2019Colorful |
| Office2016Colorful | - | Office2019Colorful |
| Office2016White | - | Office2019White |
| Office2016DarkGray | - | Office2019DarkGray |
| VisualStudio2015 | - | - |
Apply a theme to a control
Add SkinManager reference
There are several ways for including the Syncfusion SfSkinManager reference in the Visual Studio WPF project. The following steps will help you to add by XAML Code:
1) Add a reference to the Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF assembly or Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF nuget package to the project.
2) Import Syncfusion WPF schema http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf or the assembly namespace Syncfusion.SfSkinManager into a XAML page.
<Window
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:syncfusionskin ="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"
xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf" />Add a theme assembly reference
The SfSkinManager supports to apply themes listed in themes list. To use a theme in the application, add Reference to the corresponding theme assembly. For example, to apply MaterialDark theme, attach Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialDark.Wpf assembly or NuGet reference to the project. While applying a theme to a Window, SkinManager inherits the same theme to all the elements inside the Window.
Set theme
Themes will be applied to both Syncfusion and Framework controls by using Theme attached property of the SfSkinManager. The theme assemblies have resource dictionaries with styles of controls. Thus, when the Theme property is set, the skin manager merges the theme resource dictionaries of an element to which the theme is applied and its descendants into the resource dictionary of the element to which the theme is applied or Application.Current.Resource.
NOTE
While applying the theme to a Window or any element,
SkinManagerinherits the same theme to all its descendants.
<syncfusion:ChromelessWindow x:Class="DataGrid_Themes.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:DataGrid_Themes"
xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf"
xmlns:syncfusionskin ="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"
Icon="App.ico"
Title="Getting Started"
WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen"
syncfusionskin:SfSkinManager.Theme="{syncfusionskin:SkinManagerExtension ThemeName=MaterialDark}">
<Grid DataContext="{StaticResource viewmodel}">
<syncfusion:SfDataGrid Name="sfgrid" Margin="5"
AutoGenerateColumns="False"
AllowDraggingColumns="True"
AllowEditing="True"
LiveDataUpdateMode="AllowDataShaping"
AllowFiltering="True"
HeaderRowHeight="26"
SelectionMode="Extended"
ColumnSizer="Auto"
ItemsSource="{Binding EmployeeDetails}">
</syncfusion:SfDataGrid>
</Grid>
</syncfusion:ChromelessWindow>SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("MaterialDark"));
NOTE
Apply a theme globally in the application
By default, SfSkinManager merges the required resource files from the theme assembly to the element to which the theme is applied. To apply a theme globally in an application, set the ApplyStylesOnApplication property to True. It merges all the theme resource files to Application.Current.Resources.
NOTE
The
SfSkinManager.ApplyStylesOnApplicationstatic property should be set beforeInitializeComponentof the window or during application start up, when applying for multiple windows.
SfSkinManager.ApplyStylesOnApplication = true;Customize theme colors and fonts in the application
To customize the theme colors and fonts in the application, call RegisterThemeSettings method and pass the theme name and respective theme setting instance as parameters.
Each theme supported by the theme studio has its own theme settings class, which begins with the prefix of the themes’ name. For example, if the theme name is MaterialDark, then there will be theme settings class called MaterialDarkThemeSettings.
NOTE
Need to register theme settings before setting respective theme for window or control.
Please find the complete list of theme names, respective theme settings class, and supported palette.
| Styles/Theme name | Respective theme settings class to customize | Supported palette |
|---|---|---|
| FluentLight | ||
| FluentDark | ||
| MaterialLight | ||
| MaterialDark | ||
| MaterialLightBlue | ||
| MaterialDarkBlue | ||
| Office2019Colorful | ||
| Office2019Black | ||
| Office2019White | ||
| Office2019DarkGray | ||
| Office2019HighContrast | ||
| Office2019HighContrastWhite | ||
| SystemTheme | - |
Customize theme colors and fonts in the application
FluentDarkThemeSettings themeSettings = new FluentDarkThemeSettings();
themeSettings.PrimaryBackground = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red);
themeSettings.PrimaryForeground = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.AntiqueWhite);
themeSettings.BodyFontSize = 15;
themeSettings.HeaderFontSize = 18;
themeSettings.SubHeaderFontSize = 17;
themeSettings.TitleFontSize = 17;
themeSettings.SubTitleFontSize = 16;
themeSettings.BodyAltFontSize = 15;
themeSettings.FontFamily = new FontFamily("Callibri");
SfSkinManager.RegisterThemeSettings("FluentDark", themeSettings);
Customize theme colors using the predefined palette
FluentDarkThemeSettings themeSettings = new FluentDarkThemeSettings();
themeSettings.Palette = FluentPalette.PinkRed;
SfSkinManager.RegisterThemeSettings("FluentDark", themeSettings);NOTE
Apply themes to the specific controls
To apply themes for specific controls in application and exclude some of the controls in window visual tree, provide control names list parameter in constructor of Theme class.
This controls list option enables to merge the specific controls theme resource dictionary xaml files to window resources or application resources immediately instead of traversing the window visual tree and applying the theme for those controls in visual tree only.
NOTE
For framework controls, theme will be applied by default on setting the
Themeproperty and cannot be skipped by using above option.
For example, we have skipped applying style for ComboBoxAdv in below snippet by providing control names ButtonAdv and ChromelessWindow only in control names list parameter of Theme class.
<syncfusion:ChromelessWindow x:Class="SkinManagerApplication.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SkinManagerApplication"
xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="500">
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
<syncfusion:ButtonAdv Label="Syncfusion Button" SmallIcon="{x:Null}" Margin="0,0,0,0" Width="150" Height="24"/>
<syncfusion:ComboBoxAdv Width="150" Height="24" Margin="0,20,0,0" SelectedIndex="0">
<syncfusion:ComboBoxItemAdv Content="Combo 1"/>
<syncfusion:ComboBoxItemAdv Content="Combo 2"/>
</syncfusion:ComboBoxAdv>
</StackPanel>
</syncfusion:ChromelessWindow>public partial class MainWindow : ChromelessWindow
{
public MainWindow()
{
SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("MaterialDark", new string[] { "ButtonAdv", "ChromelessWindow" }));
InitializeComponent();
}
}
Apply themes to the controls derived from Syncfusion controls
To apply themes to the derived control using SfSkinManager, call SetResourceReference method and, pass the StyleProperty and derived control type as parameters.
<local:SfDataGridExt x:Name="grid"
AllowGrouping="True"
AutoGenerateColumns="False"
ItemsSource="{Binding EmployeeDetails}"
ShowGroupDropArea="True">
<local:SfDataGridExt.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="/Syncfusion.SfGrid.WPF;component/Styles/Styles.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</local:SfDataGridExt.Resources>
<local:SfDataGridExt.Columns>
<syncfusion:GridNumericColumn MappingName="EmployeeAge" />
<syncfusion:GridTextColumn MappingName="EmployeeName" />
<syncfusion:GridTextColumn MappingName="EmployeeGender" />
<syncfusion:GridTextColumn AllowEditing="True" MappingName="Country" />
<syncfusion:GridNumericColumn MappingName="EmployeeSalary" />
</local:SfDataGridExt.Columns>
</local:SfDataGridExt>public class SfDataGridExt : SfDataGrid
{
public SfDataGridExt()
{
SetResourceReference(StyleProperty, typeof(SfDataGrid));
}
}Clearing SkinManager instance in an application
The SfSkinManager will hold some instances to use it further when applying the theme. However, this can be cleared using the function named Dispose(object), which must be called when the theme applied by SfSkinManager is to be cleared, as shown in the following code. Object refers to the element whose instance needs to be cleared.
private void Window_Closed(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SfSkinManager.Dispose(this);
}How to
Apply custom theme in the application
To apply a custom theme in the application, export the custom theme project from ThemeStudio using this reference.
For demonstration purposes, the exported theme name has been used as MaterialDarkYellow and assembly name as Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialDarkYellow.WPF.
Now, for the control used in the application, set the SfSkinManager attached property Theme to MaterialDarkYellow;MaterialDark. Since, custom theme name should be updated in the following format: CustomTheme1;BaseThemeName, where CustomTheme1 denotes the custom theme name and BaseThemeName denotes the theme name from which it is derived. For example, MaterialDarkYellow;MaterialDark.
SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("MaterialDarkYellow;MaterialDark"));Override syncfusion themes in the application
All Syncfusion themes are supported in theme studio. A common naming convention can be used to override control styles. A unique key is given to every style so that the styles can be overridden using the BasedOn property.
The naming convention of a control style will be like Syncfusion-ControlName-Style. For example, MaterialDarkButtonAdvStyle.
The following steps explain how to override the Syncfusion themes:
Step1:
Add respective resource dictionary from the themes assembly to the application.
The resource dictionary will be in this format: /Syncfusion.Themes.<ThemeName>.WPF;component/<ControlName>/<ControlName>.xaml, where ThemeName denotes the theme name for which overridden style is going to be applied and ControlName denotes the control name. For example, /Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialDark.WPF;component/ButtonAdv/ButtonAdv.xaml.
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="/Syncfusion.Themes.MaterialDark.WPF;component/ButtonAdv/ButtonAdv.xaml"/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>Step2:
Define the new style using the BasedOn property.
The following code sample overrides the Syncfusion style for the ButtonAdv Control.
<Grid>
<Grid.Resources>
<Style x:Key="CustomButtonAdvStyle" TargetType="syncfusion:ButtonAdv" BasedOn="{StaticResource SyncfusionButtonAdvStyle}" >
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red"/>
</Style>
</Grid.Resources>
<syncfusion:ButtonAdv Name="buttonAdv" Content="Testing" Width="150" Height="30" SmallIcon="{x:Null}" Style="{StaticResource CustomButtonAdvStyle}"></syncfusion:ButtonAdv>
</Grid>
Change visual style at runtime
Themes for application can be changed at runtime by changing VisualStyle property. Make sure that the new theme assembly is attached as reference in the application when applying theme.
<syncfusion:ChromelessWindow x:Class="DataGrid_Themes.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:DataGrid_Themes"
xmlns:system="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf"
xmlns:syncfusionskin ="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"
syncfusionskin:SfSkinManager.VisualStyle="{Binding ElementName=comboVisualStyle, Path=SelectedValue, Mode=OneWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}">
<syncfusion:ChromelessWindow.Resources>
<ObjectDataProvider
x:Key="Themes"
MethodName="GetValues"
ObjectType="{x:Type system:Enum}">
<ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
<x:Type TypeName="syncfusionskin:VisualStyles" />
</ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
</ObjectDataProvider>
</syncfusion:ChromelessWindow.Resources>
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="40"/>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<ComboBox
x:Name="comboVisualStyle"
Grid.Row="0"
Width="250"
Margin="5"
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource Themes}}"
SelectedIndex="18" />
<Grid Grid.Row="1" DataContext="{StaticResource viewmodel}">
<syncfusion:SfDataGrid Name="sfgrid" Margin="5"
AutoGenerateColumns="False"
AllowDraggingColumns="True"
AllowEditing="True"
LiveDataUpdateMode="AllowDataShaping"
AllowFiltering="True"
HeaderRowHeight="26"
SelectionMode="Extended"
ColumnSizer="Auto"
ItemsSource="{Binding EmployeeDetails}">
</syncfusion:SfDataGrid>
</Grid>
</Grid>
</syncfusion:ChromelessWindow>NOTE