Creating WPF buttons with Expression Blend and Expression Design

In the first part of this lab you will focus on two things: the drawing and editing features of Expression Design that pertain to vector-based graphics; and how to export these graphics to other formats such as bitmap-based formats (JPG, GIF, etc.) and XAML.

XAML is a new language that was created to allow designers and developers to collaborate together on rich user interface experiences based on the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

Expression Blend is a perfect tool for designing interfaces that leverage XAML and WPF. Expression Design fully integrates with Expression Blend, making it the perfect tool to create all of the graphics needed for a stunning and functional user interface.

In the second part of the lab, you will import the XAML file you just generated, and then create some custom, fully functional, .NET 3.0-based buttons from scratch. In this way you will see how Expression Design and Expression Blend collaborate together to create great-looking user interfaces.