Gradient Background in general - is it possible?

[Michael]

Hi,

I played around with your Gauge control and noticed it has a gradient range. But do you have an option to set a gradient background on other controls - it should be "easy" since you already developed the gradient feature?  

[Lance | Senior Manager Technical Support]

Hi Michael,

This is totally doable. I have two options for you:

• Use the RadSweepGradientBrush (easy, can be done in XAML)
• Use the SkiaSharp drawing libraries (harder, is done in C#, but more powerful)

Telerik Option - Path & SweepGradientBrush

Let me show you how to use our option. this is lightweight and easy to use. Just create a RadPath element/shape and use a RadSweepGradientBrush to fill it.

As an example of it in action, visit the RadPath Styling documentation. For your convenience, here's the code example from that article:

<telerikPrimitives:RadPath x:Name="gradientPath"
                           StrokeThickness="1"
                           Stroke="White"                                        
                           Geometry="{x:Static telerikInput:Geometries.Diamond}">
    <telerikPrimitives:RadPath.Fill>
        <telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientBrush>
            <x:Arguments>
                <Point>0.5, 0.5</Point>
            </x:Arguments>
            <telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
                <x:Arguments>
                    <Color>#1481FF</Color>
                    <x:Double>180</x:Double>
                </x:Arguments>
            </telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>                     
            <telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
                <x:Arguments>
                    <Color>#BCE1FF</Color>
                    <x:Double>360</x:Double>
                </x:Arguments>
            </telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
        </telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientBrush>
    </telerikPrimitives:RadPath.Fill>
</telerikPrimitives:RadPath>

Note:

This is not a Xamarin.Forms.Color object that you can set on any plain Xamarin.Forms View element's BackgroundColor property. If you want to make a gradient background, you'll need to place a RadPath there so you can use the gradient brush inside it.

For example, let's say you wanted a gradient sweep on a Grid background, you'd place the RadPath at the bottom of the Grid's children:

<Grid>
  <RadPath Fill="Your_Gradient" />

  <TheOtherStuffHere />
</Grid>

Microsoft Option - SkiaSharp

If this is not sufficient for your needs, you can use the Xamarin.Forms SkiaSharp library directly.  This option is a bit more complicated because you're manually handing the surface and paint event, but it will achieve just about any custom drawing options you need.

Visit the following amazing Microsoft documentation article https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/user-interface/graphics/skiasharp/effects/shaders/linear-gradient. (I think it was written by Charles Petzold).

 

Wrapping Up

I hope I was able to answer your question. If you have any trouble using the Path or SweepGradient, feel free to open a support ticket and get one-on-one help from the developers and support team.

Regards,
Lance | Team Lead - US DevTools Support
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[DE101]

Sorry, it's not clear to me how to do this - could you give a clear example on how to set a StackLayout to have a gradient background?

[Lance | Senior Manager Technical Support]

Hello David,

This isn't a brush or color that you can use on a plain Xamarin.Forms element's BackgroundColor property. The RadPath is a View element just like the StackLayout.

Therefore, if you wanted a gradient behind the elements you have in the StackLayout, then you put the StackLayout on top of the RadPath.

For example:

<Grid>
    <!-- The RadPath with a GradientBrush is the bottom element in the parent Grid -->
    <telerikPrimitives:RadPath StrokeThickness="0" 
                               Stroke="Transparent">
        <telerikPrimitives:RadPath.Fill>
            <telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientBrush>
                <x:Arguments>
                    <Point>0.5, 0.5</Point>
                </x:Arguments>
                <telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
                    <x:Arguments>
                        <Color>#1481FF</Color>
                        <x:Double>180</x:Double>
                    </x:Arguments>
                </telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
                <telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
                    <x:Arguments>
                        <Color>#BCE1FF</Color>
                        <x:Double>360</x:Double>
                    </x:Arguments>
                </telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientStop>
            </telerikCommon:RadSweepGradientBrush>
        </telerikPrimitives:RadPath.Fill>
        <telerikCommon:RadPathGeometry>
            <telerikCommon:RadPathFigure StartPoint="0, 1">
                <telerikCommon:RadLineSegment Point="1, 1" />
                <telerikCommon:RadLineSegment Point="0.5, 0" />
                <telerikCommon:RadLineSegment Point="0, 1" />
            </telerikCommon:RadPathFigure>
        </telerikCommon:RadPathGeometry>
    </telerikPrimitives:RadPath>

    <!-- Put your content on top of the RadPath -->
    <StackLayout BackgroundColor="Transparent">

    </StackLayout>
</Grid>

As you can see in that example, the StackLayout is on top of the RadPath. Because the StackLayout's BackgroundColor is Transparent, the RadPAth gradient will show through.

Regards,
Lance | Team Lead - US DevTools Support
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