


Loose: This approach is the same as the dynamic one, but it allows to load XAML resource files that haven’t been compiled in any assembly. Where packUri can be something like pack://application:,/ component/.xaml. It can be done by simple adding a ResourceDictionary in the Application Resources, with its Source pointing to the skin. Static: This is the easiest way to add a skin. There are three ways of loading resources in WPF: Static, Dynamic and Loose. In this way, we can create a “Dark” skin, and then apply that skin to the application, thus offering dark mode support. These skins were often used for adding branding colors. The group of resources that allow this customization is called “skin”. WPF included ways to customize the look and feel of any component. So, how can we offer a “Dark” theme for our application? Fortunately, there are some alternatives for doing it and we will cover them in this post. Of course, some of them are darker than others, but they don’t exactly fit what one would think of as a dark theme. None of them sound like “Light” or “Dark”. Those are all the themes existing in Windows 7.

It is also possible to force the application to use a certain theme, regardless of what the OS user has chosen.īut if we see the original themes included in Windows Vista and Windows 7, we will find there are only 6 different themes included: Aero, Architecture, Characters, Landscapes, Nature, Scenes. WPF ThemesĪs such, WPF was created with these concepts in mind, so applications that use WPF controls will automatically use the theme that is currently set on the system to draw them. These versions of windows came with different themes, that basically changed the look and feel of the operative system’s graphic interface.īefore starting, let me mention the team that work on this, contributing as well as giving feedback: Ignacio Boada, Matías Nicolás Gesualdi, Gabriela Gutierrez, Nicolas Bello Camilletti, Mauro Krikorian and Juan Pablo Tomasi. WPF supports even Windows XP, but in reality it was created for Windows Vista, and later Windows 7. But there was a similar concept: the “themes”. Many websites have also started to offer these alternatives, and even web browsers have either built-in support, or addons to make them switch between dark and light mode.īut back at the time when Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) was created, this wasn’t so common. It is becoming more common for applications to have a “Dark” and a “Light” mode.
