How to: Apply Transforms to Text

Transforms can alter the display of text in your application. The following examples use different types of rendering transforms to affect the display of text in a TextBlock control.

Example

The following example shows text rotated about a specified point in the two-dimensional x-y plane.

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Example of text rotated 90 degrees

The following code example uses a RotateTransform to rotate text. An Angle value of 90 rotates the element 90 degrees clockwise.

<!-- Rotate the text 90 degrees using a RotateTransform. -->
<TextBlock FontFamily="Arial Black" FontSize="64" Foreground="Moccasin" Margin ="80, 10, 0, 0">
  Text Transforms
  <TextBlock.RenderTransform>
    <RotateTransform Angle="90" />
  </TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>

The following example shows the second line of text scaled by 150% along the x-axis, and the third line of text scaled by 150% along the y-axis.

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Example of scaled text

The following code example uses a ScaleTransform to scale text from its original size.

<!-- Scale the text using a ScaleTransform. -->
<TextBlock
  Name="textblockScaleMaster" 
  FontSize="32"
  Foreground="SteelBlue"
  Text="Scaled Text"
  Margin="100, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0">
</TextBlock>
<TextBlock
  FontSize="32"
  FontWeight="Bold" 
  Foreground="SteelBlue"
  Text="{Binding Path=Text, ElementName=textblockScaleMaster}"
  Margin="100, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1">
  <TextBlock.RenderTransform>
    <ScaleTransform ScaleX="1.5" ScaleY="1.0" />
  </TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>
<TextBlock
  FontSize="32"
  FontWeight="Bold" 
  Foreground="SteelBlue"
  Text="{Binding Path=Text, ElementName=textblockScaleMaster}"
  Margin="100, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="2">
  <TextBlock.RenderTransform>
    <ScaleTransform ScaleX="1.0" ScaleY="1.5" />
  </TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>

Note:
Scaling text is not the same as increasing the font size of text. Font sizes are calculated independently of each other in order to provide the best resolution at different sizes. Scaled text, on the other hand, preserves the proportions of the original-sized text.

The following example shows text skewed along the x-axis.

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Example of skewed text

The following code example uses a SkewTransform to skew text. A skew, also known as a shear, is a transformation that stretches the coordinate space in a non-uniform manner. In this example, the two text strings are skewed -30° and 30° along the x-coordinate.

<!-- Skew the text using a SkewTransform. -->
<TextBlock
  Name="textblockSkewMaster" 
  FontSize="32"
  FontWeight="Bold" 
  Foreground="Maroon"
  Text="Skewed Text"
  Margin="125, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0">
  <TextBlock.RenderTransform>
    <SkewTransform AngleX="-30" AngleY="0" />
  </TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>
<TextBlock
  FontSize="32"
  FontWeight="Bold" 
  Foreground="Maroon"
  Text="{Binding Path=Text, ElementName=textblockSkewMaster}"
  Margin="100, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1">
  <TextBlock.RenderTransform>
    <SkewTransform AngleX="30" AngleY="0" />
  </TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>

The following example shows text translated, or moved, along the x- and y-axis.

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Example of translated text

The following code example uses a TranslateTransform to offset text. In this example, a slightly offset copy of text below the primary text creates a shadow effect.

<!-- Skew the text using a TranslateTransform. -->
<TextBlock
  FontSize="32"
  FontWeight="Bold" 
  Foreground="Black"
  Text="{Binding Path=Text, ElementName=textblockTranslateMaster}"
  Margin="100, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0">
  <TextBlock.RenderTransform>
    <TranslateTransform X="2" Y="2" />
  </TextBlock.RenderTransform>
</TextBlock>
<TextBlock
  Name="textblockTranslateMaster" 
  FontSize="32"
  FontWeight="Bold" 
  Foreground="Coral"
  Text="Translated Text"
  Margin="100, 0, 0, 0"
  Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0"/>

Note:
The DropShadowBitmapEffect provides a rich set of features for providing shadow effects. For more information, see How to: Create Text with a Shadow.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Apply Animations to Text