CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netwpfresolution-independence
Hank
Hank

Reputation: 8477

Scale an entire WPF window

I have a WPF application that I am going to be demoing to an audience on a large, high-resolution projector, and I am worried that the application will be too small to see from afar.

Is there a simple way to make the ENTIRE application bigger (like the zoom slider in the WPF designer, that lets you zoom in?) I tried adding a layout transform to the Window in XAML, like so:

<Window.LayoutTransform>
    <ScaleTransform ScaleX="1.5" ScaleY="1.5" CenterX=".5" CenterY=".5" />
</Window.LayoutTransform>

which makes the window look bigger in the designer, but seems to have no effect on the running application.

I figure this should be dead simple with WPF's "resolution independence", high-tech text rendering, vector graphics, etc.

(I know I can use a screen zooming tool, but that's lame since it makes everything fuzzy, and always makes me dizzy when the presenter pans around the screen.)

Upvotes: 27

Views: 48454

Answers (3)

David Rettenbacher
David Rettenbacher

Reputation: 5120

Working Solution

At least in WPF .NET Core 3.1 Window supports SizeToContent="WidthAndHeight", it may work with older versions also as this property is supported since .NET Framework 3.0.
Combined with a fixed width/height of the content control and a ScaleTransform set on LayoutTransform, it scales the entire window.

Recipe

  • Window
    • SizeToContent: WidthAndHeight
  • Content
    • Fixed size
    • LayoutTransform: your custom ScaleTransform

Note

Setting SizeToContent by a style doesn't work (seems too late in the process).

Sample XAML

<Window x:Class="Some.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:Some"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="MainWindow" 
        SizeToContent="WidthAndHeight"
        >
    <Window.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <ScaleTransform x:Key="windowScaleTransform" ScaleX="0.5" ScaleY="0.5" />
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </Window.Resources>

    <Grid Width="1080" 
          Height="1920" 
          LayoutTransform="{StaticResource windowScaleTransform}"
          >
        <TextBlock>This window is scaled to 50%!</TextBlock>        
    </Frame>
</Window>

Upvotes: 5

Jeff T.
Jeff T.

Reputation: 2271

Using ViewBox would be the simplest way to make an entire application bigger, even the font size. Here you can find some discussion about ViewBox.

Upvotes: 5

Hank
Hank

Reputation: 8477

Just realized that putting the transform on the top-level control (a Grid, in my case), instead of on the window itself, has a similar effect to what I was looking for. The only difference is that the window size doesn't change so everything looks a little cramped, but that is easily remedied by making the window larger.

Upvotes: 13

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