Chapter 1. Visual Basic Graphics Programming

When my editor Bob Elliott asked me if I wanted to write a Wrox Blox about .NET graphics, I felt like a kid in a candy shop! Where should I start? Should I gorge myself on image processing? Or pace myself and work slowly through an assortment of chocolate-covered pens and brushes? Perhaps the metaphor is a bit strained, but .NET provides so many graphics tools that it's hard to decide where to start and where to stop. There are so many interesting tools and techniques that there's no way to cover everything in depth in a single Wrox Blox.

To make this as useful as possible to you, I'll cover an assortment of the topics that are most useful in Visual Studio applications. I'll provide enough information to get you going, and I'll even describe some of the more advanced tools such as PathGradientBrushes and custom line end caps. Since I won't be able to cover every tool and technique in as much depth as I would like, at some point you'll need to strike out on your own and do some additional research on the Web. If you get stuck on an advanced topic, or if you have questions or comments about the material in this Wrox Blox, e-mail me at RodStephens@vb-helper.com, and I'll try to give you some pointers.