Did You Know That... You can get sharp lines within a linear gradient?
This tip is thanks to Adam Nathan and his excellent book Silverlight 1.0 Unleashed
You can achieve the startling effect of introducing sharp lines within a linear gradient by adding two GradientStops at the same offset, using different, and reinforcing colors. In the following example, I show two polygons. The first uses a standard gradient brush, but in the second I introduce a new color (DarkBlue) which I place at the same GradientStop as Green and at the same GradientStop as Blue. The effect is quite unmistakable, as shown in the image.
<Canvas xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/client/2007"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<Polygon x:Name="PolyWithGradientBrush"
Points= "50,70, 100,70, 150,120, 150,170, 100,220,
50,220, 0,170, 0,120, 50,70"
StrokeThickness="2"
Stroke="Black" >
<Polygon.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush>
<GradientStop Color="Red"
Offset="0.0" />
<GradientStop Color="Orange"
Offset="0.3" />
<GradientStop Color="Green"
Offset="0.5" />
<GradientStop Color="Blue"
Offset="0.7" />
<GradientStop Color="Violet"
Offset="1.0" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Polygon.Fill>
</Polygon> <Polygon x:Name="PolyWithGradientBrushAndSharpLines"
Points="250,70, 300,70, 350,120, 350,170, 300,220,
250,220, 200,170, 200,120, 250,70"
StrokeThickness="2"
Stroke="Black">
<Polygon.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush>
<GradientStop Color="Red"
Offset="0.0" />
<GradientStop Color="Orange"
Offset="0.3" />
<GradientStop Color="Green"
Offset="0.5" />
<GradientStop Color="DarkBlue"
Offset="0.5" />
<GradientStop Color="DarkBlue"
Offset="0.7" />
<GradientStop Color="Blue"
Offset="0.7" />
<GradientStop Color="Violet"
Offset="1.0" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Polygon.Fill>
</Polygon>
</Canvas>
