Pen

Pen

marshal by reference, disposable

---

System.Drawing (system.drawing.dll)

sealed class

This class describes the kind of line that is drawn when using the Graphics.DrawXXX() members .

Pen s are resource-based entities, and it is therefore important to manage their lifetime carefully , calling Dispose() when you are finished with them, to release the resource to the system.

You can construct a Pen from a Color , Brush , or ( optionally ) a Width . If you use a Color , the line will be a solid, uniform color. If you use a Brush , you can take advantage of specific properties to render the line with a gradient or image texture. If you do not specify a width, the default value of 1 is used.

The width of the Pen is measured in pixels and is modified by any transforms that apply during the rendering process. As a geometric line has no intrinsic width, you can also specify an Alignment property, which determines where the pixels are rendered relative to the geometric line (see System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment for more information on this). The default is to center the pixels across this theoretical line.

You can choose how to render the beginning and end of the line by specifying the StartCap and EndCap properties. You can choose one of several different styles from the System.Drawing.Drawing2D.LineCap enumeration, including butt-ends, round-ends, and simple arrows. If the predefined styles are not suitable, you can specify a CustomStartCap or CustomEndCap with an instance of the System.Drawing.Drawing2D.CustomLineCap class. This allows you to render more complex arrows or markers. The endcap size is scaled by the line width, in addition to any transforms that may be applicable .

The Pen does not necessarily have to consist of a single, continuous stroke. You can specify one of a number of predefined dash styles, found in the System.Drawing.Drawing2D.DashStyle enumeration, or define a custom DashPattern by specifying an array of real numbers that represent the lengths of each dash segment. Note that these values are multiplied by the line width and scaled by any applicable transforms before they are used. If you wish, you can provide a DashOffset value, which determines how far along the line the dash pattern begins. You can also specify the style of the endcaps on the dash line segments using the DashCap property. This is similar to the LineCap properties for the line itself, but the System.Drawing.Drawing2D.DashCap enumeration offers a smaller set of cap styles.

In addition to the DashStyle , which determines a dash pattern along the length of the line, you can specify a CompoundArray , which specifies a pattern of parallel lines. Alternate elements in the array specify a gap-width, then a line-width, as a proportion of the whole line width. That is, a value of 0.2 in the array represents a line or gap that is 20% of the total width. Note that you are precluded from using a compound line if the Alignment property is set to PenAlignment.Inset .

Finally, if the pen is being used to render multiple line segments, you can specify the LineJoin style with one of the elements in the System.Drawing.Drawing2D.LineJoin enumeration. If you pick a mitered style, the MiterLimit property determines the point at which the join is clipped.

 public sealed class  Pen  : MarshalByRefObject :  System.Drawing.Internal.ISystemColorTracker, ICloneable, IDisposable {  // Public Constructors  public  Pen  (Brush  brush  );    public  Pen  (Brush  brush  , float  width  );    public  Pen  (Color  color  );    public  Pen  (Color  color  , float  width  );  // Public Instance Properties  public PenAlignment  Alignment  {set; get; }    public Brush  Brush  {set; get; }    public Color  Color  {set; get; }    public float[ ]  CompoundArray  {set; get; }    public CustomLineCap  CustomEndCap  {set; get; }    public CustomLineCap  CustomStartCap  {set; get; }    public DashCap  DashCap  {set; get; }    public float  DashOffset  {set; get; }    public float[ ]  DashPattern  {set; get; }    public DashStyle  DashStyle  {set; get; }    public LineCap  EndCap  {set; get; }    public LineJoin  LineJoin  {set; get; }    public float  MiterLimit  {set; get; }    public PenType  PenType  {get; }    public LineCap  StartCap  {set; get; }    public Matrix  Transform  {set; get; }    public float  Width  {set; get; }  // Public Instance Methods  public object  Clone  ();  // implements ICloneable  public void  Dispose  ();  // implements IDisposable  public void  MultiplyTransform  (System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix  matrix  );    public void  MultiplyTransform  (System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix  matrix  ,          System.Drawing.Drawing2D.MatrixOrder  order  );    public void  ResetTransform  ();    public void  RotateTransform  (float  angle  );    public void  RotateTransform  (float  angle  , System.Drawing.Drawing2D.MatrixOrder  order  );    public void  ScaleTransform  (float  sx  , float  sy  );    public void  ScaleTransform  (float  sx  , float  sy  , System.Drawing.Drawing2D.MatrixOrder  order  );    public void  SetLineCap  (System.Drawing.Drawing2D.LineCap  startCap  , System.Drawing.Drawing2D.LineCap  endCap  ,          System.Drawing.Drawing2D.DashCap  dashCap  );    public void  TranslateTransform  (float  dx  , float  dy  );    public void  TranslateTransform  (float  dx  , float  dy  , System.Drawing.Drawing2D.MatrixOrder  order  );  // Protected Instance Methods  protected override void  Finalize  ();  // overrides object  } 

Hierarchy

System.Object System.MarshalByRefObject Pen(System.Drawing.Internal.ISystemColorTracke, System.ICloneable , System.IDisposable)

Returned By

Multiple types

Passed To

Multiple types