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Docs > WPF Theme Designer > Edit a Theme in XAML
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V18.2
WPF Theme Designer
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Edit a Theme in XAML
Edit Palette Colors
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Edit a Theme in XAML

  • 2 minutes to read

The Theme Designer allows you to customize a theme, create or edit templates and styles, and assign a theme’s colors to elements. You can edit source files in the Theme Designer’s Code View or an external text editor.

Find an Element in XAML

  • Use the Search Bar in the Solution Explorer window to search through source files.

    Solution Window

  • Use the View in XAML tool to find an element in a XAML file. Enable View in XAML, hold Ctrl+Shift and left-click an element in the Preview Window. The Theme Designer highlights the color value in the Code View window.

  • Right-click an item in the Individual Colors window and select Navigate to XAML to navigate to the line where this element is declared.

Use Code View to Change a Palette Color in a XAML File

Follow the steps below to use the Code View window to change an element’s colors:

  1. Build your theme if it is not built yet.
  2. Use the View in XAML tool to find the element’s declaration.
  3. The $ sign before the color value means that the color is bound to the theme’s palette. Enter the color’s name after the $ sign to change this element’s color.
  4. Click Save in the Ribbon or use the Ctrl+S key combination to save the file. The Theme Designer applies the changes to your theme and updates the Preview window.

The following animation illustrates how to use the Code View window to change an element’s palette colors:

View-in-XAML-Gif

Important

Theme elements have the auto-generated cs:id attribute. This attribute is required for update. Do not copy or edit it. This leads to color binding errors.

Open a Theme XAML File in an External Text Editor

You can open theme source files in an external text editor. Right-click a XAML file in the Solution Explorer window and select Show in explorer to navigate to this file’s folder in the Windows File Explorer. Open the file in an external text editor.

Solution Window

Note

If you modify any file(s) opened in the Theme Desinger in an external application, the Theme Designer asks you to reload the file(s).

Open a Theme Solution in Microsoft Visual Studio

You can edit a theme solution in Microsoft Visual Studio. The theme solution (.sln) file is in the Your_Theme_Folder\.td\Sources folder.

Note

Visual Studio cannot build theme solutions. Use the Theme Designer to build a theme and preview theme changes.