Viewbox, WPF

A Viewbox resizes the control nested within it. With its Stretch attribute, we resize the element to fill the entire Viewbox.

Please drag a Viewbox to your Window—it will be nested within the default Grid. Now adjust its properties. Add a Stretch attribute.

Example

Here we adjust a Viewbox and its XAML. In the screenshot, the Stretch attribute is set to "Fill." So the text in the TextBox becomes distorted.

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication10.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Grid>
        <Viewbox HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="299"
                 Margin="10,10,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="497"
                 Stretch="Fill">
            <TextBox Height="23" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBox" Width="120"/>
        </Viewbox>
    </Grid>
</Window>

RenderTransform

A Viewbox is not the only way to scale and transform a control. You can add a RenderTransform element inside your control to specify how it is rendered.

Note, simple effects

The Viewbox is great for simple stuff. A DoubleAnimation element (along with a Storyboard) can be used for animating things.

WPF has strong support for transforming how elements, including controls, pictures and text, are rendered. And Viewbox is another way we exploit these capabilities.