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Objects overview

An object in Microsoft® Expression Blend™ is anything that you can place on the artboard, such as layout panels, shapes, text, images, buttons, control templates, and any other user interface (UI) design element.

Each time you create a new object—whether it is text, a path, a vector object, or anything else—that object sits on top of a stack of objects. With any two objects, one object is always higher in the stack on the artboard than the other object, and the top of the stack is the front-most object on the artboard, overlapping objects that are lower in the stack.

Z order of objects

1 Initial set of objects in Z order
2 Bring Forward in the Z order
3 Bring to Front of the Z order

In another example as shown in the image below, the Ellipse object is higher in the stack than the Rectangle object, which on the artboard means that the Ellipse appears in front of the Rectangle.

Stack order of objects on the artboard

Stack order of objects on the artboard.

You can modify objects in many ways by using on-object handles to resize, move, rotate, flip, or skew the objects, or by using the Properties panel where you can enter precise values for size, position, and rotation. For more information, see Add or modify objects, or see the how-to topics that are listed in Working with objects.