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Add or modify an object

A Microsoft® Expression Blend™ object is a control that you have added to the artboard.

To add an object

You can add a control to the artboard by doing one of the following:

• Double-click on the control's icon in the Toolbox.
• Select the control's icon in the Toolbox and using your mouse to draw the control on the artboard.

You can not select items in the Toolbox unless you have a project open in Expression Blend.

To modify an object

After the control is added to the artboard, it becomes an object in your application on which you can perform the following modifications:

• Modify the object using the on-object handles that appear on the artboard when you mouse over the corners of the object's blue bounding box. These handles allow you to rotate , resize or flip , move , or add a corner radius to the object. If you do not see the on-object handles, click the Selection or Direct Selection tool, and then select the object.

  You can change the behavior of the on-object handles in the following ways: Hold the SHIFT key while resizing or scaling to constrain the aspect ratio. Hold the ALT key while resizing, scaling, or skewing to maintain the position of the center point (instead of maintaining the position of the opposite corner or edge). Hold the SHIFT key while rotating to snap every 15 degrees.

• Modify the object by selecting it under Objects and Timeline and then altering the properties in the Properties panel. You can use this method to change the appearance of the object, change its location, or bind data to specific properties on the object. For more information, see Essentials of appearance, The layout system, and Essentials of data in this User Guide.
• Animate the object. For more information, see Essentials of animation in this User Guide.
• Create a template for the object by selecting the object under Objects and Timeline, and then selecting Edit Style or Edit Control Parts (Template) under the Object menu.  This should only be done on simple control objects. For more information, see Control templates and Simple styles.

For more information about what you can do with objects, see the how-to topics that are listed in Working with objects.