Getting Started with WPF Skin Manager

10 Jul 202516 minutes to read

The SfSkinManager helps you to apply the themes for both Syncfusion^® and Framework controls.

Themes list

The following table lists the available themes as well as the assembly or NuGet reference to be used in the application.

Apply a theme to a control

Add SkinManager reference

There are several ways to include the Syncfusion^® SfSkinManager reference in the Visual Studio WPF project. The following steps will help you to add XAML Code:

1) Add a reference to the Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF assembly or Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF nuget package to the project.
2) Import Syncfusion^® WPF schema http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf or the assembly namespace Syncfusion.SfSkinManager into a XAML page.

<Window
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:syncfusionskin ="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"
    xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf" />

Add a theme assembly reference

The SfSkinManager supports to apply themes listed in themes list. To use a theme in the application, add Reference to the corresponding theme assembly. For example, to apply Windows11Light theme, attach Syncfusion.Themes.Windows11Light.Wpf assembly or NuGet reference to the project. While applying a theme to a Window, SkinManager inherits the same theme to all the elements inside the Window.

Set theme

Themes will be applied to both Syncfusion^® and Framework controls by using Theme attached property of the SfSkinManager. Also Ensure that the ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle property is set to true before calling the SetTheme method

NOTE

While applying the theme to a Window or any element, SkinManager inherits the same theme to all its descendants.

<Window x:Class="DataGrid_Themes.MainWindow"
                             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
                             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
                             xmlns:local="clr-namespace:DataGrid_Themes"
                             xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf"
							 xmlns:syncfusionskin ="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"
                             Icon="App.ico"
                             Title="Getting Started"
                             WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen"
                             syncfusionskin:SfSkinManager.Theme="{syncfusionskin:SkinManagerExtension ThemeName=Windows11Light}">

    <Grid DataContext="{StaticResource viewmodel}">
        <syncfusion:SfDataGrid Name="sfgrid" Margin="5"
                                       AutoGenerateColumns="False"
                                       AllowDraggingColumns="True"
                                       AllowEditing="True"
                                       LiveDataUpdateMode="AllowDataShaping"
                                       AllowFiltering="True"
                                       HeaderRowHeight="26"
                                       SelectionMode="Extended"
                                       ColumnSizer="Auto"
                                       ItemsSource="{Binding EmployeeDetails}">
        </syncfusion:SfDataGrid>
    </Grid>
<Window>

SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true; 
SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("Windows11Light"));

NOTE

View sample in GitHub.

Apply a theme globally in the application

To apply a theme globally in an application, set the theme using ApplicationTheme attached property of the SfSkinManager in the constructor of your MainWindow. This ensures that the selected theme is automatically applied to any new windows when they are loaded.

If you set the theme using the ApplicationTheme attached property of SfSkinManager, you don’t need to set it again using the Theme attached property in xaml or by using SetTheme in code behind.

Also ensure that the ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle property is set to true

NOTE

The SfSkinManager.ApplicationTheme static property should be set before InitializeComponent of the window or during application start up, when applying for multiple windows.

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
       SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;
       SfSkinManager.ApplicationTheme = new Theme("Windows11Light");
       InitializeComponent();
    }
}

Customization

Customize theme colors and fonts in the application

To customize the theme colors and fonts in the application, call RegisterThemeSettings method and pass the theme name and respective theme setting instance as parameters.

Each theme supported by the theme studio has its own theme settings class, which begins with the prefix of the themes’ name. For example, if the theme name is Windows11Light, then there will be theme settings class called Windows11LightThemeSettings.

NOTE

Need to register theme settings before setting respective themes for window or control.

Please find the complete list of theme names, respective theme settings class, and supported palette.

Customize theme colors and fonts in the application

Windows11LightThemeSettings themeSettings = new Windows11LightThemeSettings();
themeSettings.PrimaryBackground = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red);
themeSettings.PrimaryForeground = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.AntiqueWhite); 
themeSettings.BodyFontSize = 15;
themeSettings.HeaderFontSize = 18;
themeSettings.SubHeaderFontSize = 17;
themeSettings.TitleFontSize = 17;
themeSettings.SubTitleFontSize = 16;
themeSettings.BodyAltFontSize = 15;
themeSettings.FontFamily = new FontFamily("Callibri");
SfSkinManager.RegisterThemeSettings("Windows11Light", themeSettings);
SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;
SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("Windows11Light"));

Customize theme colors using the predefined palette

Windows11LightThemeSettings themeSettings = new Windows11LightThemeSettings();
themeSettings.Palette = FluentPalette.PinkRed;
SfSkinManager.RegisterThemeSettings("Windows11Light", themeSettings);
SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;
SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("Windows11Light"));

NOTE

View sample in GitHub.

Styling with Dynamic Themes Using ThemeResource and ThemeKey

When a button is used in XAML, it automatically applies the base style associated with its control type. If you want to apply a different predefined style to the same target type (Button), you can use ThemeResource and ThemeKey to override the default appearance.ThemeKey identifies a specific resource, such as a style or brush, within the theme library. It is typically mapped to a visual element, like a button style or a background color.

To dynamically apply different brush keys (for properties such as Background, Foreground, etc.) or to reference alternative styles for the same Button type, use the following code in XAML

xmlns:sfskin="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"

Also, in your MainWindow constructor, set the ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle API to true

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
       SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;
       InitializeComponent();
    }
}

Applying Background Using ErrorBackground Brush:

Background="{sfskin:ThemeResource ThemeKey={sfskin:ThemeKey Key=ErrorBackground}}"

This sets the button’s background based on the themed ErrorBackground brush.

You can find the brushes for each theme in the Brushes.xaml file located in the Common folder after exporting theme project.

Applying Style Using WPFPrimaryButtonStyle:

Style="{sfskin:ThemeResource ThemeKey={sfskin:ThemeKey Key=WPFPrimaryButtonStyle}}"

This applies the WPFPrimaryButtonStyle to the button, overriding its default style.

You can retrieve the styles for specific controls from the Resource Key list according to your requirements.

In the example below, a ComboBox is used to toggle between the Windows11Light and Windows11Dark themes. Two buttons are displayed: one applies a different style (WPFPrimaryButtonStyle), while the other uses a different background brush (ErrorBackground).

<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" >
    <Button Content="OK" Height="30" Width="120" Margin="10" Background="{sfskin:ThemeResource ThemeKey={sfskin:ThemeKey Key=ErrorBackground}}"></Button>
    <Button Content="Cancel" Height="30" Width="120" Margin="10" Style="{sfskin:ThemeResource ThemeKey={sfskin:ThemeKey Key=WPFPrimaryButtonStyle}}"></Button>          
</StackPanel>

This creates two buttons styled dynamically based on the active theme. One reflects an error state background; the other adopts the primary button style.

Output Screenshots

Light Theme:

Dark Theme:

Resource Key List

Framework Controls

Syncfusion^® Controls

Apply themes to the controls derived from Syncfusion^® controls

To apply themes to a derived control using SfSkinManager, assign the base control type to the DefaultStyleKey property in the constructor of your derived control.Also ensure that the ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle property is set to true in the MainWindow Constructor.

<local:SfDataGridExt x:Name="grid"
                             AllowGrouping="True"
                             AutoGenerateColumns="False"
                             ItemsSource="{Binding EmployeeDetails}"
                             ShowGroupDropArea="True">
            <local:SfDataGridExt.Columns>
                <syncfusion:GridNumericColumn MappingName="EmployeeAge" />
                <syncfusion:GridTextColumn MappingName="EmployeeName" />
                <syncfusion:GridTextColumn MappingName="EmployeeGender" />
                <syncfusion:GridTextColumn AllowEditing="True" MappingName="Country" />
                <syncfusion:GridNumericColumn MappingName="EmployeeSalary" />
            </local:SfDataGridExt.Columns>
</local:SfDataGridExt>

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;
        InitializeComponent();
    }
    
}
public class SfDataGridExt : SfDataGrid
{
    public SfDataGridExt()
    {
        this.DefaultStyleKey = typeof(SfDataGrid);
    }
}

Apply customized theme from Theme Studio

Create custom themes by modifying the existing themes from Theme studio. To apply a custom theme in the application by using the following reference.

xmlns:syncfusion="http://schemas.syncfusion.com/wpf"
xmlns:syncfusionskin="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfSkinManager;assembly=Syncfusion.SfSkinManager.WPF"
syncfusionskin:SfSkinManager.Theme="{syncfusionskin:SkinManagerExtension ThemeName=Windows11LightYellow}"

SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("Windows11LightYellow"));

Apply custom style to active theme

You can customize the theme by setting the ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle property to true, which applies the theme based on each control’s default style.

SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;

NOTE

The SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle static property should be set before InitializeComponent of the window or during application start up.

Enabling this setting allows you to override default theme styles. Follow the steps below to implement this behavior:

Step 1: In your MainWindow constructor, set the ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle API to true:

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        SfSkinManager.ApplyThemeAsDefaultStyle = true;
        InitializeComponent();
    }
}

Step 2: Declare styles for the controls you wish to customize. Below is an example of a Button style override.

<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
    <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Blue" />
    <Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Berlin Sans FB Demi" />
</Style>

Step 3: You can now add controls to your XAML. The applied theme along with the custom style modifications will be applied to all instances of the target control type

<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <Button Content="Ok" Height="30" Width="120" Margin="10"></Button>
    <Button Content="Cancel" Height="30" Width="120" Margin="10"></Button> 
</StackPanel>

You can also change a theme dynamically with custom styles.

In the following example, a ComboBox is used to toggle between the Windows11Light and Windows11Dark themes. Here we customize the foreground color of the Button to red.

private void ComboBox_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
   switch (combo.SelectedIndex)
   {
      case 0: SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("Windows11Light"));
           break;
      case 1: SfSkinManager.SetTheme(this, new Theme("Windows11Dark"));
           break;                
    }
 }

At runtime, the applied theme along with any custom style modifications will reflect on the Button control

Output Screenshots

Light Theme:

Dark Theme:

Clearing SkinManager instance in an application

The SfSkinManager will hold some instances to use it further when applying the theme. However, this can be cleared using the function named Dispose(object), which must be called when the theme applied by SfSkinManager is to be cleared, as shown in the following code. Object refers to the element whose instance needs to be cleared.

private void Window_Closed(object sender, EventArgs e) 
{ 
   SfSkinManager.Dispose(this); 
}