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winformscontrolstransparencybackcolor

How to achieve a transparent BackColor on an original WinForms control?

I'm about to lose my mind here.
Why won't the checkbox control blend with what's behind it?
The question applies to all WinForms controls, but I'm using this as an example.

A picture is worth a thousand words:

alt text

And a few more words:
What's behind the CheckBox are colored PictureBoxes and a Button.
The CheckBox's BackColor is set to Transparent. But somehow it decides that that means it should share the BackColor of the containing Form (is that its idea of the illusion of transparency?).

Is this not possible in WinForms? I could swear I did this before.

UPDATE:
I just tried this:
On that form, set the CheckBox's BackColor to Transparent, then change the BackColor of the containing Form to some other color, and the CheckBox will match that BackColor. What the.......?

Solution

  • Bob Powell has written an excellent article about transparent controls. Check it out:

    https://web.archive.org/web/20141227200000/http://bobpowell.net/transcontrols.aspx