---
title: "How to: Align Drawn Text"
ms.date: "03/30/2017"
dev_langs: 
  - "csharp"
  - "vb"
helpviewer_keywords: 
  - "text [Windows Forms], aligning"
  - "Windows Forms, aligning drawn text"
ms.assetid: 83c10a81-1a90-4b5c-98aa-2c6c4b280079
---
# How to: Align Drawn Text
When you perform custom drawing, you may often want to center drawn text on a form or control. You can easily align text drawn with the <xref:System.Drawing.Graphics.DrawString%2A> or <xref:System.Windows.Forms.TextRenderer.DrawText%2A> methods by creating the correct formatting object and setting the appropriate format flags.  
  
### To draw centered text with GDI+ (DrawString)  
  
1. Use a <xref:System.Drawing.StringFormat> with the appropriate <xref:System.Drawing.Graphics.DrawString%2A> method to specify centered text.  
  
     [!code-csharp[System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText#10](~/samples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Winforms/System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText/CS/Form1.cs#10)]
     [!code-vb[System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText#10](~/samples/snippets/visualbasic/VS_Snippets_Winforms/System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText/VB/Form1.vb#10)]  
  
### To draw centered text with GDI (DrawText)  
  
1. Use the <xref:System.Windows.Forms.TextFormatFlags> enumeration for wrapping as well as vertically and horizontally centering text with the appropriate <xref:System.Windows.Forms.TextRenderer.DrawText%2A> method.  
  
     [!code-csharp[System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText#20](~/samples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Winforms/System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText/CS/Form1.cs#20)]
     [!code-vb[System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText#20](~/samples/snippets/visualbasic/VS_Snippets_Winforms/System.Drawing.AlignDrawnText/VB/Form1.vb#20)]  
  
## Compiling the Code  
 The preceding code examples are designed for use with Windows Forms, and they require <xref:System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs> `e`, which is a parameter of <xref:System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventHandler>.  
  
## See also

- [How to: Draw Text with GDI](how-to-draw-text-with-gdi.md)
- [Using Fonts and Text](using-fonts-and-text.md)
- [How to: Construct Font Families and Fonts](how-to-construct-font-families-and-fonts.md)