docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/framework/winforms/advanced/how-to-set-pen-width-and-alignment.md

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How to: Set Pen Width and Alignment	03/30/2017	csharp vb	pens [Windows Forms], setting width pens [Windows Forms], setting alignment	a202af36-4d31-4401-a126-b232f51db581

How to: Set Pen Width and Alignment

When you create a xref:System.Drawing.Pen, you can supply the pen width as one of the arguments to the constructor. You can also change the pen width with the xref:System.Drawing.Pen.Width%2A property of the xref:System.Drawing.Pen class.

A theoretical line has a width of 0. When you draw a line that is 1 pixel wide, the pixels are centered on the theoretical line. If you draw a line that is more than one pixel wide, the pixels are either centered on the theoretical line or appear to one side of the theoretical line. You can set the pen alignment property of a xref:System.Drawing.Pen to determine how the pixels drawn with that pen will be positioned relative to theoretical lines.

The values xref:System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment.Center, xref:System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment.Outset, and xref:System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment.Inset that appear in the following code examples are members of the xref:System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment enumeration.

The following code example draws a line twice: once with a black pen of width 1 and once with a green pen of width 10.

To vary the width of a pen

• Set the value of the xref:System.Drawing.Pen.Alignment%2A property to xref:System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment.Center (the default) to specify that pixels drawn with the green pen will be centered on the theoretical line. The following illustration shows the resulting line.

  

  The following code example draws a rectangle twice: once with a black pen of width 1 and once with a green pen of width 10.

  [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.UsingAPen#41] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.UsingAPen#41]

To change the alignment of a pen

• Set the value of the xref:System.Drawing.Pen.Alignment%2A property to xref:System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PenAlignment.Center to specify that the pixels drawn with the green pen will be centered on the boundary of the rectangle.

  The following illustration shows the resulting rectangle:

  

  [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.UsingAPen#42] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.UsingAPen#42]

To create an inset pen

• Change the green pen's alignment by modifying the third statement in the preceding code example as follows:

  [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.UsingAPen#43] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.UsingAPen#43]

  Now the pixels in the wide green line appear on the inside of the rectangle as shown in the following illustration:

  

See also

• Using a Pen to Draw Lines and Shapes
• Graphics and Drawing in Windows Forms