Introducing Expression Blend

Posted by: Suprotim Agarwal , on 6/17/2007, in Category Expression Blend
Views: 43131
Abstract: Microsoft Expression Blend is a professional design tool offered by Microsoft to create rich WPF applications. In this article, we will take a brief overview of the features and prerequisites of Expression Blend.

Microsoft® Expression Blend™ (formerly known as Expression Interactive Designer) is a professional design tool offered by Microsoft to create highly interactive media rich WPF applications. The tool blurs the distinction between desktop and web applications to provide a better UX (user experience) and high productivity.

Why Do I Use Expression Blend  

Blend provides the best of desktop and web applications by blending content, media and text to create compelling Live Windows Experiences. Some features of Blend are:

·         Support for 3D and media types, to incorporate vector art, text, video, audio, images and real-time animation tools. 

·         Real-time modern visual interface to build complicated layouts. 

·         Ability to integrate data sources and import external resources. 

·         Fully customizable and reusable controls. 

·         Efficient collaboration with Visual Studio 2005 to share projects and allow designers and developers to work efficiently as a team. 

 

System Requirements   

The minimum requirements for Expression Blend are as follows :

·         Operating System:  Windows XP  SP2 / Windows Vista 

·         Processor: 1.0 GHZ Intel or AMD processor with MMX or equivalent

·         Memory: Minimum 512 MB RAM (1 GB is recommended) 

·         HDD: 350 MB 

·         Video Card : Graphic processor with DirectX® capability 

·         Display: 1024 * 768 monitor resolution with 24-bit color 

 Downloading and Installing Expression Blend   

 

Let us take a look of how we can download and install Expression Blend. To do so, browse to the url

http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/download.aspx?key=blend.

Expression Blend Installation Location

As shown above, the installation is shown for both Vista and XP. When installing on XP, you will need to install .NET Framework 3.0 which is otherwise natively integrated with the Windows Vista OS.

Note : In order to edit code behind file (.cs or .vb), you will need Visual Studio 2005 installed on your machine. Expression Blend does not provide the feature of editing code behind files.  

Clicking on the ‘Download and install Expression Blend (25.5 MB)’ link, takes you to the download page as shown below.  

This page also contains the Installation Instructions and System Requirements along with a few other useful links.

Well that is it. The installation is pretty simple and once you have Expression Blend installed, let us dive into this wonderful tool to create our next-gen UX applications.

Conclusion   

That was a whirlwind tour of getting started with Expression Blend. In the coming articles, we will explore the interface of Expression Blend. We will also dive into the details of creating projects and utilizing the tools provided in Blend to create the next generation user interface.

 

 

 

 

 

This article has been editorially reviewed by Suprotim Agarwal.

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Author
Suprotim Agarwal, MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSE, is the founder of DotNetCurry, DNC Magazine for Developers, SQLServerCurry and DevCurry. He has also authored a couple of books 51 Recipes using jQuery with ASP.NET Controls and The Absolutely Awesome jQuery CookBook.

Suprotim received the prestigious Microsoft MVP award for 17 consecutive years, until he resigned from the program in 2025. In a professional capacity, he is the CEO of A2Z Knowledge Visuals Pvt Ltd, a digital group that offers Digital Marketing and Branding services to businesses, both in a start-up and enterprise environment.

Get in touch with him on Twitter @suprotimagarwal or at LinkedIn



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