Alpha Blending and Background Images

Since version 6, the ExpressBars Suite supports alpha channels in 32-bit images.

With this technique, edges look much smoother, which improves element appearance.

If you plan to use transparent images or images with alpha channel in your applications, you need to know the following:

Blending is applied to images assigned either via the Glyph property, or using the TcxImageList component.
Images of BMP and PNG formats are supported.
Non-transparent background of an item image is automatically transformed into transparent (if the TdxBarImageOptions.UseLeftBottomPixelAsTransparent property is set to True ).

Alpha blending management

The following API allows you to control some aspects of alpha blending for a toolbar/menu system:

Member	Description
TdxBar.AlphaBlendValue	Specifies a floating toolbar’s transparency
TdxBarImageOptions.ImageListBkColor	Specifies the transparent color of images within the bar manager’s image lists.
TdxBarImageOptions.UseLeftBottomPixelAsTransparent	Specifies whether the color of the image’s bottom-left pixel is not rendered on the entire image.
TcxImageList.AlphaBlending	Specifies whether alpha channel information is used to draw images.