Customize Themes

Jan 16, 2026

Use any of the following approaches to customize themes.

Palettes

Create a new theme with a custom palette and apply the theme to an application.

The following code sample creates a new custom palette, applies it to the Office2016ColorfulSE theme, and uses the palette in an application:

C#
VB.NET

csharp

var custompalette = new ThemePalette("CustomPalette");
custompalette.SetColor("Foreground", (Color)ColorConverter.ConvertFromString("#FFFF7200"));
custompalette.SetColor("Backstage.Focused", Colors.White);
var customtheme = Theme.CreateTheme(custompalette, Theme.Office2016ColorfulSE);
Theme.RegisterTheme(customtheme);
ApplicationThemeHelper.ApplicationThemeName = customtheme.Name;

Dim custompalette = New ThemePalette("CustomPalette")
custompalette.SetColor("Foreground", ColorConverter.ConvertFromString("#FF015C9F"))
custompalette.SetColor("Backstage.Focused", Colors.White)
Dim customtheme = Theme.CreateTheme(custompalette, Theme.Office2016ColorfulSE)
Theme.RegisterTheme(customtheme)
ApplicationThemeHelper.ApplicationThemeName = customtheme.Name

You can use this approach only for the Palette Themes.

WPF Theme Designer

The WPF Theme Designer is a standalone tool that allows you to modify and create new themes based on built-in DevExpress WPF Application Themes. You can customize a theme with one of the following ways:

Create a new theme assembly and use it in an application (see Get Started with the WPF Theme Designer).
Export the current Palette Theme‘s palette to a .cs file and use the created class in an application.