Microsoft Expression Blend Features

Top 10 Features

1. SketchFlow revolutionizes the speed and efficiency you can prototype a vision for an application

   Rapidly demonstrate and iterate on ideas, application flows, screen layouts and functionality with your client using a SketchFlow prototype.

   

2. Enable interactivity without writing code

   Bring a project to life by adding interactivity, animation and transitions using drag and drop Behaviors, powerful building blocks of interactivity, without writing code.

   

3. Accelerate the design of effective UI with design time data

   Increases the speed and flexibility you can envision a user interface through the effective use of sample data. Sample data can be seamlessly switched to a live data feed at any time.

   

4. Utilize your design assets – Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator Import

   Extensive and flexible import capabilities from Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator ensure a smooth transition of visual design assets from traditional workflows.

5. Code editing with Intellisense

   A full code editor with XAML, C# and VB Intellisense enables you to streamline your workflow and edit code directly in Expression Blend 3.

6. Styling and Customization

   Powerful template editing capabilities allow a control to be rebuilt as a bespoke, reusable control designed to exactly fit its purpose. Retain absolute control over how user interface elements interact. Whether an element in a control snaps into position or glides, moves in a linear fashion or with inertia, you are able to quickly and accurately experiment with different interaction models before finely tuning and finalizing the appropriate user experience of the application.

7. Support for Silverlight and WPF

   Fully leverage the underlying platforms, Silverlight for cross browser, cross platform deployment and WPF for the ultimate Windows client experience.

8. Improved UI

   The design surface and user interface of Expression Blend has been updated to help you work faster, have greater freedom to experiment with ideas and be more productive. Direct selection of objects, improved gradient creation, application shortcuts, customization of panel layouts, improved animation control, annotations; every element has been improved to help the tool get out of the way of the creative process.

9. Integrate with Team Foundation Server

   Stay in sync with your team by taking advantage of Team Foundation Server integration in Expression Blend. Team Foundation Server ensures the designers work is safe, versioned, up to date and available to the whole team.

10. Workflow

    Designers and developers work seamlessly, sharing projects, code, and designs for better productivity and quality. This superior workflow is made possible through the use of XAML across Expression Blend, Visual Studio, Silverlight and WPF. XAML separates the code from the design and enables designers and developers to simultaneously iterate on both the design and code aspects of the application.

SketchFlow

Rapid prototyping and iteration of your ideas is now possible through SketchFlow. SketchFlow prototypes are fast, easy and cheap to build – cheap enough to be disposable, so you can explore many ideas during the design process.

The ability to rapidly prototype multiple branches through an application and propose multiple different functional layouts for screens and then deliver these as an interactive prototype is an exceptionally powerful way of engaging your client.

SketchFlow helps you keep the client focus on the overall solution rather than the detail early in the prototype stage by visualizing concepts and layouts using SketchFlow’s built in ‘sketchy’ styled controls.

The interactive prototypes created with SketchFlow help you find navigation and application flow issues early in the development cycle helping you and the client save time and money.

Evolve prototypes utilizing the full functionality of Expression Blend 3 – there is no limit to the scope of a prototype. From a simple wireframe to examples that are fully data driven and high fidelity, a prototyp

e can be as real as a project or client demands.

The ability to feedback via the SketchFlow player enables the client to feel empowered. Annotated feedback is viewable by the design and development teams directly in-context on the design surface in SketchFlow. This ensures the rapid iteration of ideas and open two way dialog between you and your client.

With SketchFlow and Expression Blend 3 concepts and ideas can live through the entire project, end to the end, helping reduce wasted time and resources and deliver applications that exceed your client’s expectations for design, interactivity and usability.

SketchFlow Top Features

• Effective Prototyping – quickly and efficiently experiment with the flow of an application UI, the layout of the individual screens and how the application will transition from one state of the application to another.
• Interactive Review – the SketchFlow player engages clients with working prototypes, collects annotations and feedback which get displayed directly on the design surface within Expression Blend.
• Powerful Documentation – Quickly create detailed project documentation for your prototypes.

RIA

In many industries, an effective user experience determines the difference between products that fail and those that do not. Rich Internet Applications are designed to provide a more effective and compelling user experience.

Expression® Studio and Silverlight® have been designed from the ground up to make it easier to succeed when creating these experiences by focusing on three key areas. ‘Going beyond HTML’ with richer graphics, layout, controls and video; ‘Playing well with Others’ because you need your application to work on many platforms and browsers and to connect to your existing HTML and backend web services; and enabling ‘Rapid Development’ using built in powerful .NET framework support and powerful design and development tools Expression Blend™ and Visual Studio.

Microsoft Expression Blend 3 Top Features

• Silverlight & .NET – Fully leverage the underlying platforms, Silverlight for cross browser, cross platform deployment and WPF for the ultimate Windows client experience.
• Utilize your design assets – Extensive and flexible import capabilities from Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator ensure a smooth transition of visual design assets from traditional workflows.
• Behaviors – Bring a project to life by adding interactivity, animation and transitions using Behaviors, powerful building blocks of interactivity, without writing code.

Expression Blend

Expression Blend is a powerful interaction design tool for both Silverlight and the .NET platforms.

Since its introduction Expression Blend has helped remove the barriers and bottlenecks that have traditionally existed during the design and development process and Blend 3 has evolved the workflow further, enhancing the designer’s productivity while enabling maximum creativity within the time constraints designers’ work under on a daily basis.

Visual designers can continue using the efficient workflows that you’ve built around Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, once imported your assets retain their full fidelity and editability. Rapidly turn static Photoshop graphics or visual elements drawn in Expression Blend into rich data bound controls such as a custom sliders, scrollbars and listboxes.

Developers can build applications on top of the powerful .NET platform, delivering applications created with one tool set that run across different browsers and platforms through Silverlight and WPF.

The ability to quickly bring an application and static graphics to life is powerful. Complex interactions can be encapsulated by developers into simple reusable elements called Behaviors that a designer can easily apply via drag and drop, without writing any code.

Building great applications requires both great design and great development for the application to reach its full potential. The powerful design and development workflow between Expression Blend and Visual Studio allow designers and developers to share projects, code, assets and designs for higher productivity and quality. No conversion, no recreation of graphics in code is needed, simply a silky smooth two-way workflow from designer to developer and back again.

This superior workflow is made possible through the use of XAML across Expression Blend, Visual Studio, Silverlight and WPF. XAML separates the code from the design and enables designers and developers to simultaneously iterate on both the design and code aspects of the application.

Powerful tools and streamlined workflows are more important today than ever. Expression Blend delivers a solution where your concepts and ideas can live through the entire project, end to the end, helping reduce wasted time and resources and deliver applications that exceed your client’s expectations for design, interactivity and usability.