How to make a strong halo

Question

I am able to put a halo around an UI element like a textbox. The problem is that it nearly is invisible.

I do it with

Effect glowEffect = new DropShadowEffect
{
    BlurRadius = 20,
    Color = Colors.Gold,
    ShadowDepth = 10,
    Opacity = 1,
    RenderingBias = RenderingBias.Quality
};

and apply it with

tbxSearch.GotFocus += (sendGF, argGF) => { (sendGF as TextBox).Effect = glowEffect; };
tbxSearch.LostFocus += (sendLF, argLF) => { (sendLF as TextBox).Effect = null; };

I tried changing all the parameters but nearly nothing changed. Thanks

Answer 1

I have not found a better solution than:

1. removing the UI element
2. adding several UI element of the same type, same properties, same halo
3. re-adding the UI element.

That can also be done in a rountine.

public void Add(TextBox tbx, int num)
{
    var glowEffectRed = new DropShadowEffect
    {
        BlurRadius = 50,
        Color = new Color { A = 255, R = 255, G = 0, B = 0 },
        ShadowDepth = 0,
        Opacity = 1,
        RenderingBias = RenderingBias.Performance
    };
    tbx.Effect = glowEffectRed;
    var grd = (Grid)tbx.Parent;
    grd.Children.Remove(tbx);
    for (int iii = 0; iii < num; iii++)
    {
        var tbxAdd = new TextBox();
        tbxAdd.Effect = glowEffectRed;
        Grid.SetRow(tbxAdd, Grid.GetRow(tbx));
        tbxAdd.Height = tbx.ActualHeight;
        tbxAdd.Width = tbx.ActualWidth;
        grd.Children.Add(tbxAdd);   
    }
    grd.Children.Add(tbx);
}

and then called with the number of times the effect has to be re-applied

Add(tbx1, 1);
Add(tbx2, 5);
Add(tbx3, 10);
Add(tbx4, 15);

If used statically this might work. If the effect has to be dinamic this can surely lead to performance problems.