TabControl question...

dont think thats going to work as ImageList returns Images() which i believe get rendered down as bitmaps() and dont draw the alpha channel properly..whenever i do it the way you suggested the transparency is missing, resulting in the icons drawing what *should* be the drop shadow with transparency with a harsh jagged black outline around them...so far the suggestion im proposing is to use ownerDraw and use gdi+'s DrawIcon() method and offset the text accordingly...sound like a decent proposal?

yea, makes perfect sense..but i did this yesterday and it worked fine...:
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public class Form1 : Form
{
private Rectangle tabArea;
private System.Windows.Forms.TabControl tabControl1;
private RectangleF tabTextArea;

public Form1()
{
TabControl tabControl1 = new TabControl();
TabPage tabPage1 = new TabPage();
TabPage tabPage2 = new TabPage();
TabPage tabPage3 = new TabPage();

// Allows access to the DrawItem event.
tabControl1.DrawMode = TabDrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed;

tabControl1.SizeMode = TabSizeMode.Fixed;
tabControl1.Controls.Add(tabPage1);
tabControl1.Controls.Add(tabPage2);
tabControl1.Controls.Add(tabPage3);
tabControl1.ItemSize = new Size(80, 20);
tabControl1.Location = new Point(25, 25);
tabControl1.Size = new Size(350, 100);
TabControl tc = new TabControl();
TabPage tp = new TabPage("hello");
TabPage tp2 = new TabPage("hello2");
TabPage tp3 = new TabPage("hello3");
tc.ItemSize = new Size(80,20);
tc.Location = new Point(25,200);
tc.Size = new Size(350,100);
tp.TabIndex=0;
tp2.TabIndex=1;
tc.Controls.Add(tp);
tc.Controls.Add(tp2);
tc.Controls.Add(tp3);
tabPage1.TabIndex = 0;
tabPage2.TabIndex = 1;
tabPage3.TabIndex = 2;
ClientSize = new Size(400, 500);
Controls.Add(tabControl1);
Controls.Add(tc);
// Binds the event handler 1DrawOnTab to the DrawItem event
// through the DrawItemEventHandler delegate.
tabControl1.DrawItem += new DrawItemEventHandler(DrawOnTab);
}

// Declares the event handler DrawOnTab which is a method that
// draws a string and Rectangle on the tabPage1 tab.
private void DrawOnTab(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e)
{
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.FromName("Control")),e.Bounds);
tabArea = e.Bounds;
tabTextArea = (RectangleF)e.Bounds;
Graphics g = e.Graphics;
Pen p = new Pen(Color.Blue);
Font font = new Font("Arial", 10.0f);
SolidBrush brush = new SolidBrush(Color.Red);
tabArea = new Rectangle(e.Bounds.Left+2,e.Bounds.Top+2,e.Bounds.Width-3,e.Bounds.Height-3);
Icon x = new Icon(this.Icon,16,16);
Rectangle iconRect = new Rectangle(e.Bounds.Left+2,e.Bounds.Top+2,e.Bounds.Height-3,e.Bounds.Width-3);
Rectangle textRect = new Rectangle(e.Bounds.Left+10,e.Bounds.Top+2,e.Bounds.Height-3,e.Bounds.Width-22);
g.DrawIconUnstretched(x,iconRect);
g.DrawString("tab" + e.Index,font,brush,e.Bounds.Left+20,e.Bounds.Top+1);
}

private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.tabControl1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TabControl();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// tabControl1
//
this.tabControl1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(208, 296);
this.tabControl1.Name = "tabControl1";
this.tabControl1.SelectedIndex = 0;
this.tabControl1.TabIndex = 0;
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleBaseSize = new System.Drawing.Size(5, 13);
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(648, 413);
this.Controls.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.Control[] {
this.tabControl1});
this.Name = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);

}

static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
}

am i missing something or is this not ownerdrawn?