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Asked: 2026-06-05T17:25:04+00:00

I am trying to create my own Native win32 C++ Checkbox that can have

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I am trying to create my own Native win32 C++ Checkbox that can have a transparent background. The idea is to make the window/widget look exactly like the Windows XP style checkbox except that it can have a transparent background.

My Problem: When I draw the tick for my textbox, the ‘tick’ line looks pixelated and jagged – see my picture below for how it looks. It does not look smooth like the actual checkbox tick.

The left checkbox is mine, the right is the default windows one I am trying to replicate:
enter image description here

How can I make my tick smooth and not pixelated. What is a Win32 GDI function I could use to draw the tick. Should I use a bitmap image instead of drawing the tick in GDI? Currently I use PolylineTo() to draw the tick. Maybe I should use PolylineToEx()?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Code for drawing the tick(this code is in WM_PAINT):

 HGDIOBJ hPen      = CreatePen(PS_SOLID, 2, RGB(45,45,45)); //ExtCreatePen(PS_COSMETIC, dwPenStyle[i], 1, &lb, 0, NULL); 
 HGDIOBJ hPenOld   = SelectObject(hdc, hPen); 
 POINT tickPnts[3] = {{3,((height-CHECK_RECTH)/2)+6}, {5,((height-CHECK_RECTH)/2)+9}, {9,((height-CHECK_RECTH)/2)+2}};
 MoveToEx(hdc, tickPnts[0].x, tickPnts[0].y, NULL);
 PolylineTo(hdc, tickPnts, 3);
 SelectObject(hdc, hPenOld); 
 DeleteObject(hPen);
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Windows uses the Marlett font to render checkbox ticks, the window frame buttons and other scalable UI elements. You can render the font with anti-aliasing to get smooth edges.

    (This certainly used to be true anyway; I don’t know for sure that the new window frame buttons in Windows 7 use the font, but the font still exists.)

    GDI doesn’t do any anti-aliasing, which is why your lines look jagged.

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