Vertical Tab Control with horizontal text in Winforms

I don't know how robust this is and I can't claim to have created it but... http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/125792-how-to-make-vertical-tabs/

Here's a way of doing it.

So first we are going to change its alignment to Left, by setting the property:

Alignment = Left

If you have XP themes turned on then you may notice the weird layout of Tab Control. Don't worry we will make it fine.

As you may have noticed that Tabs are vertical, and our requirement is horizontal. So we can change the size of Tabs. But before we can do this we have to set the SizeMode property as,

SizeMode = Fixed

Now we can change the size by using the ItemSize property,

ItemSize = 30, 120 Width = 30 and Height = 120

After setting the Alignment = Left, Tab control rotates the Tabs which causes the Width and Height seem to be reversed. That is why when we increase Height, we see that width is increasing and when we increase width the height is effected.

Now Text will also be displaying, but vertically. Unfortunately there is no simple way to resolve this issue. For this purpose we have to write the Text by ourselves. To do this we will first set the DrawMode

DrawMode = OwnerDrawFixed

01

Private Sub TabControl1_DrawItem(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs) Handles TabControl1.DrawItem
    Dim g As Graphics
    Dim sText As String

    Dim iX As Integer
    Dim iY As Integer
    Dim sizeText As SizeF

    Dim ctlTab As TabControl

    ctlTab = CType(sender, TabControl)

    g = e.Graphics

    sText = ctlTab.TabPages(e.Index).Text
    sizeText = g.MeasureString(sText, ctlTab.Font)

    iX = e.Bounds.Left + 6
    iY = e.Bounds.Top + (e.Bounds.Height - sizeText.Height) / 2

    g.DrawString(sText, ctlTab.Font, Brushes.Black, iX, iY)
End Sub

This is the code for a custom tab control that I'm quite fond of. You will need to copy and paste this code into a new class then rebuild the project. You will see a new custom user control displayed in your toolbox.

    Imports System.Drawing.Drawing2D
Class DotNetBarTabcontrol
    Inherits TabControl

    Sub New()
        SetStyle(ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint Or ControlStyles.ResizeRedraw Or ControlStyles.UserPaint Or ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer, True)
        DoubleBuffered = True
        SizeMode = TabSizeMode.Fixed
        ItemSize = New Size(44, 136)
    End Sub
    Protected Overrides Sub CreateHandle()
        MyBase.CreateHandle()
        Alignment = TabAlignment.Left
    End Sub

    Function ToPen(ByVal color As Color) As Pen
        Return New Pen(color)
    End Function

    Function ToBrush(ByVal color As Color) As Brush
        Return New SolidBrush(color)
    End Function

    Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint(ByVal e As PaintEventArgs)
        Dim B As New Bitmap(Width, Height)
        Dim G As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(B)
        Try : SelectedTab.BackColor = Color.White : Catch : End Try
        G.Clear(Color.White)
        G.FillRectangle(New SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(246, 248, 252)), New Rectangle(0, 0, ItemSize.Height + 4, Height))
        'G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), New Point(Width - 1, 0), New Point(Width - 1, Height - 1))    'comment out to get rid of the borders
        'G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), New Point(ItemSize.Height + 1, 0), New Point(Width - 1, 0))                   'comment out to get rid of the borders
        'G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), New Point(ItemSize.Height + 3, Height - 1), New Point(Width - 1, Height - 1)) 'comment out to get rid of the borders
        G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), New Point(ItemSize.Height + 3, 0), New Point(ItemSize.Height + 3, 999))
        For i = 0 To TabCount - 1
            If i = SelectedIndex Then
                Dim x2 As Rectangle = New Rectangle(New Point(GetTabRect(i).Location.X - 2, GetTabRect(i).Location.Y - 2), New Size(GetTabRect(i).Width + 3, GetTabRect(i).Height - 1))
                Dim myBlend As New ColorBlend()
                myBlend.Colors = {Color.FromArgb(232, 232, 240), Color.FromArgb(232, 232, 240), Color.FromArgb(232, 232, 240)}
                myBlend.Positions = {0.0F, 0.5F, 1.0F}
                Dim lgBrush As New LinearGradientBrush(x2, Color.Black, Color.Black, 90.0F)
                lgBrush.InterpolationColors = myBlend
                G.FillRectangle(lgBrush, x2)
                G.DrawRectangle(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), x2)


                G.SmoothingMode = SmoothingMode.HighQuality
                Dim p() As Point = {New Point(ItemSize.Height - 3, GetTabRect(i).Location.Y + 20), New Point(ItemSize.Height + 4, GetTabRect(i).Location.Y + 14), New Point(ItemSize.Height + 4, GetTabRect(i).Location.Y + 27)}
                G.FillPolygon(Brushes.White, p)
                G.DrawPolygon(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), p)

                If ImageList IsNot Nothing Then
                    Try
                        If ImageList.Images(TabPages(i).ImageIndex) IsNot Nothing Then

                            G.DrawImage(ImageList.Images(TabPages(i).ImageIndex), New Point(x2.Location.X + 8, x2.Location.Y + 6))
                            G.DrawString("      " & TabPages(i).Text, Font, Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                        Else
                            G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, New Font(Font.FontFamily, Font.Size, FontStyle.Bold), Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                        End If
                    Catch ex As Exception
                        G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, New Font(Font.FontFamily, Font.Size, FontStyle.Bold), Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                    End Try
                Else
                    G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, New Font(Font.FontFamily, Font.Size, FontStyle.Bold), Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                End If

                G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(200, 200, 250)), New Point(x2.Location.X - 1, x2.Location.Y - 1), New Point(x2.Location.X, x2.Location.Y))
                G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(200, 200, 250)), New Point(x2.Location.X - 1, x2.Bottom - 1), New Point(x2.Location.X, x2.Bottom))
            Else
                Dim x2 As Rectangle = New Rectangle(New Point(GetTabRect(i).Location.X - 2, GetTabRect(i).Location.Y - 2), New Size(GetTabRect(i).Width + 3, GetTabRect(i).Height + 1))
                G.FillRectangle(New SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(246, 248, 252)), x2)
                G.DrawLine(New Pen(Color.FromArgb(170, 187, 204)), New Point(x2.Right, x2.Top), New Point(x2.Right, x2.Bottom))
                If ImageList IsNot Nothing Then
                    Try
                        If ImageList.Images(TabPages(i).ImageIndex) IsNot Nothing Then
                            G.DrawImage(ImageList.Images(TabPages(i).ImageIndex), New Point(x2.Location.X + 8, x2.Location.Y + 6))
                            G.DrawString("      " & TabPages(i).Text, Font, Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                        Else
                            G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, Font, Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                        End If
                    Catch ex As Exception
                        G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, Font, Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                    End Try
                Else
                    G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, Font, Brushes.DimGray, x2, New StringFormat With {.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .Alignment = StringAlignment.Center})
                End If
            End If
        Next

        e.Graphics.DrawImage(B.Clone, 0, 0)
        G.Dispose() : B.Dispose()
    End Sub
End Class