--- ---

This is more an aesthetical feature but you can easily add fading in / out to your project with this simple snippet.

To fade in:

    var
      j : Integer;
    begin
      j := 0;
      while j < 255 do
       j := j + 1;
       Form1.AlphaBlendValue := j;
    end;

To fade out

    var
      j : Integer;
    begin
      j := 255;
      while j > 0 do
        j := j - 1;
        Form1.AlphaBlendValue := j;
      end;
    end;

You could refactor this code to work with a timer rather than using a loop.

Code slightly modified and corrected by Peter Johnson.