Transparent backgrounds of Labels and Pictureboxes in C#

In C# 2008 Windows Forms, the background of a Picturebox or Label object cannot be made transparent by default. This causes problems like those displayed in this before/after comparison. 

While it is possible to fix this problem by overriding the OnPaint method with Alpha Blending, or using GDI+ Graphics objects, or drawing directly on the form, I am not satisfied with those solutions. My preferences lean toward highly maintainable code. Where workarounds are necessary, I prefer those workarounds to be as straightforward as possible.

In this case, the picturebox and label objects do not use their own .BackgroundImage; they use the .BackgroundImage of their .Parent object. Unfortunately, they also take their .Location origin from the .Parent object instead of the form. In my case the origin was only 10 pixels off from its initial value. With a minor concession to the locations of my pictureboxes and labels, I worked around the transparency issue by placing this code into the form constructor:

// Make background of pictures and labels over the metal gradient image transparent.

pictCmsSetLED.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

pictManufactureDateLED.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

pictPartNumberLED.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

pictReleaseCertificateLED.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

pictSerialNumberLED.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

lblSerialNumber.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

lblPartNumber.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

lblCmsSet.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

lblReleaseCertificate.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

lblManufactureDate.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

lblManufactureDateMMYYYY.Parent = pictMetalGradient;

Inspired by:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5522337/c-sharp-picturebox-transparent-background-doesnt-seem-to-work

A similar workaround which also addresses positioning via code:

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public Form1() { 
        InitializeComponent(); 
        var pos = this.PointToScreen(label1.Location); 
        pos = pictureBox1.PointToClient(pos); 
        label1.Parent = pictureBox1; 
        label1.Location = pos; 
        label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent; 
    } 

The road not travelled, but nonetheless interesting:

http://www.daniweb.com/software-development/csharp/threads/280344/transparent-picturebox

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa452850.aspx

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/netfxcompact/thread/9aeab184-2a45-4bd4-8157-2a629523e80b/

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/vssmartdevicesvbcs/thread/a3f2cb62-4473-44d3-ad94-04f69ed52758/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/wk5b13s4(v=vs.71).aspx

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/csharplanguage/thread/071adb8f-3616-46e6-aecd-1b1f46e61df6