FormattedText ft = new FormattedText("Hello", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, FlowDirection.LeftToRight, new Typeface("Verdana"), 100, Brushes.Black); double d = ft.MinWidth;Second line throws a ArgumentNullException. Stack trace shows MS.Internal.TextFormatterImp.VerifyTextFormattingArguments(.....) Value cannot be null. Parameter name: textSource. Works fine IF DrawingContext.DrawText(ft,0,0) is executed between the two lines.