public class GraphicElement : Element, System.ComponentModel.INotifyPropertyChanged, System.IComparable, System.IEquatable<Element>  

//This example references a graphic element on a layout and sets its Transparency property (which is not available in the managed API)
//by accessing the element's CIMGraphic.

//Added references
using ArcGIS.Core.CIM;                             //CIM
using ArcGIS.Desktop.Core;                         //Project
using ArcGIS.Desktop.Layouts;                      //Layout class
using ArcGIS.Desktop.Framework.Threading.Tasks;    //QueuedTask

public class GraphicElementExample1
{
  public static Task<bool> UpdateElementTransparencyAsync(string LayoutName, string ElementName, int TransValue)
  {
    //Reference a layoutitem in a project by name
    LayoutProjectItem layoutItem = Project.Current.GetItems<LayoutProjectItem>().FirstOrDefault(item => item.Name.Equals(LayoutName));
    if (layoutItem == null)
      return Task.FromResult(false);

    return QueuedTask.Run<bool>(() =>
    {
      //Reference and load the layout associated with the layout item
      Layout lyt = layoutItem.GetLayout();

      //Reference a element by name
      GraphicElement graElm = lyt.FindElement(ElementName) as GraphicElement;
      if (graElm == null)
        return false;

      //Modify the Transparency property that exists only in the CIMGraphic class.
      CIMGraphic CIMGra = graElm.GetGraphic() as CIMGraphic;
      CIMGra.Transparency = TransValue;             //e.g., TransValue = 50
      graElm.SetGraphic(CIMGra);

      return true;
    });
  }
}

//This example finds a layout element by name and clones it a specified number of times and applies an accumlative offset for each 
//cloned element.

//Added references
using ArcGIS.Core.CIM;                             //CIM
using ArcGIS.Desktop.Core;                         //Project
using ArcGIS.Desktop.Layouts;                      //Layout class
using ArcGIS.Desktop.Framework.Threading.Tasks;    //QueuedTask

public class GraphicElementExample2
{
  public static Task<bool> CloneElementAsync(string LayoutName, string ElementName, double offset, int numCopies)
  {
    //Reference a layoutitem in a project by name
    LayoutProjectItem layoutItem = Project.Current.GetItems<LayoutProjectItem>().FirstOrDefault(item => item.Name.Equals(LayoutName));
    if (layoutItem == null)
      return Task.FromResult(false);

    return QueuedTask.Run<bool>(() =>
    {
      //Reference and load the layout associated with the layout item
      Layout lyt = layoutItem.GetLayout();

      //Reference a element by name
      GraphicElement graElm = lyt.FindElement(ElementName) as GraphicElement;
      if (graElm == null)
        return false;

      //Loop through the number of copies, clone, and set the offsets for each new element
      double orig_offset = offset;
      while (numCopies != 0)
      {
        GraphicElement cloneElm = graElm.Clone("Clone");
        cloneElm.SetX(cloneElm.GetX() + offset);
        cloneElm.SetY(cloneElm.GetY() - offset);
        offset = offset + orig_offset;
        numCopies = numCopies - 1;
      }

      return true;
    });
  }
}