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This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective. |
- This article or section documents an outdated version of Scratch (version 1.4). For this article in the current version (version 3.0), see Paint Editor (3.0). For this article in Scratch 2.0, see Paint Editor (2.0).
The Scratch 1.4 Paint Editor is a bitmap image editor. Many Scratchers create their own sprites, costumes and backgrounds using it. Those images can be used in many ways, each having its own impact on its project. This is one of the things that makes Scratch different from other programming tools, as most do not provide a built-in image creator.
Tools
Drawing and Coloring Tools
The Scratch Paint Editor contains the following tools for drawing and coloring:
Color Palette
There are 2 color palettes, and each of them lets you select a color. The first color palette (on the left) is a 64-color color palette. In that palette, there are different shades of red going down the first column, different shades of orange going down the second column, different shades of yellow going down the third, different shades of green going down the fourth, different shades of aqua down the fifth, different shades of blue down the sixth, different shades of purple down the seventh, different shades of pink down the eighth, different shades of black/white going across the bottom row, and the transparent color in the bottom-right corner. The second palette (on the right) is an RGB palette with 65,536 different colors, and it provides a higher variety of colors than the first palette. Below the palette on the right, there is a slider that allows you to set your color to a shade between black and white.
- Paintbrush — allows for freehand painting using current foreground color
- Eraser — erase the area you brushed over — works as a brush colored with the checkered background
- Fill tool — fill areas with color or gradient
- Rectangle tool — draw rectangles or squares — can choose from an outlined or a filled image
- Ellipse tool — create an ellipse or circle — can choose from an outlined or a filled image
- Line tool — draw lines
- Eyedropper — select a color that is in the picture, or select a color from the color palette
- Switch colors — switch between the two colors in your palette
- Stamp tool — selects part of the picture and allows you to repeatedly copy it
Fill Tool Modes
- Solid mode is the same color filled across another hue until it reaches a different colored line.
- The Gradient tool chooses both stored colors and forms a gradient that changes from one color to another. You can use horizontal, vertical, or rotosymmetric, or "circle" gradients. Click the color you're using, near the bottom-left corner, to change the gradient.
Brush Size
Some of the drawing tools contain an extra option that allows a user to manipulate the tool's size. This option can be found under Paintbrush, Eraser tool, and Line Tool.
Both Paintbrush and Line Tool use the same brush size — selecting the brush size in one of the two tools will cause a change in brush size of the other tool. The brush size for Paintbrush and Line Tool also affects the brush size of Ellipse and Rectangle Tool.
The brush size of Eraser is independent of the other given tools.
Image Manipulation Tools
The Scratch Paint Editor contains the following tools for manipulating parts or the whole current image in the Paint Editor:
- Clear — clears the entire canvas
- Flip horizontally — mirror-reverses whole image or selected part of image
- Flip vertically — reverses whole image or selected part of image upside down
- Shrink — makes the current image or selected part of image smaller by 10%
- Grow — makes the whole image larger or selected part of the image larger by 10%
- Rotate clockwise — rotates whole image or selected part of image clockwise 30°
- Rotate counter-clockwise — rotate whole image or selected part of image counter-clockwise 30°
- Selection tool — selects a portion of the screen for you to move, grow, flip, delete, or rotate
- Text tool — allows you to add text to your sprite in a separate image layer
- Import — import an image file to your editor (the imported file is automatically centered in the canvas)
- Undo - reverses last several actions performed in paint editor.
- Redo — performs last action removed by an undo
- Set costume center — allows the user to manipulate official center (or rotation offset) of the sprite image
- Zoom in — see your picture closer up
- Zoom out — see your picture further away
Tricks
- Main article: Paint Editor Tricks
- If you Shift-click the size buttons, you can choose how much you want the costume's size to change. This can be useful for small changes in size.
- If you Shift-click the rotate buttons, you can choose how far you want the costume to rotate. This can be useful for small changes in rotation.
- If you hold Shift while using the line tool, the line you draw will stay horizontal or vertical (depending on how you make the line point).
- If you hold Shift while using the rectangle or ellipse tool, the shapes you draw will have the same height and width, creating a perfect square or circle.
- To copy part of an image, select part of it with the selection tool, then press Ctrl + C. (Like many other programs this is a shortcut to copy.) Move the created selection to your desired location. To paste, click outside the selection, or change to a different tool.
