Scratch/Lessons/Making Sprites

Starting Scratch

When you first start Scratch, or press the "new" button to begin a new Scratch project, you always start out with the basic Scratch Cat as an icon for you to manipulate. However, Scratch projects would get very boring if this is all you could work with, so there are a few basic tool buttons that you should perhaps look at for creating additional sprites. All of these buttons are found right below the "stage" display where you can watch your Scratch project while it is in development.

Random Sprites

The first button that will be introduced here is the random sprite button. Hover over the cat button at the bottom right of your screen, and a menu should pop up. Click the button that has a star:

Go ahead and press this button a few times. What is happening is that Scratch is loading up random images from the images that are originally added to your computer when Scratch is installed for the first time (specifically, those found in the Media folder within the main Scratch directory). While the images that you are going to get will be different than those shown, the variety of images means that almost anything could appear as a new sprite.

Sometimes this can also help to inspire you to come up with a new idea to make with Scratch, such as a game with cartoon characters being watched over by a football referee. Remember that this is but one way to create new sprites, and we have just started out.

Remember, you can delete sprites with the scissors located on the toolbar.

Creating Your Own Sprites

To draw your own sprite click this button:

You will then be met with the Scratch Costume Editor screen. This interface may seem complicated to begin with, but don't worry, you don't need to know much of it at the start.

Navigate to the portion of the paint editor shown here. The buttons found on this toolbar, reading left to right top to bottom are: Paint Brush, Eraser, Fill Tool, Rectangle Tool, Ellipse Tool, Line Tool, Text Tool, Selection Tool, Stamp Tool, and the Eyedropper Tool. Here is a brief break down of what all these tools do.

Paint Brush: This tool allows you to paint freely. You can change colors using the Eyedropper tool or clicking using the Color Palette located below the toolbar. This tool has varying sizes.

Eraser: This tool allows you to erase drawings you have already made. Like the Paint Brush, you may change its size.

Fill Tool: The Fill Tool (or Paintbucket) allows you to click somewhere and have everything of the same color that is adjacent to your cursor filled in a certain color.

Rectangle Tools: With this tool you may draw filled or unfilled rectangles by dragging a box with your cursor.

Elipse Tool: This tool functions the same as the Rectangle Tool except it creates shapes that are circular or elliptical.

Line Tool: This tool draws lines of your chosen color from the place where you first clicked to your cursor.

Text Tool: This tool allows you to type text in a variety of fonts.

Selection Tool: This tool allows you to select a region of your picture and move it.

Stamp Tool: This tool allows you to select an area and then paste it down again elsewhere by clicking.

Eyedropper Tool: The Eyedropper Tool is used for clicking on a color and then having that become your selected color.

These are the main tools you will use in the Scratch paint editor. Familiarize yourself with them and you will do fine, for a more in-depth tutorial of the Paint Editor look on the Table of Contents under advanced tutorials.

Importing Sprites

There is one other button on the toolbar that you have not experimented with yet. That is the "Import Sprite" button which allows you to import a pre-made image to use as the costume for your sprite.

With this button you can take images of all file types and import them into the costumes tab of a sprite. Note: if you import a gif it will only import the first frame of the file. If you want to import the entire gif drag the gif onto the thumbnail the sprite whose costumes you wish to contain the gif.