SCRATCH EDITOR Mouse/Cursor button - This is sort of like a default button. Used for a wide variety of things, basically what you’d imagine a default “Cursor” button would do. Reshape button - Here, you can select different vertices of a shape and change different aspects of it. Its primary functions are controlling sharpness and shape. You can also create new ones by clicking on a part of the shape’s outline/edge that is not occupied by a vertex. Sharp button - Makes a vertex sharp. Round button - Makes a vertex round. Paint button - This makes it so you can draw, leaving marks and lines where the screen is pressed/clicked. Thickness modifier - Lets the user control the size of the brush, the bigger the size chosen, the bigger the mark/line is. Erase button - Basically the opposite of paint, in the sense that it deletes/erases marks, lines, and shapes where the screen is pressed/clicked. Thickness modifier - Lets the user control the size of the eraser, the bigger the size chosen, the bigger the area erased is. Fill button - This recolors shapes and outlines to the color selected when said shapes/outlines are tapped/clicked. Text button - Creates text. Line button - Creates line. Can also be used to create a unique shape by connecting lines to resemble a certain shape. Keep in mind that all lines and vertices created will be sharp and straight, and that lines created are not shapes but outline, and use the same tools. Circle/oval button - Creates a circle/oval. Rectangle/Square button - Creates a rectangle/square. Fill/color button - When you’ve selected a shape, you can use the RGB color picker to change its color. Blank button - Deletes all fill in the selected shape. Eyedropper button - Lets the user pick a color in the current costume. The fill of the selected shape will change to that color. Outline button - Lets the user tweak the outline of a selected shape. Also uses the RGB color picker to change color. Thickness modifier - Lets the user set the thickness of the outline. Eyedropper button - Lets the user pick a color in the current costume. The fill of the selected shape will change to that color. Undo button - This button can undo the most recent change to the costume. Redo button - This button can revoke the most recent undo, restoring the change that was subject to the undo mentioned prior. Group button - Associates two or more shapes with each other, becoming one bigger “shape”. Ungroup button - Disbands a group of shapes. Forward button - Moves the selected shape up one layer. Backward button - Moves the selected shape down one layer. Front button - Moves the selected shape to the top layer. Back button - Moves the selected shape to the bottom layer. Copy button - Copies a shape. Does not actually create said shape, only saves it to be pasted. Paste button - Generates the most recently copied shape. Delete button - Deletes the selected shape/vertex (if in reshape mode). If no shape/vertex is selected, the entire costume is deleted. Flip horizontal - Flips the selected shape so that it faces the opposite horizontal direction. Flip vertical - Flips the selected shape so that it faces the opposite vertical direction. Convert to Bitmat/Convert to Vector - This is a tutorial for Vector assets. Just don’t click on this button. MAKING SHAPES Pick either the circle tool, the rectangle tool, or the line tool. If your OC is more circular, choose the circle tool, and vice versa. If your shape is complicated or has more vertices (e.g. an anvil or smth), you can use a line, otherwise I recommend sticking to the other two. Reshape is everything when making a more complicated shape. Add, remove, sharpen, round, and adjust the vertices until you have your shape. Pro tip: I use the arrow keys to modify the vertices. When doing this, you can count the number of times you click the arrow key, then do the same with a parallel vertex. Even though this gets to be tedious, it guarantees symmetry. For outline, I suggest not using it until you’re done with the asset. When you ARE done, you can simply copy and paste the background shape (a base shape that sums up the perimeter of the asset or the part of asset you’re outlining), make the fill 0 and the outline whatever feels right in proportion to the shape, copy and paste the ENTIRE asset, double the outline size you’d use if you did method one, move the new shape(s) to the back layer, and align it with the asset, or use the line tool to outline the perimeter of the asset. Keep in mind that method one allows you to be messy on the edges but doesn’t support certain shapes, method two doesn’t allow messiness on the edges, and method three is almost never perfect.
MAKING SHAPES Pick either the circle tool, the rectangle tool, or the line tool. If your OC is more circular, choose the circle tool, and vice versa. If your shape is complicated or has more vertices (e.g. an anvil or smth), you can use a line, otherwise I recommend sticking to the other two. Reshape is everything when making a more complicated shape. Add, remove, sharpen, round, and adjust the vertices until you have your shape. Pro tip: I use the arrow keys to modify the vertices. When doing this, you can count the number of times you click the arrow key, then do the same with a parallel vertex. Even though this gets to be tedious, it guarantees symmetry. For outline, I suggest not using it until you’re done with the asset. When you ARE done, you can simply copy and paste the background shape (a base shape that sums up the perimeter of the asset or the part of asset you’re outlining), make the fill 0 and the outline whatever feels right in proportion to the shape, copy and paste the ENTIRE asset, double the outline size you’d use if you did method one, move the new shape(s) to the back layer, and align it with the asset, or use the line tool to outline the perimeter of the asset. Keep in mind that method one allows you to be messy on the edges but doesn’t support certain shapes, method two doesn’t allow messiness on the edges, and method three is almost never perfect. SHADE AND SHINE Shine should be a lighter color than the asset. Shade should be darker than the asset. Both should have the same general color. Imagine light is coming from above, maybe to the side, of the shape. Will the part you’re shading/shining be covered by the light or not? If yes, use shine. If not, use shade. If you’re shining a flat surface, I suggest copy-pasting the shape you’re shining and deleting/adding vertices so it’s a diagonal-facing rectangle that’s aligned with the shape’s perimeter. If it’s round, use the same format that is used for a ball, copy-paste the shape being shined, and move it so that it’s in the light. When shading a sphere, just copy-paste the circle, darken the background shape (a term I use, defined prior), and use the original color for the new circle. If you make the new circle big enough, while still not as big as the original, well…that’s shading a sphere! 3D shapes…just copy-paste the original shape and move it to the side. This is where the “light” maybe being to the side matters - will it be out of the light, and colored darker, or vice versa? Sand/dirt: When shading/shining this kind of material, you can use the circle tool or the paint tool. After you have two colors because…you shaded/shined the shape, just make dots around the border of both colors, and, if you have a good enough size (should be really small) and quantity, it should turn out well. Holes: I usually make two circles: one that’s the base color or the color of the asset and one that’s darker. The first circle, or the base color(ed) one should go on top, while the second should go slightly to the side, maybe VERY SLIGHTLY higher or lower than circle one. If you do this right, you should get a darker crescent that looks like, yes, a hole. Creases: A crease…is hard to describe. So I’ll just make an example of the crease inside the project. Anyways, to make a crease, you have to make two lines either horizontally or vertically positioned. One should be lighter than the base color, the other darker. If the line(s) are horizontal, the top one should be darker, the bottom one lighter. If vertical…it depends on the “light” mentioned prior. If the light would be right of the crease, then the left line should be light, and the right one dark, and vice versa. THE CONTRAST SPECTRUM Different materials have different contrast in shading. Here’s a relative list to help you! LOW CONTRAST: Paper, wood, rubber, grass SLIGHTLY LOW CONTRAST: Dirt, sand HIGH CONTRAST: Glass, metal HIGHEST CONTRAST: Jewels, precious metals
