Eng:Scratch Secrets (1.4)

In the Scratch Forums, Scratch Team member natalie published and stickied a forum thread titled [ Scratch Secrets]. It listed many unknown tips and tricks, many of which improve a Scratcher's programming skills and/or speed. Since natalie's post, the list had expanded.

Some of them related to Shift Secrets (1.4).

Tips
Here are some of the lesser known Scratch tips:

Sprites

 * Finding a sprite To show a sprite that is off-screen or hidden, right-click on its thumbnail in the sprite list and select Show.


 * Costumes into sprites To turn a costume into a separate sprite, right-click on the required costume and select Turn into new sprite. Keep in mind, this will remove the costume from the current sprite, and transfer it to a new sprite, rather than duplicating it so each sprite has a copy. To let each sprite have a copy, paint a new sprite (just a dot will do), and drag the wanted costume over the sprite's thumbnail.


 * Easy sprite rotation To carefully rotate a sprite, drag the blue line on its thumbnail. In addition, if you want to quickly set it back to 90 degrees, just double-click the sprite thumbnail.


 * Deleting sprites To delete a sprite from its thumbnail, right-click on it and select Delete. Alternatively, select the scissors from the upper middle-right menu and click on the required sprite to delete. To delete many sprites, hold down shift while you click. Another method is to drag sprites off the viewing area and drop them in the block palette and they are automatically deleted.


 * Rearranging sprite thumbnails Drag the thumbnails around to the wanted order.


 * Rearranging costumes Drag the thumbnails to the correct order.


 * Taking graphics from the background To "carve" graphics from the background, right-click on it and select "grab screen region for new sprite".


 * Using the Toolbox To paste, copy, delete, shrink sprite, or grow sprite. Just click one of the buttons and click on the sprite you want it to effect.The proper names for these tools are Stamp (copy), Scissors (delete), Shrink Sprite (same), Grow Sprite (same).

Blocks and Scripts

 * Moving blocks to another sprite To move a script to another sprite, drag the stack over the receiving sprite's thumbnail and release once you see a white halo. The halo normally appears to the leftmost slot, if the block is so large it spans two slots.Dragging scripts to other sprites.png


 * Straightening scripts To place all your scripts into a vertical line, right-click the Scripts Area and select "clean up".The Clean Up feature.png

To receive help about a block, right-click it and select "help".
 * Receiving help See also: Help (blocks)

switch to costume (costume) if <(size) < (mouse x)> go to x: (timer) y: (loudness) end
 * Blocks inside others Some blocks can fit inside others - blocks with curved edges can fit inside holes with typeable contents or some drop-down boxes, for example.
 * To place a block in a gap, drag it over the wanted area and release.


 * Updating default values in blocks To update the default values of specific blocks in palettes, leave the palette and enter it again, or just click on the palette name again.Default X and Y values.png palette, leave it and enter it again.]]

Paint Editor

 * Cropping images To remove part of an image, select part of it with the selection tool and push Backspace or Delete. To crop it, press shift and backspace or delete. Removing image parts.png


 * Copy and paste 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.


 * Image rotation To rotate part (or all) of an image, select it and push one of the rotation buttons.Image rotation.png


 * Precise rotation To rotate an image by a given amount of degrees, shift-click one of the rotation buttons and input a number.Precise image rotation.png

a percentage.
 * Precise size edits To grow or shrink an image to a given percentage, shift-click one of the size buttons and inputPrecise size edits.png


 * Continuous stamping To continuously stamp an image without multiple clicks, hold Shift while the mouse is down.Continuous stamping.png


 * Easy squares To draw a square, hold Shift while drawing a rectangle.Easy squares.png


 * Easy circles To draw a circle, hold Shift while drawing an oval.Easy circles.png


 * Easy lines To draw a vertical or horizontal line, hold Shift while drawing a line.Easy lines.png

a color or click the arrow to the right of the color storage and select the second color.
 * Opposite color selection To import a color from the palette into the color storage piece, hold Shift while selectingColor selection.png


 * Selecting colors outside the editor Hold the eyedropper tool and move it out of the editor.Colors outside the editor.png


 * Editing thickness of circle and rectangle tools To do this, simply change the thickness of the brush on the pen tool.


 * Undoing To undo an action, simply press Ctrl + Z on the keyboard.

Reporters, Variables, and Lists

 * Showing Stage Monitors Check the boxes on the left of each value block.Stage Monitor Display Option.png


 * Changing displays Double-click the display for it to change to the next.Variable displays.png


 * Importing/Exporting Lists Right click the list, then select the option of choice.  The list will be saved as a .txt file.Import-export list.png

Keyboard Shortcuts
It should be noted that some of these are repeats from above.


 * Deleting multiple sprites Hold Shift while using the Scissors tool to delete more than one sprite in one go.Multiple sprite deletion.png
 * Saving Ctrl + S saves the project. That is also the save shortcut for many other programs.

Other

 * Dragging images into Scratch You can drag images into Scratch by selecting them and dragging them in, where they will appear as costumes on the selected sprite.
 * Animated GIFs You can drag animated GIFs into Scratch, where they will become a series of costumes on the selected sprite.
 * Web browsers, Word, and other programs (on Windows) You can drag images from many locations into Scratch, where they become costumes.
 * Quick project opening You can open a Scratch project by dragging one in.