From Test-Scratch-Wiki
The stage is the background of the project, but can have scripts, backdrops (costumes), and sounds, similar to a sprite. It is 480 pixels wide and 360 pixels tall.
All sprites have a particular position on the stage. However, no sprites can move behind the stage — the stage is always at the back layer.
Differences from Sprites
There are many differences between the stage and sprites. These include the following:
- Is stationary
— thus,
- It has no Motion Blocks
- It has no Size Blocks
- It has no "touching" blocks in the Sensing category
- It does not have the
Distance to () block
- In Scratch 1.4, selecting the Stage with Motion Blocks selected would change it to Sensing Blocks
- It does not have a pen, and therefore has no Pen Blocks except for
- It cannot talk
— thus
Ask () and Wait block)
- It has backdrops instead of costumes
- It cannot be cloned
- It cannot be renamed
- It does not have the
Show or Hide blocks in the Looks category
- It cannot change layers
— it is always at the very back layer
- It is always 480×360 unless in Small Stage Layout
- Any space in backdrops left transparent becomes white automatically in bitmap
- Variables made while the stage is selected cannot be local
Stage Sizes
The stage can be 3 different sizes:
- Regular
— normal mode; the stage is 480×360 pixels. The ratio is 4:3 in its simplest form.
- Small Stage Layout
— this is a size for the Stage in the project editor. It makes the stage's size smaller to provide more room to write scripts. It lowers the stage's resolution to 240x180 pixels — half of the normal size. The small stage layout can be activated by toggling the stage size switch located in the top-right corner in the project editor next to the full screen button. When this is selected, the Stage will shrink, and the sprites pane will adjust its width and height to fit.
- Full Screen
— Fits the player to one's web browser's current resolution.
History
The stage was introduced in Scratch 0.2.[1] It was originally listed along with the sprites in the sprite corral and called the "Background".[2][3]
