Scratch is a free, graphical programming environment that allows children between the ages of 8 and 16 (but also adults) to create animations without knowing complicated programming languages. In fact, through the use of simple block commands, Scratch allows users to understand the mechanisms that underlie the programming and, at the same time, allows you to have fun and keep your mind trained by learning new things.
If you’ve heard of this solution and now you’d like to learn more about it, let me tell you that you’ve come to the right place at the right time. With today’s guide, in fact, I’ll explain how to use Scratch showing you all its features: first, I’ll show you how to create an animated scene directly from the browser, setting the characters and background elements, after which I’ll also tell you how to download Scratch on your computer and use it when you do not have an Internet connection at your disposal.
Excuse me? Are you looking forward to learning how to create animations with Scratch? Then let’s not waste any more time in chattering and get straight to action. Make yourself comfortable, take five minutes of free time and dedicate yourself to reading the next few paragraphs. Follow carefully the directions I’m going to give you, try to put them into practice and I assure you that you will be able to learn the basic functionality of Scratch and create your first project in no time. Enjoy reading and, above all, have fun.
Using Scratch from a computer
Before going into the details of this guide and explaining how to use Scratch, you should know that the service can be used directly from your browser, provided you have an Internet connection. Otherwise, you can download the free offline editor to install on your computer. How to do that? I’ll tell you right now!
Create an account on Scratch
To access the programming platform offered by Scratch, you don’t need to register. However, in order to save your progress and continue your work later, you must create a free account.
To proceed, go to the official Scartch website and click on Join the Scratch community at the top right corner, then enter the required data in the fields Choose your username, Choose a password and Confirm password and click on the Next button.
In the new screen, indicate your month and year of birth, using the drop-down menus Month and Year next to Month and Year of birth, specify your gender by checking one of the options between Male or Female, and select your country of residence using the drop-down menu Country. Then, click on the Next button, enter your email in the Email address and Confirm email address fields, check the box next to Receive updates from the Scratch Team if you would like to receive Scratch-related communications, and click the Next and OK, we’re off.
Now, log into your email inbox, locate the email you received from Scratch and click on the Confirm my email address button to verify your email and complete the creation of your account.
Using Scratch from your browser
Using Scratch from your browser is the easiest way to create your own animations. In fact, by accessing the online editor you can start to take your first steps in Scratch without having to install any software on your computer.
To start creating your first project on Scratch online, connect to the main page of the service and, if you have created your account as I indicated in previous paragraphs of this guide, click on the Enter button located in the upper right corner. Enter, then, your login information in the Username and Password fields and click on the Enter button.
Now, click on the Create item located at the top to access the Scratch editor. If you don’t see it, you may need to update Adobe Flash Player or activate Flash Player, as I’ve outlined in my in-depth guides.
In the newly opened page, you can see the screen divided into three main blocks: on the left is the area containing the characters (called sprites) of your animation; the middle column allows you to set the controls, sounds, background and customize the characters and the right side is for entering the commands that will “move” your sprites.
At the top, however, you can see a toolbar that allows you to save, import and export projects, get tips on Scratch features and, most importantly, apply changes to your animation using the available commands.
Duplicate (the stamp icon): selecting a sprite available in the editor allows you to duplicate it.
Remove (scissors): allows you to remove a character from the editor.
Expand sprite (the four outward arrows): allows you to enlarge a selected character.
Reduce sprite (the four inward arrows): to reduce the size of a sprite.
After explaining the functionality of the basic tools in the Scratch editor, you’re ready to create your first animation. First, click on the Stage item in the lower left corner to choose a color or image to use as the background for your project’s animated scenes.
Then select the Backgrounds tab in the center column of the editor and choose one of the options available under New Background: the brush icon to draw the background freehand; the arrow inside a folder to load an image from your computer; the camera to capture the background using your computer’s webcam; and the landscape icon to access the list of ready-to-use backgrounds divided into categories (City, Castle, Holiday, Space, Nature, Sports, etc.).
Now, choose and insert the characters you want to use for your animation using the Sprite box at the bottom left. By clicking on the little man icon next to New Sprite, you can view all the ready-to-use characters and elements divided by category (Animals, Fantasy, Letters, People, Things, Transports), theme (Castle, City, Dance, Fashion, Flight, Holiday, Sports, Music, etc.), and type (Bitmap and Vector). Alternatively, you can draw a new character yourself by clicking on the brush icon or load one from your computer by choosing the Load a sprite from file option (the arrow icon inside a folder).
After you have added all the characters and elements you want to use to make up your animation and set the background to use, select the sprite you want to animate and click on the Commands tab in the middle column. Then select one of the available command categories from Motion, Appearance, Sound, Pen, Variables and Lists, Situations, Control, Sensors, Operators, and Other Blocks to choose the type of command to apply.
To better understand how it works, let’s take a practical example by creating an animation of a sprite that listens to music and dances when you click the space bar on your computer. First, select the previously added sprite, click on the Commands item and choose the Movement category. Then, drag the Take [number] steps command block to the right side of the page and set the number of steps to execute, then repeat the operation by setting a negative number of steps (to make the sprite move backwards).
Now, select the Sound category and drag the command Play drum [number] for beats [number], click on the Control item and drag the command Repeat [number] times to set the repetition of the previously added commands. Finally, select the Situations category and enter the command When pressing the space key at the top of the list of commands. Then, press the space bar on your keyboard to display the result.
You should know that you can repeat the above for every single sprite you add and also for the background applied to the scene. In addition, you can also add music and background sounds or insert dialogs by recording them directly from your microphone. To proceed, select the Sounds tab and click the Choose a sound from the library button (the megaphone icon) or choose the Record a new sound option (the microphone icon) to record it in real time.
To save your project in the online library of your Scratch account, first enter its name in the text field marked Untitled, then click File and select the Save Now option from the menu that appears. To view your saved projects, click the folder icon at the top right of the screen next to your name and click the Look Inside button for the project you are interested in.
If, on the other hand, you want to download your creation to your computer, click the File and Download to your computer options, otherwise select the Record and export a video option to download the video of the animation you created.
To learn more about how Scratch works, connect to the service’s main page and click on the Learn how to create a project in Scratch headings to create a new project wizard and Try “Getting Started” projects to access ready-to-use projects and “study” the commands used.
Using Scratch offline
As mentioned earlier, creating projects in Scratch requires an Internet connection. However, by downloading the free compatible software for Windows and macOS, you can use Scratch offline.
Before you can download the offline Scratch editor, you need to download and install the Adobe AIR 20 runtime, which is required for Scratch to work properly. Go to the Adobe website, click on the Download now button and wait for the download.
Now, if you have a Windows PC, double-click on the AdobeAIRInsaller.exe file you just downloaded and click the Run, Update and Accept buttons. Wait a few moments and click the Finish button to complete the installation. If you have a Mac, open the dmg package, double-click on the Adobe AIR icon and click the Open button. Then click on the Update button, enter your Mac password (the one you use to log in to the system) and click on the Install Assistant button to start the Adobe AIR installation. Wait a few moments and you’re done.
After downloading and installing Adobe AIR 20, go to the official Scratch website and click on Offline Editor at the bottom of the page under the Support option. On the newly opened page, click on the Download item related to the operating system installed on your computer and wait for the Scratch installation files to be downloaded.
Now, if you have a Windows PC, double-click on the Scratch-[version].exe file, click on the Run and Continue buttons and wait for the installation to complete, then click on the Finish button to close the window and launch the program. If you are using a Mac, open the downloaded dmg package, double-click on the Scratch icon and click on the Open button. Then click on the Continue button, wait for the installation to complete and click on the Finish button. For the detailed procedure, you can read my guide on how to download Scratch.
You should know that the functioning of the offline editor of Scratch is identical to what was previously described in the chapter Using Scratch from the browser of this guide. The only difference is in the language set at the first start: to have the offline editor of Scratch in Italian, click on the world icon in the upper left corner and select the option Italian from the menu that appears.
Using Scratch from a tablet
Scartch is also available as an application but only for tablets equipped with Android and iPad. In addition, it is not the full version of Scratch but a simplification of it aimed at children aged 5 to 7 years, called ScratchJr.
After downloading the ScratchJr app from your device’s store, launch it and indicate where you’re using ScratchJr by selecting one of the available options from School, Home and Other, then tap on the house icon to access your projects. If you don’t have any projects available yet, press the + button visible under the My Projects heading to create a new one.
In the new screen that appears, tap on the + button visible on the left to add new sprites, while tapping on the + button on the right allows you to add new scenes. Also, by tapping on the landscape icon visible at the top, you can set a background to use for your scenes.
Using the commands visible below, however, you can start creating your first animation. It will help you to know that the mechanism is identical to that described in the previous paragraphs of this guide.
Then press on one of the buttons visible at the bottom to access the control blocks: the yellow button to access the control commands and to set the start of the animation; the blue button for movement commands; the purple button to zoom in, out, or hide the characters; the green button for sound commands; the orange button to set the speed and use the repeat commands; and the red button to end the animation.
Once you have chosen the commands you want to use, drag them to the bottom to create your animation. Once you have finished customizing the scene, simply close the application to save your work. The project, in fact, will be visible in ScratchJr’s Home screen.