We already have a block that will change the size of a sprite:

change size by (1)

But is this alone what we need?
I'm proposing we switch “size” to a drop-down box that says “size, width, height” instead.
This way we could choose to change the width and height separately, or just use size to change them both.
These three blocks below are what I'm picturing.

change [size v] by (1) :: looks
change [width v] by (1) :: looks
change [height v] by (1) :: looks

Of course, we'd need to make two new variables:

(size)
(width :: looks)
(height :: looks)

And unlike my previous “Online and Offline Blocks” idea, I put thought into this. I even came up with it while I was watching an animation that clearly needs the “width” block! It showed a sprite becoming wider and wider. The current only way to do this is to make a bunch of costumes, and unless you spend an unnecessary amount of time animating it, it'll be pretty chunky. That's what happened in the animation. But because it's easy to create something that appears smooth with the existing size block, if we made it work for width and height, we could make lots more things smooth.

I also think we need work on the Scratchblocks. If you look at my attempt at variables, you will understand.

(No longer applies. stickfiregames helped me figure it out.)

Support.

epicanna27 wrote:

I also think we need work on the Scratchblocks. If you look at my attempt at variables, you will understand.

Your variables aren't working because you need to put the :: inside the reporter, like this:

(width :: looks)

not

(width) :: looks

__ _ _ __ _ __ |
|__ | | |_) |_) | | |_) | |
__| \_/ | | |_| | \ | .

And I only write it like that with the ideas I REALLY like.

stickfiregames wrote:

epicanna27 wrote:

I also think we need work on the Scratchblocks. If you look at my attempt at variables, you will understand.

Your variables aren't working because you need to put the :: inside the reporter, like this:

(width :: looks)

not

(width) :: looks

Thanks, I'll make that change

Support!

I suggest also adding length, unless it doesn't need to, support!

Support!

RPFluffy wrote:

I suggest also adding length, unless it doesn't need to, support!

Scratch isn't 3D yet, so that would cause a bunch of bugs to occur.

epicanna27 wrote:

RPFluffy wrote:

I suggest also adding length, unless it doesn't need to, support!

Scratch isn't 3D yet, so that would cause a bunch of bugs to occur.

Scratch 3 confirmed.

OmnipotentPotato wrote:

epicanna27 wrote:

RPFluffy wrote:

I suggest also adding length, unless it doesn't need to, support!

Scratch isn't 3D yet, so that would cause a bunch of bugs to occur.

Scratch 3 confirmed.

Wait, do you mean I said something that you misinterpreted or you're just pointing something out to me?

No support.
For what purpose would I stretch out my sprite in one direction for?
So it can look cruddy?

VoltageGames wrote:

No support.
For what purpose would I stretch out my sprite in one direction for?
So it can look cruddy?

Oh really? Well then you clearly have no sense of animation.

epicanna27 wrote:

VoltageGames wrote:

No support.
For what purpose would I stretch out my sprite in one direction for?
So it can look cruddy?

Oh really? Well then you clearly have no sense of animation.

Hey, there is no reason to get nasty. But, in the majority's opinion, stretched costumes look bad. There are reasons you could want to stretch them out, but they are rare enough that you can just make a new costume.

epicanna27 wrote:

VoltageGames wrote:

No support.
For what purpose would I stretch out my sprite in one direction for?
So it can look cruddy?

Oh really? Well then you clearly have no sense of animation.

Be nice please, though that is a bit mean to say you want to make a sprite look cruddy

RPFluffy wrote:

epicanna27 wrote:

VoltageGames wrote:

No support.
For what purpose would I stretch out my sprite in one direction for?
So it can look cruddy?

Oh really? Well then you clearly have no sense of animation.

Be nice please, though that is a bit mean to say you want to make a sprite look cruddy

Yes - let's not have the insults, please.

If the costume were vector, it would stretch pretty nicely, I would think. And I could think of a couple of cool things to do do with this capability - such as simulate a rotating,flat shape. It would also have been very handy when I was making a sensing sprite for a scan of an arbitrarily sized rectangle - which I needed for my digit recognizing projects.

VoltageGames wrote:

No support.
For what purpose would I stretch out my sprite in one direction for?
So it can look cruddy?

There are many useful things that could be done with a stretch block.

Apart from the question of how it interacts with rotation, I can't see any particular reason not to add this…

What would happen to the size reporter? Would it be a ratio?

Braeden5454 wrote:

What would happen to the size reporter? Would it be a ratio?

I don't know. That may be up to the Scratch Team to figure out the math and stuff to control the size block.

Ever since about 6th grade, I've been using Scratch. Now in college, I use Scratch a fair amount less than I used too, but there is one feature that I wish would be implemented, which is sprite stretching. The applications of this are fairly broad, ranging from animation made with greater ease to routine graphical effects that exist in other languages, like Python, where you can import libraries like Pillow that allow you to manipulate images. Examples of the blocks I have in mind are below:

change [horizontal stretch v] effect by (25) ::looks
change [vertical stretch v] effect by (25) ::looks
set [horizontal stretch v] effect to (25)% ::looks
set [vertical stretch v] effect to (25)% ::looks
set stretch to x (240) y (-180) ::looks
(Vertical Stretch ::sensing)
(Horizontal Stretch ::sensing)

These blocks and the concepts behind them seem to be fairly intuitive, easy to understand, and readily accessible for a younger demographic who may not want or desire to put in the time commitment of researching work arounds that tend to be time consuming.
As I understand it, this is not the first time by far stretching has been suggested for Scratch. This current topic is currently a merged topic between u/epicanna27 - created on November 17, 2014 - and mine - created on February 15, 2015. Other topics on this suggestion can be found here, here, and here. There was even at one point a “Change Stretch by ()” block considered for scratch at one time, as seen here (also linked above), and in u/Paddle2See's post in this forum:

Paddle2See wrote:

In the 1.4 version of Scratch, if you search through the source code (which is in a language called Squeek), you will find traces of an experimental “stretch” block! However, it was never in any of the officially released versions that I have used. I can only assume that it was decided that it was too confusing - or not useful enough - to earn a permanent place in the block pallet. Which is too bad as it would be very helpful for certain kinds of visual effects.

Part of what makes Scratch so easy to learn and such a great first language is it's simplicity. Every new block that is added makes it a bit more complex - so new blocks are added only after long consideration.

Alas, that is all that I have for this suggestion. I hope I have swayed some minds, and, above all else, I hope to see amazing feedback from all who come to this topic. The current iteration of this suggestion was made possible by the users u/The_Scratch_Squad, u/Skelepound, and u/ihgfedcba and any future suggestions only serve to make this suggestion stronger. Thanks for your time. Below is a list of all supporters I've tallied as of October 12, 2020:

Full Supporters - 109 Total

| _Elektron_ | -GentooPenguin- | 159096 | 20btheilmanngohr | 24691357 | ABatSeesWell | aboot4 | AlexeyChub

| A-no-meep | Blank1234 | BlueCrayfish | BookOwl | CatsUnited | CGRises | Charles12310 | charlesdog

| charliesunset | Climax999 | codingkid01 | codeman1044 | Col_Cat228 | CosmicHamster | Cosmicstars- | CrazyDashound

| cul8er | Cyoce | DANISON | DerpyHead0 | Fezziecute | Forested | FoxyTheNeonFox | GeometryTeus

| gilbert_given_189 | Gobblesmack | Griffenlover | HappyBoulder2 | Heracron | ittybitmap | jasperjay | JavierR100

| kenny2scratch | kanditime | kjtv9000new | KoxsMocny | KyleTheOP | LionHeart70 | little_kitten | lovescratch973

| LP_Play | miniepicness | Monniasza_spzoo | MrKingKong77 | Mr_PenguinAlex | mr-scratch-cat | Mr_Woomy

| Nambaseking01 | Neggit | Nether_before | NilsTheBest | OfficialDragonHD | p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- | Pot-of-Gold | Priff

| Purple0 | pvz_pro | ray2009isnotauser | rdococ | rickqin | Robby_Blue | rollercoasterfan | sakafitrady | scramaso

| ScratchCatHELLO | ScriptedAwesome | scrooge200 | SGEgames | Skelepound | Sobsz | Sparkfunny | spazzylemons

| spocite | stickfire-test | SuperDoom | The-Ender-Blade | The_Scratch_Squad | TTARises2 | unsightedmetal6

| WildlifeWavesgames | Zekrom01 | zorket | ZZ9PluralZAlpha | LoudHeadphones | RPFluffy | __init__ | epicanna27

| arvepro3579 | MartianSoil | meh_name_not_jeff | squarepoint | ninjaMAR | kjtv9000new | Basic88 | Zelfen | LydzWinry

| IlyaMiheevilia | Goodthingsaregood66 | neos109 | MeIzAwezomeDede

Partial Supporters - 7 Total

| -penandpaper- | Botcho_Otkho | NoMod-Programming | noogai34 | scratchisthebest | Sheep_tester | VFDan