Hello fellow Scratchers,
I've been integrating the pen lately into some of my projects, and I've noticed the pen extensions could use some improvements. Here are my ideas:

Pen Layers
The pen drawing always appears behind the sprite. I think the pen layer system should follow the sprite layer system; you should be able to choose what layer the pen is on, similar to how sprites can. There should be a maximum of 5 layers to prevent lag, as justsomenerds mentioned that unlimited layers would cause lag.

go to layer [front v] :: pen

move [forward v] (...) layers :: pen

Pen Erasing
It's really annoying that the “erase all” block erases EVERY drawing created. I think that drawings should be categorized by sprites and clones, and should be erased accordingly.

erase [my drawing v] :: pen // Pick between another sprite's drawing or the current sprite's drawing.

A pen eraser should be included, so you can erase part of a drawing however you want.

set pen type to [eraser v] :: pen // Choose between eraser or pen.

Elaborating Explaining my suggestion better
When one sprite on one layer draws two lines that overlap each other, the newer line will be on top.

The pen on a separate layer than the sprite drawing it. The pen drawing is considered another sprite, and its layers are arranged on a sprite-like level. For example, if there were two sprites, Sprite A and Sprite B, one would be on a layer in front of the other. If Sprite A made a drawing, the drawing would be one layer ahead of Sprite A. So if Sprite A was on the back layer, the drawing would be on the layer in between Sprite A and Sprite B. And if Sprite B made a drawing, the drawing would be at the top layer.

When I refer to “drawing” in the previous elaboration, I don't mean my suggested drawings that are specific to each sprite and clone.



Thank you for your consideration!

Flipped_ wrote:

Pen Reporters
The pen should have a reporter for the current size or color. The size reporter would return a numeric value, and the color reporter would return a hex value.

pen [size v] :: pen reporter // There are two choices - size or color.

the Pen Reporters are a duplicate.

Otherwise, Support!

Okay, I'll fix my post!

Support. Layers, erasers, etc. would be extremely helpful for pen projects.

bump

bump

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Support! This would be very helpful for those who like to use the pen feature. It would also make drawing with it a whole lot easier.

Erasing an individual sprite's pen trails would be difficult to implement with good performance, since (IIRC) pen trails are stored in a single bitmap image. If two sprites drew to the same layer, erasing one sprite's trails would require redrawing the entire pen layer without that sprite's trails, which would not be good for performance and would require storing every single pen trail.

-Rex- wrote:

Erasing an individual sprite's pen trails would be difficult to implement with good performance, since (IIRC) pen trails are stored in a single bitmap image. If two sprites drew to the same layer, erasing one sprite's trails would require redrawing the entire pen layer without that sprite's trails, which would not be good for performance and would require storing every single pen trail.

This wouldn't happen based on how I'm reading the Pen Layers, they would work like the sprites layers which can't have 2 sprites on the same layer.

Flipped_ wrote:

I think the pen layer system should follow the sprite layer system; you should be able to choose what layer the pen is on, similar to how sprites can.

Check out this topic, it is basically this suggestion, but with more stuff

Current project: [s3Blocks: scratchblocks rewritten for Scratch 3.0] ::#4b4a60 //https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/290031/ Basically done!

NitroCipher wrote:

Check out this topic, it is basically this suggestion, but with more stuff

That is a similar suggestion, but way more complex. I don't think this would be considered a duplicate.

StrangeMagic32 wrote:

This wouldn't happen based on how I'm reading the Pen Layers, they would work like the sprites layers which can't have 2 sprites on the same layer.

This would break compatibility with some older projects. The best solution I can think of would be to allow multiple sprites to be in the same layer and have a block that clears a single layer.

No support.

All of these have workarounds.

The way to make pen blocks go to the front is to stagger the rendering so that the sprite that is supposed to be at the back renders first.
Erasing part of a pen would be hard–just use custom blocks without screen refresh so that it erases just as fast as the sprite is drawn.
Also, about the pen erasing everything, that doesn't matter if you use custom blocks.

so yes

kritav wrote:

The way to make pen blocks go to the front is to stagger the rendering so that the sprite that is supposed to be at the back renders first.

The pen layering would be useful since you can shift drawings after they are drawn, or while they are drawn.

kritav wrote:

Erasing part of a pen would be hard–just use custom blocks without screen refresh so that it erases just as fast as the sprite is drawn.
Also, about the pen erasing everything, that doesn't matter if you use custom blocks.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that. Do you mean redraw over and over again (without screen refresh) to make the pen look like it's being erased? The problem with that is the overload of blocks you would have. And also, for example, if you were using a pen text engine how would you make a letter half-formed (partially erased)?

Also, the reason why I included the erasing part is because in one of my projects, I needed to draw a line gradually and then erase it gradually. Now I ended up with just drawing a white line over the original line gradually, which makes a mark over the part of my backdrop that isn't white. It would be a whole lot harder to redraw that line over and over again, but smaller and smaller.

-Rex- wrote:

This would break compatibility with some older projects. The best solution I can think of would be to allow multiple sprites to be in the same layer and have a block that clears a single layer.

Older projects with pen would just be drawn on one layer. To elaborate, though, when you draw on one layer and the pen overlaps another drawing on the same layer, the newer drawing would be shown in front, so it would not be break compatibility with older projects.

I edited the post to explain my suggestion better.

Bumpity bump

Full Support.
Pen layering and the Pen Erasing would really help with certain projects I want to make. Because I hate having to make a script to redraw everything when I'm trying to delete just one thing. Pen Layering can help with making cool patterns, I would really like that.

OwenRich wrote:

Full Support

Hi! Please explain why you support/don't support a suggestion. Thanks!

PopStarYoda wrote:

OwenRich wrote:

Full Support

Hi! Please explain why you support/don't support a suggestion. Thanks!

edited