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scale()

Scales the coordinate system.

By default, shapes are drawn at their original scale. A rectangle that's 50 pixels wide appears to take up half the width of a 100 pixel-wide canvas. The scale() function can shrink or stretch the coordinate system so that shapes appear at different sizes. There are two ways to call scale() with parameters that set the scale factor(s).

The first way to call scale() uses numbers to set the amount of scaling. The first parameter, s, sets the amount to scale each axis. For example, calling scale(2) stretches the x-, y-, and z-axes by a factor of 2. The next parameter, y is optional. It sets the amount to scale the y-axis. For example, calling scale(2, 0.5) stretches the x-axis by a factor of 2, and shrinks the y-axis by a factor of 0.5.

By default, transformations accumulate. For example, calling scale(1) twice has the same effect as calling scale(2) once. The push() and pop() functions can be used to isolate transformations within distinct drawing groups.

Note: Transformations are reset at the beginning of the draw loop. Calling scale(2) inside the draw() function won't cause shapes to grow continuously.

Examples

scale example 1

function setup()
  size(100, 100)
  windowTitle('scale() example')
  describe(
    'Two white squares on a gray background. The larger square appears at the top-center. The smaller square appears at the top-left.'
  )
end

function draw()
  background(200)

  -- Draw a square at (30, 20).
  square(30, 20, 40)

  -- Scale the coordinate system by a factor of 0.5.
  scale(0.5)

  -- Draw a square at (30, 20).
  -- It appears at (15, 10) after scaling.
  square(30, 20, 40)
end

scale example 2

function setup() 
  size(100, 100)
  windowTitle('scale() example')
  describe('A rectangle and a square drawn in white on a gray background.')
end

function draw() 
  background(200)
  windowTitle('scale() example')
  -- Draw a square at (30, 20).
  square(30, 20, 40);

  -- Scale the coordinate system by factors of
  -- 0.5 along the x-axis and
  -- 1.3 along the y-axis.
  scale(0.5, 1.3)

  -- Draw a square at (30, 20).
  -- It appears as a rectangle at (15, 26) after scaling.
  square(30, 20, 40)
end

Syntax

scale(s, [y])

Parameters

Parameter
s Number: amount to scale along the positive x-axis.
y Number: amount to scale along the positive y-axis. Defaults to s.