Scratch logo font

The short answer

The evidence behind this article does not identify the typeface in the Scratch wordmark, the logo of the visual coding platform for young learners. No designer credit, foundry name, official brand guideline or source file was available to check. Any claim that the logo uses a specific downloadable font is unverified unless the brand owner's own documentation confirms it.

There may be no font to find at all. Playful, rounded wordmarks are often drawn as custom lettering rather than set in a typeface. When a logo is lettered, no font file can reproduce it exactly. The best available option is a lookalike typeface that shares some of its traits.

Which "Scratch" this covers

Searches for a scratch font combine two unrelated things. One is the wordmark of the Scratch programming platform. The other is a general genre of distressed display typefaces with scratched or worn textures. This article covers the platform logo. Grunge-style scratch fonts have no established connection to it.

How to tell custom lettering from a typeface

In a typeface, repeated letters are identical and spacing follows consistent rules. In lettering, each character can be shaped to fit its neighbours. Signs of lettering include letters that differ each time they appear, shapes that touch or overlap, and individually adjusted baselines or weights. Font-identification tools compare an image against a database of existing typefaces. A strong match points to a similar font, but it does not prove that font was used. If a wordmark is custom, these tools return only near misses.

What a vector logo file can and cannot reveal

A file's extension does not tell you what it contains. An SVG, EPS, AI or PDF file of a logo can hold any of these:

• Live text: the characters can still be edited, and the file usually records the font name. This is the only case where the file itself names a typeface.
• Outlined text: the letters have been converted to vector paths. They scale cleanly and can be reshaped, but no font information remains.
• An embedded raster image: a bitmap inside a vector container. It looks fine at the original size but does not scale cleanly, and it contains no editable letterforms.
• A raster preview: some files and download pages show a pixel thumbnail that may not match the artwork inside.

You can check which case applies by opening the file in a vector editor. Look for an editable text object, selectable paths or a placed image. Logo files are usually delivered with text converted to outlines, so a missing font name is normal. It does not by itself show that the logo is custom lettering.

Permissions are separate questions

Being able to download a copy of the Scratch logo does not give you permission to modify it or use it. The wordmark is a brand identifier, so use of it, or of a close imitation, may fall under the owner's trademark and brand-use terms. Check those terms directly. If you choose a lookalike typeface, its license applies on its own and should be checked for your intended use, especially for commercial work or logo use.

Gaps in the available evidence

• No confirmed typeface name or designer credit for the Scratch wordmark.
• No official brand guideline was reviewed.
• No original logo file was inspected to check for live text, outlines or embedded images.