Flipping

Flipping sounds like something you'd do with a pancake, rather than a picture, but the general effect is the same. When you flip the pancake , you reverse it so the other side cooks. When you flip the image, you reverse it so you see a mirror image. You can flip horizontally or vertically. Figure 4.13 shows both.

Figure 4.13. The top pair of words has been flipped horizontally, whereas the bottom pair has been flipped vertically.

Flipping is different from rotating because it changes the up/down or left/right orientation of the image. Of course, sometimes you might need to do both to get the image or selected object oriented the way you want it. For comparison purposes, Figure 4.14 shows the effects of rotation. To make this composition, I typed the word Rotate and copied it, rotating each copy.

Figure 4.14. You can rotate an image by dragging the selection or by choosing to rotate 90 or 180 degrees from the menu, or by entering the desired rotation amount in the Tools Options bar.

To Flip or Not to Flip

You can flip almost any object without anyone knowing, as long as there's nothing in it that would give the viewer a clue. You can't flip a picture that has type in it, obviously. You also need to be careful about flipping pictures of people who might be wearing shirts with a pocket on one side, a wristwatch, wedding ring, single earring, or other telltale item. Also, watch out for words on signs in the background and in reflections. In many cases, it won't matter, but you might find it helpful to remove the jewelry , shirt pocket, and so on. (You'll learn how to do this in Hour 8, "Digital Painting.")