In the Object Menu, click Transform, Reflect. This will bring up the Reflect dialog box. Choose the settings you want and click OK. You can also access these settings through the Properties Panel, the Transform Panel, or the Reflect Tool.
My name is April, and I’ve been working in the graphic design field for 13+ years. When creating vector art, I often have to flip an image and I bet you too.
Sidenote, these also work for raster images that you may want to incorporate into an Adobe Illustrator design. In this tutorial, I’ll show you different ways to flip an image in Adobe Illustrator.
Let’s get to it.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- The Reflect Tool (Keyboard Shortcut O) is a quick way to access the reflect settings to flip an object or image.
- You can open the reflect settings dialog box from the overhead menu Object > Transform > Reflect
- Both the Transform panel and Properties panel offer quick shortcuts to flip an image.
Note: The screenshots from this tutorial are taken from Adobe Illustrator CC Windows version.
Step 1: Select the object you want to flip (reflect) with the Selection Tool (Keyboard Shortcut V).
Step 2: Navigate to the top main menu, and click Object > Transform > Reflect.
This will bring up the Reflect dialog box.
Step 4: Choose the settings for what you want to do to your image or object. Horizontal will flip your image over a horizontal (side to side) axis. Vertical will flip your image over a vertical (top to bottom) axis.
Or you can choose a specific angle to flip your object over. Thankfully Adobe included a preview option so you can change around the settings and preview how it will flip your image. You can even create a copy of the new flipped/reflected image by choosing that instead of OK.
Now you have your flipped (reflected image).
Method 2: Properties Panel
If you didn’t know already, there’s a quick shortcut to flip an object or image in Illustrator.
Step 1: Select the object you want to flip (reflect) with the Selection Tool (Keyboard Shortcut V).
Step 2: You will want to make sure your Properties panel is showing. Navigate to the main menu, click Window, and click Properties from the list of panels.
Step 3: The Properties panel is just that, it shows you all the properties/aspects of your selected image or object. Here at the top, we see a Transform section.
Step 4: In that section, Adobe has created some quick buttons to flip an object over a horizontal axis 
Step 5: Click either button to try flipping your image or object. You can now flip (reflect) your image with the click of a button.
Method 3: Transform Panel
Same as the methods above, select the object you want to flip (reflect).
You will want to make sure your Transform panel is showing. Go to the overhead menu and click Window > Transform.
Step 3: This is the Transform panel. There are options to change the size, location, rotate, skew, etc. To get to the reflect option, you will need to click the menu button (3 lines) in the upper right corner.
This opens up the rest of the menu and you can see options to “Flip Horizontally” or “Flip Vertically”.
Click whichever you want to try and now you have flipped your image or object!
Method 4: Reflect Tool
Whether you just want to have fun playing around with text, or you are trying to create live text in a template for future use, I’ll provide instructions on how to make this happen in Illustrator.
Step 1: Select the object you want to flip (reflect) with the Selection Tool (Keyboard Shortcut V).
Step 2: We are going to use the Reflect tool. You can either navigate to the toolbar, or you can use the keyboard Shortcut O.
Step 3: After you have the tool selected, hit Enter. This will bring up the Reflect dialog box, the same as in the previous methods we went over.
Step 4: Choose your settings and click OK.
Note: You can also double-click the Reflect Tool button in the Toolbar to bring up the dialog box!
Final Thoughts
It is very simple to flip an image in Adobe Illustrator. Be sure to try out this feature on your next design! While I prefer to just use the main Object menu, the three other methods may fit into your workflow even better.
Have you tried to flip an image in Illustrator before? Which method do you use more often? Let me know in the comments below.
