When you take a photograph using the front-facing “selfie” camera on a smartphone, the resulting image is often saved exactly as you saw it on the screen: mirrored. If you are wearing a t-shirt with a logo, the text will appear completely backwards, rendering it unreadable. You do not need to download complex photo editing software to fix this orientation issue. The native Preview application included with every version of macOS allows you to instantly flip and mirror any image with a single click.
How to Flip an Image Horizontally
Flipping an image horizontally reverses the left and right sides of the photograph, perfectly correcting the “mirror effect” caused by front-facing cameras.
- Double-click the photograph to open it in the macOS Preview app.
- Look at the menu bar at the very top of your screen (next to the Apple logo) and click Tools.
- From the drop-down menu, select Flip Horizontal.
The image will instantly invert. The backwards text on the t-shirt will now be perfectly readable. Press Command + S to permanently save the new orientation.
How to Flip an Image Vertically
Flipping an image vertically turns the photograph completely upside down. This is particularly useful if you scanned a document into your Mac but accidentally placed the paper into the scanner upside down.
- Open the scanned document or image in Preview.
- Click the Tools menu at the top of the screen.
- Select Flip Vertical.
The image will instantly flip from top to bottom, restoring the document to its proper upright orientation.
Using the Hidden Keyboard Shortcuts
If you are processing a large batch of scanned documents or photographs, navigating through the Tools menu for every single file is incredibly tedious. You can dramatically speed up your workflow by memorizing Preview’s hidden keyboard shortcuts for image manipulation.
- To instantly Flip Horizontal, press and hold the Option (⌥) key, then click the small Rotate button located in the main toolbar at the top of the Preview window. (Normally, this button simply rotates the image 90 degrees, but holding the Option key temporarily transforms it into a Flip button).
- To simply rotate the image left or right, press Command + L (Rotate Left) or Command + R (Rotate Right) on your keyboard. Pressing the shortcut twice will effectively turn the image upside down, achieving a similar result to a vertical flip.