How-to · learn first

How to flip an image

Think of a flip like holding your photo up to the mirror — but on purpose. Horizontal flip swaps left with right (the selfie “fix” folks talk about most). Vertical flip swaps top with bottom.

Neither one tilts your horizon the way Rotate does on your phone — they only mirror pixels that are already upright. Reach for vertical when a scan landed upside-down, or when you’re playing with reflections on purpose.

Most “why does my selfie look wrong?” chats end with one horizontal flip on the saved file.

Vertical flip is the unsung hero for upside-down receipts and scans — before OCR or printing.

Need fuzzy edges behind a sticker or logo clip? Prefer PNG or WebP so transparency survives export.

Upload · flip horizontal or vertical · download

Drag & drop an image or click to select

Flip and rotate aren’t interchangeable (and that’s okay)

Rotate grabs the corners and twists the canvas by degrees. Flip never tips the photo — it only mirrors what’s already there. Mix them up once and harmless becomes “why is the granola bar label backwards?” on a deck. Naming your files after flipping saves your future self.

JPEG vs PNG vs WebP — after you flip

JPEG is slim and email-friendly — great until you rely on invisible pixels behind a sticker; JPEG flattens them to a matte. PNG hangs onto transparency crisp for decks and comps. WebP is the modern middle ground — small files, transparency on most current browsers.

Here’s how you’ll know nothing went sideways — literally

Flip twice on the same axis and you land back on the original. If you stacked a bunch of edits and forgot what happened, try that cheat before you yell at Slack.

Quick workflow

Here’s the order that works

Do these in sequence so what you download matches what you saw on screen.

1
Open the flipper
Use the dashed upload zone on this page — same trusty control as everywhere else on the site.
2
Tap horizontal or vertical
Watch the preview until expressions, horizons, or any real-world lettering look “right.”
3
Save with a breadcrumb name
Add `_flipH` or `_flipV` to the filename so three weeks from now Dropbox search still tells the story.

Questions we all ask first

Flip vs rotate, quality, selfies

If you wondered “did I wreck the file?” or “is this reversible?” — you’re in good company. Short answers below.

Does flipping ruin image quality?

Mirroring rearranges pixels. Quality loss appears only after you compress again—especially when you download as a fresh JPEG.

Is flipping the same as inverting colours?

No. Colour inversion changes brightness curves. Flipping preserves every tone and only swaps geometry.

Which flip fixes a mirrored selfie?

Usually a single horizontal flip. If overlays include text from the real world, zoom in—the letters must still read forward.

Can I undo a flip after downloading?

Yes by applying the same flip again before you resize or sharpen the file downstream.

Why does my slideshow still show the old orientation?

Presentation apps cache thumbnails. Quit the deck, purge the cache folder, or re-import the mirrored asset.