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Participating Frequently
October 27, 2008
Answered

Shortcut for flip horizontal/vertical?

  • October 27, 2008
  • 8 replies
  • 164832 views
I find myself digging this option from the transform pane all the time, is there a way to assign a shortcut for this simple operation?

I can't get a hang of the Reflect-tool for some reason, it's quite clumsy.
Correct answer Kris Hunt

You're confusing robustness with clumsiness. Just hold down the Shift key at the same time to get basic horizontal/vertical operation.

8 replies

Participant
May 1, 2017

Hello everyone,
I found a easy and faster way to flip and reflect.
- Just select the object press "O" then enter
- In popup window select your desired option.
to repeat that same action just press O then Enter twice..
wohlaaa Flipped...........

Participant
August 21, 2024

thanks alot even though its after 7 years =D

Ray Yorkshire
Participating Frequently
September 3, 2016

In reflection it's  best  to use this script

  with its handy toolbar that stays open

Free Illustrator Script – Flip.jsx - Freebies - Vectorboom

Kris Hunt
Kris HuntCorrect answer
Legend
June 3, 2016

You're confusing robustness with clumsiness. Just hold down the Shift key at the same time to get basic horizontal/vertical operation.

Oleandra28
Participant
June 3, 2016

KrisHunt- Thanks!!! you rock!

Blammer
Participant
June 3, 2016

to flip horizontally you can, with your object selected, press 'o' and hit enter twice

zikmail
Participant
August 17, 2016

Hey man, thanks.

Really helpful

laurenw48897128
Participant
February 23, 2015

I learned an incredibly quick shortcut in school if you are reflecting so that it ends up perfectly symmetrical.  Click on the Reflect tool, and make sure that your selection that you want to reflect is highlighted.  Hold down the alt key, and click where you would like it to reflect to( for example if you are reflecting half of a shirt, click the middle of the half) Then your options will pop up, and just make sure that you press copy.  Then group the two and bam! You have two perfectly symmetrical and attached halves to make a whole!

Participating Frequently
October 27, 2008
I have Actions for both operations and use Button Mode so I have a button for each in the Actions panel, along with buttons to rotate 90 degrees clockwise and counterclockwise. The buttons save a lot of effort.
clevermill.com
Inspiring
February 14, 2014

I've wanted a shortcut for flipping for a long time.  I use it a ton.  In Photoshop it's easy.  In Illustrator there's no shortcut.  I assign the horizontal flipping to my "double-clicker" on my wacom pen and then hold down shift to do vertical flipping.

Thanks to tmalcom's suggestion, I have created an action, assigned it the F2 key, and then assigned that to my wacom pen.  This is more complicated than it should be, but at least it'll feel like I'm working as efficiently in Photoshop now.

Participant
October 27, 2008
I use the flip horizontal and vertical commands alot also. But it has never seemed a hassle to get to them. If you keep the transform panel open all the time then it's only two clicks to do either command - one to open the flyout menu and one to select either of the flip commands.

You could also create an action to do them, but that requires the action panel to be open and still takes two clicks. You could however assign a Function Key to the action and reduce the work down to just pressing one key.
Participant
March 25, 2010

I second the request for a keyboard command for flip horizontal, vertical, 90 degrees, -90 degrees, 180 degrees and -180 degrees. Photoshop had this and as a textile designer I use it constantly.

Steve Fairbairn
Inspiring
October 27, 2008
Just double-click on the reflect tool and you get the Horizontal/vertical option. Or (with the same tool) put your cursor on the reflection axis and option-click. This is one of the tools that you seldom need to use manually.
Of course you can do exactly the same with the transform gadget by entering a minus value, but the reflect tool is easier.