problem with live mirroring

[arnoudh25213001]

Hi there,

So I'm making something using the live-mirrroring function distort and transform--> transform--> reflect x

So far so good, except now I'm transforming a path into a shape by selecting it and filling with black using the shape builder tool and for some reason, it mirrors not only in the established axis, but also another (mystery:/) axis. This is especially weird because I can make another shape or path in the same layer and it will not happen. Please help 🙂

[Danny Whitehead.]

What have you applied the Transform effect to? And is the new shape definitely part of it?

[arnoudh25213001]

I applied the effect to a rectangle larger than the canvas with it's centerpoint roughly aligned to the middle of the canvas. The new shape is definitely a part of it, otherwise it wouldn't be mirrored to begin with.

[Monika Gause]

Please upload the Illustrator file.

[arnoudh25213001]

How do I do that, not really familiar with sharing things in this community

[Monika Gause]

Please upload to Dropbox or the like and post a link in the forum.

[arnoudh25213001]

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/eonvnp900fyzkifim4jlt/flower-girl.ai?dl=0

hope this works

[meganchi]

Do you have a duplicate copy of the shapes beneath the top ones? I would suggest using the reflect tool from the tools panel. Select your artwork to mirror, then with the reflect tool selected, click a point at which you want to reflect around, then hold down your shift key and move it to the right or left, and release it when the reflect is complete. Next, you could use the paint bucket tool to colorize your artwork.

[Myra Ferguson]

Megan has a good idea. I get the impression that you may have been wanting to use the live effect to help you while you were in the process of creating. Here's a way you can use her Reflect idea and continue to create on one side with the reflection continuously updating--use a symbol. Select whatever you have for the one side of the face and make it a symbol by opening the Symbol panel (Window > Symbols or Shift + Ctrl + F11) and clicking on the New Symbol icon at the bottom of the panel (or going to the fly-out menu or using F8). Then use Reflect to make a reflected copy and nudge it into position. Double-click on the side where you want to keep creating. Illustrator will notify you that you are about to edit the Symbol definition. Click OK. What you have are two instances of a symbol. When you modify the content in one, it'll update the other. If you want to put both sides together, you can break the link to the symbol for both sides by right-clicking and selecting Break Link to Symbol.

[arnoudh25213001]

Thank you, if noone can solve my live reflect problem I will try that.

[arnoudh25213001]

I clicked share now, hopefully you can open the file now

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

The transform effect should only (!) be applied to the layer, but actually it is applied to some paths as well. Target them and delete the effect.

[arnoudh25213001]

Thanks! I totally hadn't noticed. I will pay more attention to this next time.