How to flip and rotate images in Google Docs

How to flip an image in Google Docs

Are you working on a Google document with images, and do you want to know how to flip an image in Google Docs? Do you want the images to look a certain way?

Perhaps, you want to turn the image around, change its orientation, or just generally change how the image appears in the Google document; then, image flipping is one of those things you can do.

When you flip an image, its sides change positions; that is, the side on the left becomes the right side and vice versa. Many people know nothing about how to flip an image in Google Docs.

Table of Contents

  1. How to flip or mirror an image in Google Docs
  2. How to rotate an image in Google Docs
    1. Rotate images using your mouse cursor
    2. Use the Google Docs drawing tool
  3. Wrap Up

How to flip or mirror an image in Google Docs

It is really simple, and we have created this guide to put you through in case you ever find yourself asking how to flip an image in Google Docs. Since you are here reading this article right now, how about we get to it and check out the steps?

  • Open the Google Docs document containing the image you would like to flip;
  • Click on the image to select it. You will notice a blue line surrounding the edges of the image;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • After selecting the image, right-click on it with your mouse and select “Copy”. A faster method is to press “CTRL + C” key combination;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • Click outside the image to deselect it. Then press the “Enter” key to open a new blank page;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • The image has already been copied to your clipboard. Go to the new page and click on “Insert” from the Google Docs toolbar. After clicking on “Insert”, select “Drawing”;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • Click on “New”, and Google Docs drawing tool will pop up;
  • Right-click the page and click on “Paste”, or simple press “CTRL + V”;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • The image will be pasted into the tool and automatically highlighted;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • The next thing to do is to flip the image. Click on “Actions” to access the drop-down menu. Navigate to “Rotate” and click on “Flip Horizontally”;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • Once you click on “Flip Horizontally”; the right area of the image turns left, and the left area turns to the right.
  • Notice the lion in the image now facing the left instead of the right that it was facing in the original image;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • Select “Save and Close” and now you know how to mirror an image in Google Docs!

If your aim is to do a vertical image flip, the steps are similar. The only difference is that you have to choose “Flip Vertically” instead of “Flip Horizontally” in the ninth step.

For some, it may also be interesting to know how to rotate an image in Google Docs. We will explore the steps below.

How to rotate an image in Google Docs

Rotating a picture in Google Docs is quite different from flipping an image (which we already discussed above). Inserting a picture into a Google Doc is simple, but changing an image’s orientation from portrait to landscape may not be straightforward.

Through the next steps, we will be teaching you how to rotate images in Google Docs.

Rotate images using your mouse cursor

  • Click on “Insert” and then “Image” to upload a picture from your computer, cloud storage, or the web;
  • Once you have inserted the image into the document, click on it to select it. You will see a border around the edges of the image;
  • Take note of the small circle at the center of the top of the edges (circled in the image below);
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • Navigate with your mouse and click on the small blue circle. Click and drag to your preferred direction. As you drag it around, it will start reading in degrees, and the image will keep moving;
How to flip an image in Google Docs

  • Once you get to your desired angle, let go of your mouse, and the image will rotate and adjust accordingly. The image below is the result of a 180-degree rotation.
How to flip an image in Google Docs

Use the Google Docs drawing tool

This method is useful for rotating an image in Google Docs. It is a bit more complex and involves some more steps than the first method. We include it so you can have multiple options if you ever need to rotate an image when using Google Docs.

  • Copy the image. Click on “Insert” and then navigate to “Drawing”. Select “New” from the drop-down menu;
  • The Google Docs drawing tool window opens. Paste the image in the toolbox using the “CTRL + V” key combination;
  • Click on “Actions” and scroll down to “Rotate”. From the drop-down, click your desired rotation option.

The difference between the second and first methods for rotating images in Google Docs is that the first allows you to rotate the image freely, from any angle. On the other hand, the second method allows you to rotate through 90-degree angles clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Wrap Up

There you have it on how to flip and also how to rotate images in Google Docs. We have highlighted various methods that you can use depending on your preferences.

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