To flip something in place, select it, right-click and choose Flip horizontally (Shift+H) or Flip vertically (Shift+V). To add a mirror-image copy across a line, such as the other half of a semi-detached pair, right-click and choose Mirror…, then click two points of the mirror line. Both are free.
A flip or mirror is a true mirror image, not a turn: doors swing the other way, an L-shaped stair turns the other way, and a corner sofa has its return on the other side.
Flipping in place
- Select what you want to flip with the Select tool (V): click one thing, Shift-click to add more, or drag a box.
- Right-click the selection and choose Flip horizontally to swap left and right, or Flip vertically to swap top and bottom.
The selection flips across its own middle, so it stays where it was and only swaps sides. Flipping again in the same direction puts everything back exactly as it was.
The same commands are on Shift+H and Shift+V, and as the ⇆ Flip and ⇅ Flip buttons next to the rotate buttons in the properties panel.
Mirroring a copy across a line
Mirror adds a mirrored copy and leaves the original where it is. It is how you draw one half of a semi-detached or terraced pair and get the other half from it, or put a bathroom’s mirror image on the other side of a shared wall.
- Select what you want to mirror. For a whole storey, right-click an empty part of the plan and choose Select all on this floor.
- Right-click the selection and choose Mirror…, or click Mirror in the toolbox, just below Move exactly. Your selection stays selected.
- Click the first point of the mirror line. It snaps to wall ends, corners and the like, so for a party wall, click one end of that wall.
- Move the pointer to swing the line round that point. The mirrored copy is previewed live and follows the line. When nothing else snaps, the line settles on horizontal, vertical and 45°; hold Shift to keep it on those directions.
- Click the second point to place the copy. Enter places it where the pointer is.
A wall that lies exactly on the mirror line is not copied, because the copy would sit on top of it. Mirror across a party wall and the two halves share that one wall, joined to it at both ends.
When the copy is placed, the editor switches back to Select with the copy selected, so you can move it or check it straight away. The whole mirror is one undo step: ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z) removes the copy.
Moving the original instead
Press Tab while the Mirror tool is on to switch between adding a mirrored copy and moving the original to its mirror image. The hint line at the bottom of the window says which one is on, and the choice is kept for the next time you use the tool. Moving the original is a flip across any line you like, rather than across the middle of the selection.
Esc lets go of the first point of the line. A second Esc clears the selection.
What changes hand
Flipping and mirroring keep the drawing honest about which way things face:
| Thing | What happens |
|---|---|
| Doors | Stay on the same wall and swing to the mirrored side, so a left-hand door becomes a right-hand one |
| Windows, wall cut-outs and niches | Stay on their wall, with the face they were set to on the other side |
| L-shaped and winder stairs | Turn the other way |
| Corner sofas, modular sofas, showers, corner cabinets, kitchen islands and fireplaces | Take their mirror-image version, so a return on the left ends up on the right |
| Wall finishes | Follow their face to its new side |
| Dimensions | Keep measuring the same thing, drawn on the mirrored side |
| Text and room labels | Keep reading left to right |
| Drawn arcs | Bend the other way |
Everything attached comes along with what you select, the same way as when you move or rotate: doors and windows ride their walls, and dimensions stay anchored to what they measure.
When it says no
Some selections cannot honestly flip, and the editor says why instead of flipping part of them:
- A door or window on its own. An opening belongs to its wall, so select the wall as well.
- Some walls of a joined room. Flipping them in place would tear them away from the walls they meet. Choose Select connected walls to include the rest, or Flip detached… to flip only what you selected and leave its ends unjoined. A mirror copy of the same walls is fine, because the original walls stay where they are.
- A repeat pattern. Its rule repeats in one direction. Explode it first, or rotate it.
- A reference image. A traced plan cannot be mirrored.
What this doesn’t do
- A few catalogue pieces have no mirror-image version. A kitchen island whose unit positions were never set by hand is one of them. Such an item is turned to fit the mirrored outline instead, and a notice says so, so check it.
- Mirror works in the plan only. Choosing it from 3D, an elevation or a section opens the plan first.
- One storey at a time. Flip and Mirror act on what is selected on the current floor. To mirror a whole building, do each storey in turn.