How to Flip / Mirror Text in Google Docs

Flipping the text in your document, similar to flipping an image, refers to mirroring it. It’s like putting the text in front of a mirror and taking the reflection- this is the flipped version of the text.

You can flip text in two main ways: vertically and horizontally. When you vertically flip a text, it means that its top and bottom portions are reversed. On the other hand, when you horizontally flip a text, it means that its left and right portions are reversed.

It is important to know the difference between vertically and horizontally flipping a text so that you can choose the right option in your word processing software.

Several word processing software applications allow you to flip your text, but today we will be talking about Google Docs.

Google Docs gives you the option to flip your text in a few simple steps. In this article, we will be taking you through these steps.

Specifically, we will be covering two methods you can follow to flip text in Google Docs:

• Vertically flipping text in Drawings
  
• Flipping text by using the Word Art option

Also, this article is intended for complete beginners so you don’t have to know anything about Google Docs to follow along!

Let’s get started.

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Method 1: Vertically flipping text in Drawings

In this section, we will be talking about how you can flip text in Drawings. Note that this method only works if you want to vertically flip your text: it is not going to work if you want to horizontally flip it.

Below are the steps for this method.

Step 1: Open your Google Docs document. 

First of all, open the Google Docs document which contains the text you want to flip. 

To do this, go to the Google Docs homepage at docs.google.com. If you are not signed into your account yet, make sure to sign in. Next, choose an existing document under ‘Recent documents.’

You can also create a completely new document by clicking on the plus sign at the top of the screen (which opens up a blank document) or choosing from one of the many templates.

Step 2: Highlight the text you want to flip and cut it.

Next, highlight the portion of the text you want to flip and cut it. 

To cut the text, you can either press Control + X (or Command + X for Mac users) or right-click and select the ‘Cut’ option from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Click on the ‘Insert’ tab.

The next step is to click on the ‘Insert’ tab, located in the top left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.

Step 4: Select ‘Drawings’ and click on ‘New.’

From the drop-down menu that appears, select ‘Drawings’ (this is the third option in the menu). From the new drop-down menu, click on ‘New’ (this is the first option in the menu).

Step 5: Paste your text.

When you click on ‘New,’ a Drawings window will appear on the screen. Paste your text in this window. You can do this by either pressing Control + V (Command + V for Mac users), or by right-clicking and selecting the ‘Paste’ option.

Step 6: Flip your text.

Keep in mind that using this method, you can only vertically flip your text.

There are two ways in which you can do this. The first way is by using the anchors of the text box.

At the top of the text box, you should find a circular anchor. This can be used for rotating the box. To vertically flip the text, rotate this text box by 180 degrees.

Another way to flip the text is by directly selecting the vertical flip option. Right-click on the screen and hover over the ‘Rotate’ option in the drop-down menu. From this menu, choose the ‘Flip vertically’ option.

You could also select ‘Flip horizontally’ but nothing will happen- your text box will remain the same.

The same thing can be done by going to the ‘Actions’ menu, clicking on ‘Rotate’ and selecting ‘Flip vertically.’ 

You can also click on the ‘Rotate clockwise 90^o’ or ‘Rotate counter-clockwise 90^o’ from the ‘Rotate’ menu twice. The great thing about Google Docs is that it gives you multiple options for performing the same action.

Step 7: Click on ‘Save and Close.’

To save your changes and insert the new text into your document, click on ‘Save and Close.’ 

You will notice that you cannot directly edit the text anymore (you will have to go to the Drawings window again to edit the text). This is because your text has been converted into an object. This is one downside of flipping your text in Google Docs.

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Method 2: Flipping text using Word Art

If you also want the option of flipping your text horizontally, you can use the Word Art option.

However, there are two downsides of using this option. Firstly, you cannot change the font size of Word Art the way you can change the font size of normal text. To change its size, you have to change the size of the box using the anchors.

You can still change its font style and colour, and make it bold/italics though.

The second drawback is that you cannot use this method for flipping normal text, you can only use it for Word Art.

With that introduction, let’s learn the steps for flipping text using this method.

Step 1: Open the ‘Insert’ tab, select ‘Drawings’ then click on ‘New.’

This step is the same as steps 3-4 discussed above. Click on the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Drawings’ from the menu. Then, click on ‘New’ to open the Drawings window.

Step 2: Click on ‘Actions’ and select ‘Word Art.’

In the toolbar of the Drawings window, you will find the ‘Actions’ tab (it is the first option). Click on this option.

From the drop-down menu that appears, choose the Word Art option.

Step 3: Type text in the Word Art box and press Enter.

Next, type the text that you would like to flip in the Word Art box and press Enter. Something like this will appear on your screen:

Step 4: Flip your text.

Like before, you have different options for flipping your text. The first option is by using anchors. 

To vertically flip your text, use the circular anchor above your text box and rotate it by 180 degrees.

To horizontally flip your text, use the left or right anchors (the ones used for adjusting the size of the box) and drag them in the opposite direction.

Another way to flip the text (which is more convenient) is by right-clicking on the text box and hovering over ‘Rotate.’ Choose either the ‘Flip vertically’ or ‘Flip horizontally’ options.

From the Rotate menu, you can also choose ‘Rotate clockwise 90^o’ or ‘Rotate counter-clockwise 90^o’ two times to vertically flip the text.

(Optional) Step 5: Format your Word Art.

You can change the font colour, border colour, font style and size of your Word Art, and make it bold and/or italics. You can also change the style and thickness of your border. Hence, you can customise your Word Art however you like.

Step 6: Click on ‘Save and Close.’ 

Once you’re done formatting your text, click on ‘Save and Close’ to insert the Word Art in your document. It should appear like this:

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Conclusion 

This is all we have for you today! Since we’ve covered so many topics, here’s a brief recap of everything we’ve learned.

There are two methods you can use to flip text in Google Docs. You can copy-paste your text in the Drawings window and either rotate the text or choose the ‘Flip vertically’ option. Note that you can only vertically flip text using this method.

The second method of flipping text is by using Word Art. This method allows you to flip your text both vertically and horizontally. All you have to do is go to the Drawings window, click on ‘Actions’ and select the ‘Word Art’ option from the drop-down menu. Then, you can use the rotate/flip options we discussed above.

Learn how to flip image in google doc.