Photo flip

[Acorn]

@acorn sigh Smart transform has nothing to do with image flipping. I know you hate it but you can't blame it for everything.

Rob, sigh back.

Image flipping can be done two ways. (1) With the Flip icons that I mentioned. (2) With the central black control points, drag any beyond the opposite one and the image flips. With Smart Transform selected, it most certainly doesn't. If you hold down the Alt key with ST on, it flips.

Sigh.
Acorn

[Rob-Xar]

Rob, sigh back.

Image flipping can be done two ways. (1) With the Flip icons that I mentioned. (2) With the central black control points, drag any beyond the opposite one and the image flips. With Smart Transform selected, it most certainly doesn't. If you hold down the Alt key with ST on, it flips.

Sigh.
Acorn

If you use the handles then you can't maintain the maintain the aspect ratio / size which is why we have the buttons on the toolbar. It makes no sense to flip an object with the handles.

[Acorn]

If you use the handles then you can't maintain the maintain the aspect ratio / size which is why we have the buttons on the toolbar. It makes no sense to flip an object with the handles.

It does when you are being creative and don't have a UI stopping you.

There used to be a very simple flow around manipulation. One could create a shape, image or text, rotate, stretch, flip, skew, all without recourse to the toolbar to toggle state or change to the Photo or Smart Shape tool.
A case in point is the water reflection of a shape: clone and drag downward to flip. Both shapes align along the horizontal; the flip and distortion is planned. Using the flipper icons, one has to pick the reflection origin point, hold down the Alt key if ST is on or toggle ST off and then distort.

Dynamic and not stuttering.
Acorn

[ss-kalm]

... It makes no sense to flip an object with the handles.

Only in most instances ... Even so, why would any creative graphic design program deliberately prevent you from doing it.

[Chris M]

Sorry Rob, I have to throw my 2 cents in here too. I used to deform text using the beloved method for posters, ads and social media posts. I tend to drift towards another software package as a default for those tasks now.

In fact that's a good point to bring up. Xara used to be the Swiss Army Knife, but now I think about it, I do seem to be firing up other software more than I used to.

[morris]

If you use the handles then you can't maintain the maintain the aspect ratio / size which is why we have the buttons on the toolbar. It makes no sense to flip an object with the handles.

Ermmm... Did I miss anything? I'm used to flip objects by dragging central handles with Ctrl (aspect ratio maintained) or Shift+Ctrl (then the object is flipped "in place"), I almost never use the flip buttons on the toolbar.

[gwpriester]

Still works for me Morris. Designer Pro X-16. And I just learned something new. I have used Xara since 1996 and never knew about the Ctrl Shift flip in place trick.

And it works with and without Smart Transform.

[morris]

Still works for me Morris. Designer Pro X-16. And I just learned something new. I have used Xara since 1996 and never knew about the Ctrl Shift flip in place trick.

Yeah, I know it works. That's why I was suprised by Rob's statement that I quoted - as if he did not know the Ctrl-flip "trick" (for maintaining aspect ratio of the flipped object).

[ss-kalm]

I too use CTRL drag to FLIP and RESIZE in one motion. Rarely do I use the FLIP buttons ... I have to specifically think about them, and that's normally only when cloning and mirroring.

[gwpriester]

I think this is because it is a very old behavior before it was "improved"