In PowerPoint 2011, you can easily
flip a picture on
your slide (see Figure 1, below).
Figure 1: Picture flipping is easy and quick in PowerPoint
This same flipping becomes impossible when you want to flip a picture that has been used as a
picture fill within
a shape. Look at the example shown in Figure 2, below. The shape on the left is the original
Pentagon arrow shape with a picture fill. In our attempt to flip the picture, we tried
flipping the container shape -- the result is
that the picture does get flipped, but so does the shape, as shown on the right
Figure 2: Pentagon arrow shape - original and flipped versions of shape with a picture fill
Now, assume that you have a presentation to work upon which has a similar shape with a picture fill. You don't have the
picture which has been used as a fill. What if you want to just flip the picture within the shape to end up with the result
shown towards the right in Figure 3, below? How do you do that?
Figure 3: Pentagon arrow shape - original and flipped versions of just the picture fill
Note: Although the following steps only explain how to flip a picture fill for a shape, you can use the
techniques explained hereafter when you want to rotate picture fills as well. Just substitute flipping with rotation.
Follow these steps to learn how to flip and rotate picture fills for shapes in PowerPoint 2011:
- We assume that you already have a
shape with a picture
fill, as shown towards the left within Figure 3 above. Select the entire shape and copy it using the
Command+C keyboard shortcut.
- Now, paste the copied shape (press Command+V) anywhere within the slide or even on a new slide. Then
change the copied shape (in our case, that's a Pentagon arrow) to a Rectangle by applying the Mask to Shape option. You'll
end up with something similar to what's shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Copy of the shape changed to a rectangle
-
Flip the rectangle horizontally to end up with
what you see in Figure 5 (compare with Figure 4, above).
Figure 5: Rectangle flipped horizontally
- Now right-click (Ctrl+click) the rotated rectangle. Then from the resultant contextual
menu, select the Save as Picture option as shown in Figure 5, above.
- This opens the Save dialog box as shown in Figure 6. Navigate to the folder where you
want to save the flipped shape as a picture, and click the Save button (highlighted in
red within Figure 6).
Figure 6: Save dialog box
- Now, right-click (Ctrl+click) your original Pentagon
arrow shape. Within the contextual menu that appears, choose the Format Shape
option, as shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Format Shape option
- This brings up the Format Shape dialog box. Using the options within this dialog box, access the picture
that you have just saved, and apply it as a picture fill to the selected Pentagon arrow
shape, as explained in our
Add Picture Fills to Shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac tutorial. This fills the Pentagon arrow shape with
the flipped picture, as shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Shape filled with flipped picture
- Use the Crop to Fill
option so that the picture sets properly within the shape, as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9: Picture fill flipped within the shape
- Compare the picture shown in Figure 9 with the before and after states of the same picture shown within
Figure 3, previously on this page.
- Save your presentation often.
See Also:
Flip and Rotate Picture Fills for Shapes in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Flip and Rotate Picture
Fills for Shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows
