Flip Shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

When you insert a shape within a PowerPoint slide, you can resize and rotate as already shown in previous tutorials on using shapes in PowerPoint. Quite similar to rotate is the flip option that creates a reverse or mirror image of any selected shape.

Follow these steps to apply these flip options in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows:

1. Select the shape so that the eight blueish white handles appear around the selection, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Select the shape
2. Select any of the side handles (side handles are square unlike the corner handles, which are round) and drag towards the other end of the shape, as shown in Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Drag towards the other end of the shape
3. Keep dragging beyond the shape on the other side to flip the selected shape, as shown in Figure 3, below.
4. 
   Figure 3: Drag on the other side to flip a shape
4. Alternatively, hold the Ctrl key and drag any of the side handles towards the other end of the shape, as shown in Figure 4, below. This action will flip the shape from the center (not proportionately), as shown in Figure 4 on the right side.
5. 
   Figure 4: Hold the Ctrl key to flip the shape from the center
5. To get more exact control over the flip, select the shape to activate the Drawing Tools Format tab on the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 5, below. Within the Arrange group, click the Rotate button to access the Rotate gallery, as shown in Figure 5. Choose either Flip Vertical or Flip Horizontal, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5.
6. 
   Figure 5: Flip options under Rotate gallery
6. Figure 6, below, displays the selected shape flipped horizontally.
7. 
   Figure 6: Shape flipped horizontally
7. You can make copies of your selected shapes, and then flip them differently to create a pattern, as shown in Figure 7, below.
8. 
   Figure 7: Use flip to create patterns