Why are selfies backwards? How to flip a mirrored photo

Selfies come out backwards because the front camera's preview is mirrored, like a bathroom mirror, and some phones save the photo exactly as the preview showed it. To fix one, flip it horizontally: flip a mirrored photo in your browser with Rotate Image. To stop it happening, change the mirror setting in your camera app, described below.

You take a selfie in front of a shop sign and the lettering is backwards. Or the photo looks oddly unfamiliar: your parting is on the wrong side. Both come from the same thing: the difference between what a mirror shows and what a camera sees.

Why it happens

When you use the front camera, the preview on screen is mirrored, like a bathroom mirror, because that is how people expect to see themselves. Whether the saved photo is also mirrored depends on the phone and its settings. Some save exactly what the preview showed, so text is reversed. Others save the unmirrored view, which is how other people see you, and that can look “wrong” to you because you know your face from mirrors.

Neither is a fault. But if a photo contains writing, a logo or a recognisable place, the unmirrored version is the correct one.

Flip a photo step by step

1. Open Rotate Image and add the selfie.
2. Use flip horizontal. Text that was backwards now reads normally.
3. Check the result and download. The photo stays in your browser throughout.

Flipping is exact: no pixels are blurred, only their positions are swapped. If you also need to straighten or trim the photo, do it after flipping, so the crop is placed on the final image.

Stop it happening

• iPhone: Settings → Camera → Mirror Front Camera. When it is on, saved selfies match the mirrored preview; when it is off, they are saved unmirrored.
• Android: the option lives in the camera app's own settings and its name varies by maker, for example “Save selfies as previewed” or “Mirror front camera”.
• Video calls: most apps mirror your own preview only. The other person sees you the right way round, so a sign behind you reads correctly for them even if it looks reversed to you.

When to flip, and when not to

• Flip photos with text, numbers, logos or landmarks, and anything used as a record, such as a photo of a document held up to the front camera.
• Your choice for portraits. Many people prefer the mirrored version of their own face and the unmirrored version of friends' faces. Choose whichever looks right to you.
• Do not flip ID photos or passport photos. They must show your face as it is.

Flipping versus rotating

Flipping makes a mirror image: left becomes right. Rotating turns the picture around its centre: upside down is a 180-degree rotation, not a flip. A photo that is sideways needs rotating; see why photos appear sideways. A photo that reads backwards needs flipping.

If the flipped selfie is going to be a profile picture, crop it to a square afterwards in Crop Image, or see how to make a round profile picture.