How To Flip Or Rotate Images & Text In Canva

Are there times when you’re working in Canva, and you have images you need to flip but can’t figure out how? Not only will you be surprised by how easy it is to flip images, but you will also learn a workaround to flip text as well. 

Canva is a powerful free program that will soon take over the world (maybe), but for now, it does have some limitations. Flipping images and graphics is easy but we will go over the problems of flipping grouped images. Flipping text layers is not possible, but I’ll walk you through a hack that will keep your project flowing. You also can’t type out text vertically, but I’ll show you a little-known trick to format your text vertically in seconds!

How To Flip Images In Canva 

To flip an image or graphic in Canva, first, click on the element you wish to flip. Then go to the upper menu bar and click “Flip.” From the drop-down menu, click Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical to flip your image in any direction. Now your element is flipped!

Now if you’re more of a visual learner like I am, let’s break that down more in-depth.

So let’s flip some flip phones!

Just click on the image that you want to flip, then, at the top of the page, select Flip. 

Horizontal will flip your image from left to right or right to left. Vertical will flip your image from up to down or down to up. 

Flipping works with photos, graphics, and cut-out images. To select multiple images to flip, click on one image and then hold down the Shift Key and click on any other images you wish to flip. 

Things get a little more complicated when it comes to flipping photos or graphics that are grouped. 

In the picture above, the hand and the flip phone can be flipped independently. However, if you group them, only the layer that is on top will change its position. 

To flip the bottom layer, you must select it independent of any other layers and then click the Flip button.

How To Flip Text In Canva 

Text in Canva is a different beast compared to photos and graphics. There’s less you can do with text layers when it comes to manipulating them physically. 

Flipping a text layer like you would an image layer is not possible. The workaround I’m about to show you involves turning a text layer into a PNG and making that PNG into an image layer within Canva.          

Click on the Text tab, then select the size of text you would like. Alternatively, press T to open up a new Text Box. Then type out your text. 

As you can see, there’s no way for you to simply flip the text. Instead, you must first download the text as a PNG by clicking on the Share Button at the top of the page and then the Download Button. 

Make sure PNG is selected and that Transparent Background is checked. Double-check that the correct page is selected under Select Pages and click the Download Button. 

The PNG you just downloaded will now be on the hard drive on your computer. Click on the Upload Tab in Canva and select Upload Media. Drag the PNG into the uploads tab.

Your PNG will now be under the Upload Tab. Click on the image or click and drag the image into your project. 

Now that your text is considered an image layer by Canva, you can flip it however you’d like without any problems. 

How To Rotate Images & Text in Canva 

You may find that the only thing easier than flipping a single image is rotating one. Although similar to flipping, rotating allows you to keep your elements attributes in the same orientation as it rotates.

First, click on the object you would like to rotate. Then, click and hold the Rotate Button. Drag your mouse in the opposite direction to rotate the object how you would like it. 

What’s great about rotating grouped images or photos is that they can be rotated together. 

Click and drag your mouse over both layers to temporarily group them. 

If you want to group them permanently, then click and drag your mouse over both layers and hit the Group Button on the Top Bar or press Control + G (Win) or Command + G (Mac).

Then click and hold the Rotate Button and move it from left to right or up and down. Both layers will move at the same time.

When it comes to rotating, you won’t have to rotate each layer by itself. You can rotate all the layers at once to save time.

How To Type Vertical Text In Canva

Sometimes your project will require your text to be showcased vertically. Unfortunately, unlike the more expensive text manipulating software like Photoshop, Canva only allows you to type horizontally with no vertical text options. However, there are workarounds.  

And unfortunately, it’s not possible to just flip or rotate your text for this to work.

Luckily, there are two ways to create vertical text. The first is the manual way. 

Open the Text Tab in the Side Menu and drag in the text size you want, or press T to open a new Text Box. 

Type one letter. 

Hit Enter, then type your next letter. Hit Enter, and type your next letter. Do this until your phrase is complete. 

This can be a painstaking process, especially if you have a lot of text. 

Luckily there’s a much easier way of achieving the same effect. First, type out your text. Then, select the text and click and hold the side handle of the bounding box. 

Slowly drag it in the opposite direction until you see the desired effect. 

Adjusting the Line Spacing Of Vertical Text

You can also adjust the spacing between each letter. 

Click on the text box, and then press Control + A (Win) or Command + A (Mac) to select all of the text. This is important, otherwise, you will just adjust the first character instead of the entire phrase or sentence. 

Once all your text is selected, click on the Spacing Button. 

From here, it’s important to know what you have selected under the Anchor Text Box. 

• The Top Anchor Button will adjust your line spacing from the top
• The Middle Anchor Button will adjust your line spacing from the middle
• The Bottom Anchor Button will adjust your line spacing from the bottom

Once you’ve decided where you’d like the line spacing to be anchored, move the Line Spacing slider to the left or right to adjust it. 

I’ll show you the extremes of each adjustment, but it’s best to pick somewhere in the middle for your actual project. 

Adjusting from the top would look like this: 

Adjusting from the middle would look like this: 

Adjusting from the bottom would look like this: 

So with these different techniques in mind, it’s easy to flip anything in Canva from images, graphics, or text. If you’re trying to rotate your text so you can type vertically, just remember that it won’t work to just flip or rotate the text layer. Instead, you need to shrink the text box to make the effect work properly!