# Why so many mirror image pictures on the web? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135 "2012-01-02T12:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/21 "2012-01-02T19:19:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > In the non-digital image practice if you take a negative and physically turn it over, usually by accident, the image is flopped. > > This can be dismissed as “industry jargon,” but normally it takes a while for meanings to change, and initial meanings left to vanish but live on in etymology. It’s been more than twenty years since every major image processing application has been using “Flip horizontal” and “flip vertical” - and even before that, you will find “flip” defined in any dictionary in its usually-understood sense, but good luck finding this sense of “flop.” When you consider how much more common it is to flip an image horizontally than vertically, and not that you’ll only find 1 instance of “flop the image” for every 750 instances of “flip the image,” it’s hard to argue that this use of “flop” is anything apart from a largely isolated peculiarity. If you want to talk actual _etymology_, “flop” is an imitative word with a clear association with striking the ground. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/22 "2012-01-02T19:43:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s what I figured for my sister. When she uses photobooth and the like it’s easier to work with if it’s like looking in a mirror. I’ve always found it odd that it doesn’t flip everything back after it takes the picture. I first noticed this a while ago when she shot a video of my daughter and I noticed that the room was backwards…after that when I noticed that writing on clothing was reversed I figured it was for the same reason. I find that odd to. I can understand Apple making the view mirrored as standard if being that spatially impaired is common, but when people take pictures and video it’s usually to share with others, and then it just looks weird. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/23 "2012-01-02T19:44:24Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [Cartesian coordinate system - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_coordinate_system) > [What is the Cartesian plane, and how do I use it? | Purplemath](http://www.purplemath.com/modules/plane.htm) > [X-Axis and Y-Axis: An Easy Trick to Remember them Forever](http://www.gradeamathhelp.com/x-axis-and-y-axis.html) > > I like the last link … " **x to the left** and **y to the sky"** I know what the X and Y axes are, but ‘x-y axis’ isn’t a meaningful term (x-y _plane_ would be) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/24 "2012-01-02T19:50:55Z")
I wonder if we’re hung up on the difference between what a mirror does (flip in the Z axis - i.e. front vs back) and flipping around a vertical axis to create something that looks like a mirror image (i.e text will be reversed,etc)? In the case of webcam images, it makes no difference anyway - if you take a picture of yourself in a webcam, you can either represent that in its natural form (text readable), or make it into a mock-mirror-image (text reversed, and the mole on your right cheek is on the right hand side of the face in the image). You don’t have the option of inverting this image in the Z axis, as though would entail revealing detail that was hidden to the camera. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/25 "2012-01-02T20:02:33Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yes, but I don’t think you’ve understand my point. > > Put a thumbtack in the center of a picture and spin it. Whatever rotation you perform will _not_ be equivalent to flipping the picture. Got it now. Somersault vs cartwheel. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/26 "2012-01-02T20:10:20Z")
in 3D you can also envision the xy on the floor/earth and the z the altitude. if you look at something from the ground surface then y is in/out and z is up/down. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/27 "2012-01-02T22:33:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s what I figured for my sister. When she uses photobooth and the like it’s easier to work with if it’s like looking in a mirror. I’ve always found it odd that it doesn’t flip everything back after it takes the picture. I first noticed this a while ago when she shot a video of my daughter and I noticed that the room was backwards…after that when I noticed that writing on clothing was reversed I figured it was for the same reason. The really cool thing about this is when you use an iPad or iPhone for FaceTime (maybe Skype as well) - when you use the front facing camera, the image is reversed, since you’re most likely to be looking at yourself. When you switch it around to the camera on the back, which points away from you, the image is no longer reversed. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/28 "2012-01-03T05:59:20Z")
> [@Batfish](#): > > Jargon of a particular industry. Not really. Flopped has been around since the first glass negatives in 1839, then flopped magic-lantern slides. Then flopped transparent celluloid negatives. Then, horror of all horrors, flopped positive colour slides of Uncle George’s new Edsel with right-hand drive. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/29 "2012-01-03T06:12:34Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Not really. Flopped has been around since the first glass negatives in 1839, then flopped magic-lantern slides. Then flopped transparent celluloid negatives. Then, horror of all horrors, flopped positive colour slides of Uncle George’s new Edsel with right-hand drive. It may have been, but it’s still a niche usage, at least in my experience. Hell, I _am_ a photographer, and shot in the days of film, too, and I never knew there was a distinction between “flipped” and “flopped” photos. I doubt one in ten of my colleagues would know the technical difference. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/30 "2012-01-03T06:43:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Hell, I _am_ a photographer, and shot in the days of film, too, and I never knew there was a distinction between “flipped” and “flopped” photos. I doubt one in ten of my colleagues would know the technical difference. I shot pro in the days of film and never used the term flipped or even heard of it, so maybe it’s a geographic thing. Flopping a pic was a cardinal sin. A flipped pic simply would be upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/31 "2012-01-03T12:10:55Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > A flipped pic simply would be upside down. Upside down can be ambiguous though. If I want an upside-down american flag, are the stars now in the bottom left or bottom right? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/32 "2012-01-03T13:08:59Z")
Re webcams… I always understood that although the image it presents to you (the person in the pic) is reversed, the image it sends to other people (i.e. the person you are talking to) is not reversed. Isn’t that the case? Certainly when I talk to my parents on Skype, their room isn’t “back to front”. So why would a photo taken with a webcam be reversed? Surely it only reverses it to show in the “picture in picture” window if you’re having a conversation? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135/33 "2012-01-03T15:10:30Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Re webcams… I always understood that although the image it presents to you (the person in the pic) is reversed, the image it sends to other people (i.e. the person you are talking to) is not reversed. Isn’t that the case? > > Certainly when I talk to my parents on Skype, their room isn’t “back to front”. > > So why would a photo taken with a webcam be reversed? Surely it only reverses it to show in the “picture in picture” window if you’re having a conversation? I don’t know how it is with other pieces of software, but, as noted above, Photo Booth (on Macs) defaults to saving the mirrored orientation. You have to select “Auto-Flip New Items” from the menu to have it save properly oriented. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-many-mirror-image-pictures-on-the-web/608135.md?page=1)