Can you use CSS to mirror/flip text?

Question

Is it possible to use CSS/CSS3 to mirror text?

Specifically, I have this scissors char “✂” (✂) that I\'d like to display pointing left a

Answer 1

You can use CSS transformations to achieve this. A horizontal flip would involve scaling the div like this:

-moz-transform: scale(-1, 1);
-webkit-transform: scale(-1, 1);
-o-transform: scale(-1, 1);
-ms-transform: scale(-1, 1);
transform: scale(-1, 1);

And a vertical flip would involve scaling the div like this:

-moz-transform: scale(1, -1);
-webkit-transform: scale(1, -1);
-o-transform: scale(1, -1);
-ms-transform: scale(1, -1);
transform: scale(1, -1);

---

DEMO:

span{ display: inline-block; margin:1em; } 
.flip_H{ transform: scale(-1, 1); color:red; }
.flip_V{ transform: scale(1, -1); color:green; }

<span class='flip_H'>Demo text &#9986;</span>
<span class='flip_V'>Demo text &#9986;</span>

Answer 2

You can user either

.your-class{ 
      position:absolute; 
      -moz-transform: scaleX(-1); 
      -o-transform: scaleX(-1); 
      -webkit-transform: scaleX(-1); 
      transform: scaleX(-1); 
      filter: FlipH;  
}

or

 .your-class{ 
  position:absolute;
  transform: rotate(360deg) scaleX(-1);
}

Notice that setting position to absolute is very important! If you won't set it, you will need to set display: inline-block;

Answer 3

this is what worked for me for <span class="navigation-pipe">&gt;</span>

display:inline-block;
-moz-transform: rotate(360deg);
-webkit-transform: rotate(360deg);
transform: rotate(360deg);
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=4);

just need display:inline-block or block to rotate. So basically first answer is good. But -180 didn't worked.

Answer 4

For cross browser compatibility create this class

.mirror-icon:before {
    -webkit-transform: scale(-1, 1);
    -moz-transform: scale(-1, 1);
    -ms-transform: scale(-1, 1);
    -o-transform: scale(-1, 1);
    transform: scale(-1, 1);
}

And add it to your icon class, i.e.

<i class="icon-search mirror-icon"></i>

to get a search icon with the handle on the left

Answer 5

-moz-transform: scale(-1, 1);
-webkit-transform: scale(-1, 1);
-o-transform: scale(-1, 1);
-ms-transform: scale(-1, 1);
transform: scale(-1, 1);

The two parameters are X axis, and Y axis, -1 will be a mirror, but you can scale to any size you like to suit your needs. Upside down and backwards would be (-1, -1).

If you're interested in the best option available for cross browser support back in 2011, see my older answer.

Answer 6

Just adding a working demo for horizontal and vertical mirror flip.

.horizontal-flip {
  -moz-transform: scale(-1, 1);
  -webkit-transform: scale(-1, 1);
  -o-transform: scale(-1, 1);
  -ms-transform: scale(-1, 1);
  transform: scale(-1, 1);
}

.vertical-flip {
  -moz-transform: scale(1, -1);
  -webkit-transform: scale(1, -1);
  -o-transform: scale(1, -1);
  -ms-transform: scale(1, -1);
  transform: scale(1, -1);
}

<div class="horizontal-flip">
  Hello, World
  <input type="text">
</div>
<hr>
<div class="vertical-flip">
  Hello, World
  <input type="text">
</div>