Why does camera flip the picture when I take a selfie?

Hi! The image flips automatically to avoid the "mirror effect". If you look in the front camera from the app you see things like in a mirror. When you take the pic, it flips automatically to correspond to the reality.

It doesn't flip them when it takes the pictures.

It flips the image while you are taking it so it looks like what you would see in the mirror. Otherwise it would be very very awkward to position the camera to correctly take the picture. Imagine seeing your right hand on the left side of the picture while taking it. It would be extremely weird to try to position something that way.

So it flips the image so you see what you are used to seeing in a mirror, and can position the frame more naturally.

The end result is the correct orientation of the photo as it is taken i.e seen by the camera, not as you see it while taking it.

If you were standing in front of the car facing it, taking the picture normally, (in a not-british drive car), the driver is on the right side relative to you, and the passenger is on the left. That is what the camera sees.

When you take the picture, it flips it, so what you see is a mirror reflection. i.e the driver appears on the left side of the frame, while the passenger appears on the right side of the frame, relative to you. This is to make it easier to manage. Otherwise you (taking the selfie) would appear on the right side of the screen, which would make it very awkward.

But from the camera's point of view, the driver is on the right side.

It's all a matter of perspective.

If you are trying to show your good side, if you turn your face so that your right cheek is showing, then when you take the picture and look at it, your right cheek is the one showing. Just to be sure, try taking a selfie with a shirt on that has printing on it. When you are looking at the phone screen, you will notice the mirror image and the text is mirrored. Take the photo and then look at it. You will see that the text is now correctly oriented.

Again, you are expecting the picture to look like what you see in the mirror. It doesn't. It never has.

When taking a selfie, the camera is looking at you from the perspective you would be looking from at someone when taking their picture.

i.e their right cheek would be towards your left side.

Apps like Snapchat and Instagram for instance will retain the mirrored effect but it will be in fact mirrored. any text will appear backwards. Which makes the option incorrect.

The Camera App will correctly show it after taking it. You can if you want, take the selfie, and then mirror it with a different app, after its been taken.

Photoshop Express is a good one for this and is free.

Adobe Photoshop Express on the App Store

Jzotos wrote:

I understand, but when I take a selfie I WANT the mirror effect. It’s just your face and you want the pic to look exactly as you take it! If I take my pic in snap chat it doesn’t do that! It turns out exactly how I capture it! It doesn’t flip it

The way you look to the camera (which is in the vantage point of another person looking at you) is the way the picture looks. If you want the picture to be flipped, you will need to take the picture with some other camera app. That is the way the iPhone Camera app has always taken pictures.

@Chrisj4203, I just tried exactly your test with my work shirt and company name before I read your comment. You are exactly right, the screen image when taking the photo is laterally reversed (mirrored) for easy handling, and the final image is captured with correct orientation. Having the saved photo as mirrored would look very strange and wrong for all those selfies with shopfronts and other writing in the background.

The picture is correct from it’s position. If you were to stand where the camera is and look at the image you are taking, you would see yourself on the right side and the passenger seat on the left.

Very true. Thank you. 😉