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In Gimp, I could do this by "Layer/Transform/180 rotation" and then "Layer/Transform/Flip vertically" -- and then with some mouse, putting things together but it is slow. I am now looking for simpler solution, particularly interested in Inkscape but also interested in other FOSS tools such as Gimp and Blender.

My goal is to save time by this "reflection in line" i.e. by reusing. I want to do just half of the work and then get the other half easily. Similarly, suppose I do a four-times symmetric shape, I want to reuse the one piece to get the 360 degrees' shape.

How to do mathematical operations such as reflection in line?

enter image description here

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erm... huh? Is there a question there? – Scott May 9 '12 at 12:24
I did not down vote. I still don't see a clear question here. – Scott May 9 '12 at 14:22
Sorry, I don't wish to help based upon your attitude. good luck to you. – Scott May 9 '12 at 14:28
@hhh I downvoted your question because it is overly simple and easily searchable. If you google "inkscape reflection", there are pages of results with tutorials on how to create what you are trying to do. In fact, the entire process involves clicking a single button that is visible in the default tool menus. – Farray May 9 '12 at 14:57
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@hhh Although I am not totally certain if it applies to GraphicDesign.SE, according to this a question may be closed if "a search engine can answer the question". – its_me May 11 '12 at 5:12
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2 Answers

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Inkscape: Just make a copy of the object (Space bar+click), then flip the copy horizontally (H) and move it next to the original. (Activate the box snapping to make it easier to position it).

Sorry, didn't read the question properly.

The operation requires 2 keystrokes and one flick of the mouse, so it hardly seems worth it to look for something else. You can do the same on a large number of objects just by selecting them together...

What are you trying to do that requires this to be a one click function?

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How did you do the "selection" in inkscape? I can do the copy and horizontal-reflection but cannot find the Gimp-style crop or selection, investigating...anyway +1 for nice combos, wish I could find things from the menus also, searching. – hhh May 9 '12 at 15:21
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@hhh Selection is simple: Left click to select one. Shift+click to select more. Alternatively, you can use the "select" tool (F1) and "draw" a square around the objects you want to select. – Sylverdrag May 9 '12 at 15:29
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For cropping, you have to think differently: Draw a path over the path you want to crop, select both and use "Difference" from the path menu (Ctrl+-). If the object you want to crop is not a path, you have to convert it to path first (Shift+ctrl+c) – Sylverdrag May 9 '12 at 15:32
Are you trying to edit a raster image? if so, inkscape is not the tool you need – Sylverdrag May 10 '12 at 4:58
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@hhh Spend some time on youtube watching tutorials and try to do them. You seem to be missing basic data about the working of vector graphics and no amount of answering will help until you learn a bit more. – Sylverdrag May 11 '12 at 11:03
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There are many ways to do the reflection in line. For batch-processing, you should use ImageMagick. For casual editing, please, consult the other answer with Inkscape solution. For more serious thing, you may want to use Mirror operation and Blender like here.

Imagemagick, example tested in Ubuntu

$ cat /proc/version 
Linux version 3.2.0-24-generic (buildd@yellow) (gcc version 4.6.3 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5) ) #37-Ubuntu SMP Wed Apr 25 08:43:22

UTC 2012 $ sudo apt-get install imagemagick

Firstly, I have right-sided image from which I generate the left-hand side with the following one-liner.

$ convert -flop right.png left.png

enter image description here

...getting the other pic:

enter image description here

And then just the join, here it is possible to do other things but showing only the reflection-in-line. Now you can continue with other tools such as Gimp or Inkscape. Good thing with this method is that it is easy to automate with cron, for example, all images in certain dir getting line-reflected-joined. Smile!

$ convert +append left.png right.png smile.png

enter image description here

Further information

  1. Reflection with Imagemagick here.

  2. Blender Mirror operation here and example about using mirror operation here.

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