Mirror Components
Places mirrored copies of components on the other side of a plane, like a left hand bracket made from a right hand one. A part that is the same on both sides is placed again, turned to the opposite hand. Any other part is mirrored into a new model that is saved in your models. Assemblies need the Pro plan.
When to Use It
- Make the left side of a frame from the right side
- Put a matching bracket on the other side of a plate
- Get the opposite hand of a part without drawing it again
Step by Step
- Open an assembly with at least one component (see Assemblies: Start and Insert Parts).
- Pick the component to mirror, then open the window in either of these ways:
- Click Mirror in the Patterns group of the Features tab.
- Right-click the component, then choose Assembly tools, Mirror Components... (the picked component is already in the list).
- The Mirror Components window opens. Under Mirror Plane, click Front Plane, Top Plane or Right Plane (planes through the assembly origin), or click Pick a flat face and then click a flat face of any component. The line under the buttons reads "Plane: ..." and names the plane in use.
- Under Components to Mirror, click Pick in the view or the tree and click components to add them. Click the x beside a name to take it out.
- Leave Keep the copies symmetric (Symmetric mates) ticked to hold each copy with mates, or untick it to fix each copy where it lands.
- Watch the blue boxes in the view. They show where the copies will go.
- Click OK. A message says how many components were mirrored, and whether they were placed opposite hand or as a new mirrored model.
Options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Front Plane, Top Plane, Right Plane | Mirrors across that plane of the assembly origin. |
| Pick a flat face | Turns on picking: click a flat face of a component. The plane follows that component when it moves. |
| Components to Mirror | The components to copy. Up to 20 at a time. |
| Pick in the view or the tree | Turns on picking: click a component to add it. |
| Keep the copies symmetric (Symmetric mates) | Ticked (the default): each copy floats and three Symmetric mates hold it, so it moves with its original. Unticked: each copy is fixed where it lands. |
| OK | Makes the copies. |
How Each Copy Is Made
- Opposite hand. When a part is the same on both sides of one of its own middle planes, its mirror image is the same part, turned. The copy is the same model placed again. The modeling engine checks this exactly.
- A mirrored model. Any other part is mirrored by the modeling engine and saved in your models as a new model named after it, with "Mirrored" added (for example "Bracket Mirrored"). It goes in the same folder as the assembly, or at the top of My Models when the assembly is not saved in a folder yet. Every copy of the same part in one go shares one mirrored model.
- Mates. With the box ticked, each copy gets three Symmetric mates: the mirror plane, and the original's Front, Top and Right planes paired with the copy's. Move the original and the copy follows on the other side. See Symmetric Mate.
Tips
- Ctrl+Z undoes the whole mirror in one step: the copies and their mates go together. Ctrl+Y puts them back.
- The copies are ordinary components. They are saved with the assembly and come back where they were when it is opened again.
- A part that is the same on both sides and already sits on the mirror plane is its own mirror image. It is left out, and the message says so.
- Mirror a whole row of parts by picking them all before you click OK.
- Nothing is saved until every part is ready. If saving or reading a mirrored model fails, or you close the window while it works, the models this go saved are taken away again (to the Recycle Bin), so a second try starts clean.
Limits
- Only parts saved as STEP models can be mirrored. Mesh models such as STL cannot.
- Up to 20 components at a time, and an assembly holds up to 500 components.
- A part file over 64 MB, or one with more than 200 bodies, is refused.
- A part of more than 20 bodies, or one whose bodies overlap each other, is not checked for being the same on both sides. It is always mirrored into a new model.
- Undo takes the copies out of the assembly, but a mirrored model that was saved stays in your models. Delete it there if you do not want it.
- A pattern instance and a part inside a subassembly cannot be mirrored on their own. Mirror the seed, or open the subassembly.
- Mirroring needs the modeling tools of your plan.
If Something Goes Wrong
- "Pick a mirror plane first: Front, Top or Right Plane, or a flat face." Choose the plane.
- "Pick one or more components to mirror first." The list is empty.
- "That is not a flat face. Pick a flat face, or Front, Top or Right Plane." What you clicked has no flat face.
- "The face the mirror plane came from is gone. Pick the plane again."
- "Mirror Components takes up to 20 components at a time. Mirror the rest in a second go."
- "That is an instance of a pattern. Pick its seed."
- "A part of a subassembly cannot be mirrored by itself. Mirror it in its own assembly."
- "... is not a STEP model, so it cannot be mirrored here. Save it as STEP first."
- "The assembly is exploded. Collapse it first."
- "This assembly is shared with you to view only. Components cannot be mirrored."
- "Assemblies are on the Pro plan."
- "... was saved and could not be taken away again. Delete it in your models." A go stopped partway and the server did not take its mirrored model back. Delete that model in your models.