How do I use the Mirror tool in DesignSpark Mechanical?
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This tutorial requires:
DesignSpark Mechanical V6.0This is a premium feature available to DSM users on the Creator or Engineer subscription plans.
The Mirror tool allows you to create a copy (mirror copy) of any selected object. For example, you design one half of the frame of a pair of spectacles and use the mirror tool to generate the other half. This ensure your design is mirror symmetrical like the real-world object, and not just a plain copy.
Here is a demo clip:
Use the Mirror tool 
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You can insert a mirror plane between two faces, associating the faces so you can edit them together. You can copy a solid, surface, face, or curve from one side of a mirror plane to the other.
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You can mirror curves, points, and axes without leaving sketch mode or cross section mode. When you mirror a curve, changing its geometry does not propagate to the other side.
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You can mirror solids that contain patterns of features on a face, and the pattern will be updated on both sides. The pattern must be created before the solid is mirrored.
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The plane becomes a persistent mirror once you create geometry using the mirror. The mirror relationship is maintained when you use other 2D and 3D tools to edit your design.
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Mirrored components have a mirrored icon in the structure tree and maintain their mirror relationships when they are exported.
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Mirrored objects are created on the same layer as the original object. Mirrored points do not maintain their mirror relationship.
Mirroring an object
1. (Optional) Create the plane you want to use as a mirror using the Insert Plane tool and position it with the Move tool.
2. Click Mirror
3. Click the plane to use as a mirror. If you didn’t create a plane previously, simply click on the face of the side of the object where the mirroring should take place.
4. Click the Mirror Body or Mirror Face tool guide.
5. Mouse over the solids or faces in your design to preview the solid, surface, or face that will be created on the other side of the selected mirror plane.
6. Turn off ‘merge mirrored objects’ in the tool options, in case the mirror plane sits on the object’s surface and you don’t want the mirror copy to combine with it into 1 solid.
7. Now, click the object you want to mirror.
8. The mirror plane is created and will persist in other tools. You can click objects in your design or click a component in the Structure tree.
If you enclose a volume by mirroring faces, a solid is created.
Removing a Mirror Face or Plane
1. Click Mirror
2. Click the Remove Mirror 
tool guide.
3. Click the face from which you want to remove the mirror relationship. You can also Box-select any number of faces.
You can now independently change this face without affecting the mirror relationship of the other faces on this object.
You can temporarily disable a plane in any tool. Select a mirrored face to display the mirror plane, then click the mirror icon to disable the mirror. Click the mirror icon again to enable the mirror.
Mirror Tool Options
- Merge mirrored objects: When you use a face as the mirror plane, or when the mirror plane lies on a face of the source object, the two mirrored objects will be merged. Deselect this option to make a new object, as shown below.
- Create mirror relationships: If you deselect this option, only the geometry is created and not the mirror relationship. Changes to either object will not be reflected in the other, as shown below.
You can create a mirror plane between two symmetrical faces in your design.
Setting Up a Mirror Relationship
1. Click the Mirror tool 
2. Click the Setup Mirror 
tool guide.
3. As you mouse over the faces in your design, the eligible faces are highlighted. A face is eligible if it is symmetrical to another face in your design.
4. Click a face.
5. Click a parallel face. The second face is highlighted in blue and the mirror plane appears halfway between the two faces. Edits to one face will now be mirrored on the other face. Geometry in between the two faces will be updated accordingly.
You can create mirror relationships by finding similar faces on the other side of an existing mirror.
Finding Similar Faces on the Other Side of a Mirror
1. Click the Setup Mirror 
2. Click a face. Ctrl+click to select multiple faces.
3. Alt+click a mirror plane. Identical faces equidistant from the mirror plane are highlighted in blue, and a mirror relationship is created.
Mirror Tool Guides
The following tool guides help step you through the process. Use the Tab key to cycle through them. As soon as the tool guide switches, the cursor may change to reflect the active guide.
Mirror Plane | The Mirror Plane tool guide is active by default. Select a face or plane to use it as a mirror. (You can also use this tool guide to select another mirror plane to use if one is already selected. |
Mirror Body | The Mirror Body tool guide activates automatically once you select a mirror face or plane. Mouse over the solids in your design to preview the solid that will be created by the mirror. Click a solid to mirror it. |
Mirror Face | Once you select a face or plane to use as a mirror, use the Mirror Face tool guide to select the faces you want to mirror. Mousing over the faces before you click them previews the face that will be created by the mirror. Click a face to mirror it. |
Mirror Component | The Mirror Component creates a left-hand transform and does not create a mirror relationship between the two components or subassemblies. |
Setup Mirror | The Setup Mirror tool guide can be used any time to create a mirror plane between two faces. Only those two faces will be affected by the mirror. To create a relationship among many faces, Ctrl+select faces and then select a mirror plane to auto-detect identical faces equidistant from the mirror plane. |
Remove Mirror | Use the Remove Mirror tool to remove the mirror relationship between faces. You can select to faces with a mirror relationship or use box-selection to select any number of mirrored pairs. |
Mirroring Examples
1. A mirrored solid with a pattern of features is updated when the count is changed from 7 to 5 on one side.
2. Mirroring a sketched circle. Modifying the circle does not change the geometry of the mirrored circle
3. Mirror associations are maintained in the Pull tool using the Copy Edge and Extrude Edge options. The behaviour for Copy Edge is on the left and Extrude Edge is on the right.
4. A mirrored surface body that becomes a closed body after the mirror now becomes a closed body. Start with a solid body, detach a face to make two surface bodies, and create a plane at the opening.
5. Mirror the surface body to see a solid body with the detached surface in the mirror plane.
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