The key is the URL parameter field. 😉
You can add many multiple different images to a design. Size them differently, style them differently with filters, cropping. flipping ... Make them all template images and set the fit/fill/none differently on them according to needs.
Then go and assign them all the exact same URL parameter name.
The result is that on the product page, the customer will have ONE image template field to change. And when they upload an image it will change all of your placeholders to that same image, but they all will retain their independent styling you set for them.
All the styling you do inside the Design Tool for sizing, filter effects, cropping, flipping, etc ... those are just directions on what to do with the image. The URL parameter field tells it what image to do them on.
So if you set the URL parameter to be the same, it will perform all those different actions you set using the same image. For this reason I would recommend against flipping an image in this type situation. It may be convenient for you the Designer to "re-use" an image in a design by flipping it one way or another, but the customer isn't going to know all this and they would be confused as to why their uploaded image is upsidedown or backwards.
Bottom line is - the placeholder images you use don't even have to be the same; the key is using the same URL parameter name for template images you want to be the same image even if styled differently.
It may be convenient for you the Designer to "re-use" an image in a design by flipping it one way or another, but the customer isn't going to know all this and they would be confused as to why their uploaded image is upsidedown or backwards.
I just ran into a real-life example of this in the MP. I was looking for examples of people using really big placeholder images on large products, like say a blanket or over-sized card. My thinking was odds are good the customer's uploaded image wouldn't be large enough so would they get the yellow warning in the template panel or would they have to enter the Design Tool to see the size warning? (The answer is that yes, you do get the warning symbol right on the template panel on the product page).
Anyhows, I ended up on a 18" x 24" card with a single template image on the front. The test image I added via the template field happened to have text in it which made it immediately apparent something was amiss.
Going into the Design Tool, my image was still showing mirrored.
I know that the Crop box always shows your image in its original form no matter how you've manipulated it so I looked at that and could see that yep, the designer had flipped their original template image as well as having cropped it. As a designer I knew I could use the Flip option to make it right and the Crop box to adjust the crop or remove it. But as a customer using the provided template option on the product page, I'd be mighty confused on why my image was turning out mirrored or upside down or unexpectedly cropped and even if I knew how to use the Design Tool to fix it, that kind of defeats the purpose of easy-to-use image template fields on the product page.
So I reiterate - I would def steer clear of flipping template images. If you absolutely want that person in your stock image facing left instead of right, flip it before you upload it. If you flip it in the design tool the customer's image will end up flipped as well.
