Resizing images

[browj2]

I recall now why I was on about cropping.

...rather than grabbing a handle and compressing the image, for me the latter is a much easier way to accomplish making an image fit into the available space.

Mode 1 aspect ratio locked or unlocked, Smart transform off, the image gets squished by the side handles. Smart Transform on, side handles crop the image and move it towards the far side at the same time, keeping the far edge at the same location.

Mode 2 - Smart transform/Aspect ratio has no import - the side moved gets cropped, the image doesn't move. This is what I use as I don't want my images to be squished or squashed to make them fit.

The OP has to decide whether or not to squish or crop (crop one edge or crop both sides).

[handrawn]

can't speak for CC, but when i squish i do it on the fly until it 'looks right' by just moving the one handle; anything more complicated is not going to cut it

[Chris M]

My take:
Smart Transform on, nothing changed from Xara's default settings, version 23.8, using browj2's mode /mode2.

Single click the image until Mode 1 is achieved
Drag side, or top/bottom handles to crop
Drag side, or top/bottom handles + ALT to squash

99% of the time I use the crop method to preserve ratios, and use the Push Photo Inside Frame handle to position it.