Help changing only width or height of an image?

[Madrayken]

Hi folks,
I've just upgraded to ProX and am finding that I am no longer able to do something that I did all the time in previous versions.
One of my common tricks is to take a scene I've created, create a bitmap copy of it, flip it upside down and then change only its height, producing a 'reflection' of the top half of the image. So: top half of image is my main image, bottom half is a squashed, semi-transparent mirror of it.

Since the upgrade, all manipulations of photos seem to insist on altering only the clipping edges of the image object, or scaling the entire image in both X and Y axis simultaneously. Has the ability to squash images been removed? If so, that seems like a real step backward from a program I've used solidly since about 2007.

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks,

-Dene

[morris]

There are two ways (at least two that I tried).

One involves enabling "Show selection bounds handles" (this is the button just above the selection tool, it has a big square surrounded by 8 small squares). When you do this, then after you click an image you will be presented with the old 8 black little squares surronding the selected object, instead of those new blue dots and stuff.

The second method is to apply a group to your image (like, a group with this image only) - then old selectors (8 black squares) will appear around it.

After you've done one of the above, hold Alt and then click and drag one of the non-corner selectors to stretch/squish your image.

[gwpriester]

The newest versions have introduced something called Smart Transform which makes resizing photos and text behave differently.

You can disable this feature to get back to the old way of resizing. Right click in the lock icon and if you see Smart Transform in the pop out menu, deselect it.

[morris]

The newest versions have introduced something called Smart Transform which makes resizing photos and text behave differently.

You can disable this feature to get back to the old way of resizing. Right click in the lock icon and if you see Smart Transform in the pop out menu, deselect it.

For me it did not quite work as I expected. To make this setting work for image objects, I had to do one of the things that I described in my previous mail (either enable showing selection bound handles, or making a bogus group for the image). If the image was displaying the blue dots around it, then regardless of this setting the image was being cropped, not squished.

[handrawn]

I think you need to be in selector tool also [and not photo tool]

[Chris M]

Everybody's right and everybody's wrong. This requires a 2 prong attack. It's not either/or it has to be both!

Turning on 'Show Selection Bounds Handles' (just above the selection arrow) does nothing but remove the blue selection handles. Photo still crops not squash.
Turning off 'Smart Transform' (right click 'Aspect Ratio Padlock') appears to have zero effect on anything. It probably does, I just don't know what.

Fix? Turn OFF Smart Transform and turn ON Selection Handles. You have to do this for each photo, I haven't found a way to make it default for the whole document.

Just tried the 'ALT' method from morris. This appears to be the quickest/easiest way...turn on Selection Handles and then use the ALT whilst dragging...thank you morris.