Resizing images

[handrawn]

but croping is not what the OP wants to do, he just wants to squish and as you said, smart transform off for that... your second image is another question...

[browj2]

True, I got off track somewhere. I guess it was the grab a middle handle to resize that threw me, which doesn't work of course. The corner handles have to be used and aspect ratio locked in mode 1. This works for me no matter if Smart Transform is on or off but only in the state where the rotation handle is at the middle top. With the other mode/state with the rotation handle at the upper right, only the bottom right handle resizes the image, and does so irrespective of the settings of Smart Transform and Aspect Ratio. I think the point is that there are two states/modes as I showed and they do things differently.

So for the OP, with aspect ratio locked, why not just move the upper left corner of the image to where it should go and then use the bottom right handle to resize the image to fit - same aspect ratio.

Also in mode 1 with rotation handle at middle, aspect ratio locked, or in mode 2 with rotation handle at the top right, aspect ratio locked or unlocked, if the OP knows the size (width or height) just type it in the box,enter.

[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.