I like the new functionality but it shouldn’t be the default behavior (by simple click & dragging without holding a key) because of its non-standard nature, which may (will) cause confusion and undesired results both among customers and designers. My suggestions for a more standardized and intuitive approach:
1. Pick & Drag to resize and stretch
- Use the 4 corner dots to resize the image while maintaining its aspect ratio (standard behavior)
- Use the center-top & center-bottom dots to stretch the image vertically (as in most graphic & image editing software)
- Use the middle-left & middle-right dots to stretch the image horizontally (again, standard behavior)
2. Shift + Pick & Drag for free transforming
As it works now by default after your changes.
3. Ctrl + Pick & Drag to crop/uncrop
- Use the 4 corner dots to crop/uncrop while maintaining the image’s canvas aspect ratio
- Use the side dots to crop the image from the top/bottom/left/right depending on the related dot
Add adequate explanatory tooltips.
Issues/glitches
- There are graphic glitches appearing on the screen while resizing “freely” (desktop, Win10, Chrome)
- When changing a “transformed” image, the old image gets stretched before the new one appears
My thoughts as a user and a developer. Cheers!