PLv4.2: New "Resizing mode" feature - - with mysterious options

DxO PhotoLab
21

And, what does it do ?

John M

22

OK, so now I’ve had a play and it was not exactly what I expected. I had thought “Rotate to fit” was an odd concept but in fact this works like all the other apps’ “Fit” options. Namely, if I set “Rotate to fit 1024 x 768” then the image will be scaled such that it will:

  1. maintain its aspect ratio, and
  2. not exceed 1024 pixels wide, and
  3. not exceed 768 pixels high.

In other words, maximise the size of this image such that it fits in this box. The classic use for this would be rendering a whole swathe of images for use as desktop wallpaper (where you’d also need to have the wallpaper setting as “fit”).

The “Fit” option in PL is curious — I think the “Fit” and “Rotate to fit” labels are back to front perhaps. It seems to maximise the size of the image within the specified box but allows the box to be rotated rather than the image. In other words fit it within either 1024 x 768 or within 768 x 1024. Never seen that before but I guess it has a potential use in maximising image size for external printing, where you may have a fixed frame you can print but orientation is flexible.

But I do think “Rotate to fit” should be called just “Fit” to match the way it is used elsewhere, and “Fit” … well, I don’t know what you’d call that.

23

Thanks for taking a look at this, zkarj - Your experience with “other apps” is an advantage I don’t have.

Yes - This is what I meant about the “mysterious options” of this feature - - It’s never been adequately explained … Meanwhile, we’re left wondering why time & resources were invested in it (?)

Regards, John M

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@StevenL: Responses to this thread seem to confirm that there’s very little understanding “out here” (in user-land) of the purpose and function of the “Fit” and “Rotate to fit” options.

Might we expect to see some explanation in the help text ?
For now, it’s not very helpful;

If you activate the Resize image option, you will have to choose among the following parameters:
The **maximum dimension** of the output image (whether by height or width) in pixels, centimeters, or inches. One single dimension is enough for the program to maintain the aspect ratio (the proportions) of the image.

John M

1 Like