Greg - SiteOrigin

A lot of themes ship with Timthumb because it allows their users to start using the theme without rebuilding thumbnails.
Secure Image Resizer offers a far more secure alternative. It allows theme developers to rely on WordPress’ own image resizing functionality using <code>add_image_size</code> and <code>get_the_post_thumbnail</code>.
When get_the_post_thumbnail is called, Secure Image Resizer checks if the requested image size exists. If the image doesn’t exist it dynamically creates the resized version. It works in the background, with no front end functionality.
Theme developers can either bundle this plugin into their themes, or suggest that their users install it.
It also includes 2 functions <code>so_resize_custom</code> and <code>so_resize_custom_html</code> to do dynamic image resizing using Imagick. Great for theme developers.
Please Note: This is an early release of Secure Image Resizer. Please use it, try and break it and report any bugs to me support@siteorigin.com so I can quickly fix them and work towards version 1.0.

Secure Image Resizer

A very simple and secure image resizer. It adds dynamic resizing so you don't need to regenerate thumbnails when you install a new theme.

Bytes.co

gschoppe

WP SmartCrop allows you to set the ‘focal point’ of any image, right from the media library, then crops your images to match your css rules (no more squished aspect ratios), keeping that focal point, not only in view, but as near as possible to a ‘rule of thirds’ position in the image. The results are powerful, composed photos at any screen size, with any constraints.
<ul>
<li>Visually select your images’ focal points with an intuitive click-based interface</li>
<li>Quickly enable or disable smart-cropping on a per-image basis.</li>
<li>Easily target only the images you want to style, with the img.wpsmartcrop-image selector</li>
<li>Automatic image preloader, so your users never see partially loaded images again</li>
<li>Semantic HTML5/CSS3 for modern browsers, with automatic fallback to non-semantic HTML4/CSS2 for older browsers.</li>
<li>Lightweight and fast processing of images, even inside post content</li>
<li>Fully compatible with common caching and optimization plugins and solutions, such as W3 Total Cache, Wordfence, WPEngine’s EverCache, Better WordPress Minify, and Google’s PageSpeed Module.</li>
<li>Lets you take full advantage of the new responsive srcset features added in WordPress 4.4, to make the most of your images.</li>
<li>NEW! Legacy support for existing cropped thumb sizes allows you to see improvements, right out of the box, without changing your CSS!</li>
</ul>
<h3>Compatibility</h3>
WP SmartCrop has been fully tested in the following browsers:
<ul>
<li>Safari</li>
<li>Chrome</li>
<li>Firefox</li>
<li>Microsoft Edge</li>
</ul>
This is by no means an exhaustive list of supported devices; it just represents our primary target platforms.
<h4>Please Rate/Review and Enjoy</h4>
Your Ratings and Reviews help us to direct our development, and help other users know what to expect.

WP SmartCrop

This function should be a core functionality! So when I found this little gem I was so happy.

A small but significant improvement to WP

WP SmartCrop will crop your images on-the-fly to match your CSS, keeping the main focal point in view.

Secure Image Resizer vs WP SmartCrop