Ryan, with regards to the method of creating a thumbnail of a set size, e.g.
$thumb = $image->size(100, 100);
If the source file is say 400 x 200, does this resize then trim to 100x100 or scale the image to 100 x 50?
I realise I could just test this and implement, but I'm in the office for my 9-5 and being lazy