Hi, SlippySlope,
You can use all three photo placements in any project.
The Preferences photo placement options only set the default setting for projects created after you set the preference. Once you set it it will be the default photo placement setting for all projects created after that.
You can change the default setting within a project to utilize all three of the options. Select the clip or clips in the timeline for which you want to make a change to the photo placement default setting, and then click on the Crop button (the one shaped like intersecting angles) located in the tool bar in the upper right of your screen. A settings box will appear that gives you all three of the options to apply to the clips that you selected. After making your selection click on the little blue reset button in the upper right of your screen to apply the change. The default setting that was previously selected will remain in place for all other clips in the project unless you have changed it as described above.
-- Rich