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@M_V
For spreading frame rear ends I lay the frame down with the side I want to work on facing up. Pad the headtube and, if worried about paint, the seattube and whichever dropout is up. I have a long plank of wood that goes under the dropout and on top of the seattube, then put other end of plank up on a stool. Frame will be resting on the headtube. You can push on the plank/frame if it's a skinny stay road frame, sit across the plank or even stand on it for more solidly built frames.
Flip the frame and repeat. I hold a known straight edge (broom handle) against the headtube and seattube and measure from dropout inside face to broom handle to ensure it's even.
To reduce spacing you work on the side closer to the ground, plank goes outside the dropout and above the seatube and apply force as before.
Edit: pulling with a foot on the otherside works but I feel like you have to be pretty forceful and if it suddenly starts to go you're probably so committed to pulling that you'll have a 3 foot rear spacing before you know it. Using the plank as a lever feels like it allows me to add weight/force more incrementally if that makes sense?
Forks are, in my experience, either a lot easier or a lot more difficult. Skinny legged ones you can just hold the steerer in the vice (in a tube block) and manipulate each leg or hold the leg in the vice using a soft jaw and push/pull n the steerer but burlier forks just try to twist. I need to do some (more) cold setting the triplane fork on my ssmtb but it's got 28.6mm Columbus disc legs and the legs are quite offset from the steerer so holding it is a nightmare. It's needed doing since I built it but I just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe if I clamp a stem and some old bars and 90deg to where they should be that would keep it from twisting and I can apply weight to each leg to set them in.