diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index e60c15a..cc3840d 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
 
     const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
         .name = "vaxis",
-        .root_source_file = .{ .path = "examples/text_input.zig" },
+        .root_source_file = .{ .path = "examples/image.zig" },
         .target = target,
         .optimize = optimize,
     });
diff --git a/examples/image.zig b/examples/image.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..501e02d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/image.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const vaxis = @import("vaxis");
+
+const log = std.log.scoped(.main);
+
+// Our EventType. This can contain internal events as well as Vaxis events.
+// Internal events can be posted into the same queue as vaxis events to allow
+// for a single event loop with exhaustive switching. Booya
+const Event = union(enum) {
+    key_press: vaxis.Key,
+    winsize: vaxis.Winsize,
+    focus_in,
+    focus_out,
+    foo: u8,
+};
+
+pub fn main() !void {
+    var gpa = std.heap.GeneralPurposeAllocator(.{}){};
+    defer {
+        const deinit_status = gpa.deinit();
+        //fail test; can't try in defer as defer is executed after we return
+        if (deinit_status == .leak) {
+            log.err("memory leak", .{});
+        }
+    }
+    const alloc = gpa.allocator();
+
+    // Initialize Vaxis with our event type
+    var vx = try vaxis.init(Event, .{});
+    // deinit takes an optional allocator. If your program is exiting, you can
+    // choose to pass a null allocator to save some exit time.
+    defer vx.deinit(alloc);
+
+    // Start the read loop. This puts the terminal in raw mode and begins
+    // reading user input
+    try vx.startReadThread();
+    defer vx.stopReadThread();
+
+    // Optionally enter the alternate screen
+    try vx.enterAltScreen();
+
+    // Sends queries to terminal to detect certain features. This should
+    // _always_ be called, but is left to the application to decide when
+    try vx.queryTerminal();
+
+    var img = try vaxis.Image.init(alloc, .{ .path = "vaxis.png" }, 1, .kitty);
+    defer img.deinit();
+
+    // The main event loop. Vaxis provides a thread safe, blocking, buffered
+    // queue which can serve as the primary event queue for an application
+    outer: while (true) {
+        // nextEvent blocks until an event is in the queue
+        const event = vx.nextEvent();
+        log.debug("event: {}\r\n", .{event});
+        // exhaustive switching ftw. Vaxis will send events if your EventType
+        // enum has the fields for those events (ie "key_press", "winsize")
+        switch (event) {
+            .key_press => |key| {
+                if (key.matches('c', .{ .ctrl = true })) {
+                    break :outer;
+                } else if (key.matches('l', .{ .ctrl = true })) {
+                    vx.queueRefresh();
+                } else if (key.matches('n', .{ .ctrl = true })) {
+                    try vx.notify("vaxis", "hello from vaxis");
+                } else {}
+            },
+
+            .winsize => |ws| try vx.resize(alloc, ws),
+            else => {},
+        }
+
+        // vx.window() returns the root window. This window is the size of the
+        // terminal and can spawn child windows as logical areas. Child windows
+        // cannot draw outside of their bounds
+        const win = vx.window();
+
+        // Clear the entire space because we are drawing in immediate mode.
+        // vaxis double buffers the screen. This new frame will be compared to
+        // the old and only updated cells will be drawn
+        win.clear();
+
+        try img.draw(win);
+
+        // Render the screen
+        try vx.render();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Screen.zig b/src/Screen.zig
index d8c2511..abb7c62 100644
--- a/src/Screen.zig
+++ b/src/Screen.zig
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const log = std.log.scoped(.screen);
 const Screen = @This();
 
 pub const Placement = struct {
-    img: *Image,
+    img: Image,
     placement_id: u32,
     col: usize,
     row: usize,
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ pub fn writeImage(
     self: *Screen,
     col: usize,
     row: usize,
-    img: *Image,
+    img: Image,
     placement_id: u32,
 ) !void {
     const p = Placement{
diff --git a/src/Window.zig b/src/Window.zig
index b0dcaf3..e15de67 100644
--- a/src/Window.zig
+++ b/src/Window.zig
@@ -72,11 +72,11 @@ pub fn writeCell(self: Window, col: usize, row: usize, cell: Cell) void {
 /// writes an image to the location in the window
 pub fn writeImage(
     self: Window,
-    img: *Image,
+    img: Image,
     placement_id: u32,
 ) !void {
     if (self.height == 0 or self.width == 0) return;
-    self.screen.writeImage(self.x_off, self.y_off, img, placement_id);
+    try self.screen.writeImage(self.x_off, self.y_off, img, placement_id);
 }
 
 /// fills the window with the default cell
diff --git a/src/image/Kitty.zig b/src/image/Kitty.zig
index 6e10a75..cce4827 100644
--- a/src/image/Kitty.zig
+++ b/src/image/Kitty.zig
@@ -1,36 +1,75 @@
 const std = @import("std");
+const fmt = std.fmt;
 const math = std.math;
 const testing = std.testing;
+const base64 = std.base64.standard.Encoder;
 const zigimg = @import("zigimg");
-const png = zigimg.png;
 
 const Window = @import("../Window.zig");
 const Winsize = @import("../Tty.zig").Winsize;
 
+const log = std.log.scoped(.kitty);
+
 const Kitty = @This();
 
+const max_chunk: usize = 4096;
+
+const transmit_opener = "\x1b_Gf=32,i={d},s={d},v={d},m={d};";
+
+alloc: std.mem.Allocator,
+
 /// the decoded image
 img: zigimg.Image,
 
 /// unique identifier for this image. This will be managed by the screen. The ID
 /// is only null for images which have not been transmitted to the screen
-id: ?u32 = null,
+id: u32,
 
-/// width of the image, in cells
-cell_width: usize,
-/// height of the image, in cells
-cell_height: usize,
-
-pub fn deinit(self: *Kitty) void {
-    self.img.deinit();
+pub fn deinit(self: *const Kitty) void {
+    var img = self.img;
+    img.deinit();
 }
 
-pub fn draw(self: *Kitty, win: Window) !void {
-    const row: u16 = @truncate(win.y_off);
-    const col: u16 = @truncate(win.x_off);
-    // the placement id has the high 16 bits as the column and the low 16
-    // bits as the row. This means we can only place this image one time at
-    // the same location - which is completely sane
-    const pid: u32 = col << 16 | row;
-    try win.writeImage(win.x_off, win.y_off, self, pid);
+/// transmit encodes and transmits the image to the terminal
+pub fn transmit(self: Kitty, writer: anytype) !void {
+    var alloc = self.alloc;
+    const png_buf = try alloc.alloc(u8, self.img.imageByteSize());
+    defer alloc.free(png_buf);
+    const png = try self.img.writeToMemory(png_buf, .{ .png = .{} });
+    const b64_buf = try alloc.alloc(u8, base64.calcSize(png.len));
+    const encoded = base64.encode(b64_buf, png);
+    defer alloc.free(b64_buf);
+
+    log.debug("transmitting kitty image: id={d}, len={d}", .{ self.id, encoded.len });
+
+    if (encoded.len < max_chunk) {
+        try fmt.format(
+            writer,
+            "\x1b_Gf=100,i={d};{s}\x1b\\",
+            .{
+                self.id,
+                encoded,
+            },
+        );
+    } else {
+        var n: usize = max_chunk;
+
+        try fmt.format(
+            writer,
+            "\x1b_Gf=100,i={d},m=1;{s}\x1b\\",
+            .{ self.id, encoded[0..n] },
+        );
+        while (n < encoded.len) : (n += max_chunk) {
+            const end: usize = @min(n + max_chunk, encoded.len);
+            const m: u2 = if (end == encoded.len) 0 else 1;
+            try fmt.format(
+                writer,
+                "\x1b_Gm={d};{s}\x1b\\",
+                .{
+                    m,
+                    encoded[n..end],
+                },
+            );
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/image/image.zig b/src/image/image.zig
index 24ba4e5..c686ad1 100644
--- a/src/image/image.zig
+++ b/src/image/image.zig
@@ -8,39 +8,45 @@ const Window = @import("../Window.zig");
 
 const Kitty = @import("Kitty.zig");
 
-pub const Protocol = enum {
-    kitty,
-    // TODO: sixel, full block, half block, quad block
-};
+const log = std.log.scoped(.image);
 
 pub const Image = union(enum) {
     kitty: Kitty,
 
+    pub const Protocol = enum {
+        kitty,
+        // TODO: sixel, full block, half block, quad block
+    };
+
+    pub const CellSize = struct {
+        rows: usize,
+        cols: usize,
+    };
+
+    pub const Source = union(enum) {
+        path: []const u8,
+        mem: []const u8,
+    };
+
     /// initialize a new image
     pub fn init(
         alloc: std.mem.Allocator,
-        winsize: Winsize,
-        src: []const u8,
+        src: Source,
+        id: u32,
         protocol: Protocol,
     ) !Image {
         const img = switch (src) {
             .path => |path| try zigimg.Image.fromFilePath(alloc, path),
             .mem => |bytes| try zigimg.Image.fromMemory(alloc, bytes),
         };
-        // cell geometry
-        const pix_per_col = try math.divCeil(usize, winsize.x_pixel, winsize.cols);
-        const pix_per_row = try math.divCeil(usize, winsize.y_pixel, winsize.rows);
-
-        const cell_width = math.divCeil(usize, img.width, pix_per_col) catch 0;
-        const cell_height = math.divCeil(usize, img.height, pix_per_row) catch 0;
 
         switch (protocol) {
             .kitty => {
                 return .{
                     .kitty = Kitty{
+                        .alloc = alloc,
                         .img = img,
-                        .cell_width = cell_width,
-                        .cell_height = cell_height,
+                        .id = id,
                     },
                 };
             },
@@ -49,13 +55,27 @@ pub const Image = union(enum) {
 
     pub fn deinit(self: Image) void {
         switch (self) {
-            inline else => |case| case.deinit(),
+            inline else => |*case| case.deinit(),
         }
     }
 
     pub fn draw(self: Image, win: Window) !void {
         switch (self) {
-            inline else => |case| case.draw(win),
+            .kitty => {
+                const row: u16 = @truncate(win.y_off);
+                const col: u16 = @truncate(win.x_off);
+                // the placement id has the high 16 bits as the column and the low 16
+                // bits as the row. This means we can only place this image one time at
+                // the same location - which is completely sane
+                const pid: u32 = col << 15 | row;
+                try win.writeImage(self, pid);
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn transmit(self: Image, writer: anytype) !void {
+        switch (self) {
+            .kitty => |k| return k.transmit(writer),
         }
     }
 
@@ -64,4 +84,18 @@ pub const Image = union(enum) {
             .kitty => |k| return k.id,
         }
     }
+
+    pub fn cellSize(self: Image, winsize: Winsize) !CellSize {
+        // cell geometry
+        const pix_per_col = try math.divCeil(usize, winsize.x_pixel, winsize.cols);
+        const pix_per_row = try math.divCeil(usize, winsize.y_pixel, winsize.rows);
+
+        const cell_width = math.divCeil(usize, self.img.width, pix_per_col) catch 0;
+        const cell_height = math.divCeil(usize, self.img.height, pix_per_row) catch 0;
+
+        return CellSize{
+            .rows = cell_height,
+            .cols = cell_width,
+        };
+    }
 };
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 2367f88..a173708 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ pub const Winsize = @import("Tty.zig").Winsize;
 
 pub const widgets = @import("widgets/main.zig");
 
+pub const Image = @import("image/image.zig").Image;
+
 /// Initialize a Vaxis application.
 pub fn init(comptime EventType: type, opts: Options) !Vaxis(EventType) {
     return Vaxis(EventType).init(opts);
diff --git a/src/vaxis.zig b/src/vaxis.zig
index f28383e..1af2aeb 100644
--- a/src/vaxis.zig
+++ b/src/vaxis.zig
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ pub fn Vaxis(comptime T: type) type {
                 } else true;
                 if (!transmit) continue;
                 // TODO: transmit the new image to the screen
+                try img.img.transmit(tty.buffered_writer.writer());
             }
 
             var i: usize = 0;