diff --git a/minui/resources.c b/minui/resources.c
index a6528b3..69fd14b 100644
--- a/minui/resources.c
+++ b/minui/resources.c
@@ -44,15 +44,11 @@
     return surface;
 }
 
-int res_create_surface(const char* name, gr_surface* pSurface) {
+static int open_png(const char* name, png_structp* png_ptr, png_infop* info_ptr,
+                    png_uint_32* width, png_uint_32* height, png_byte* channels) {
     char resPath[256];
-    gr_surface surface = NULL;
-    int result = 0;
     unsigned char header[8];
-    png_structp png_ptr = NULL;
-    png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
-
-    *pSurface = NULL;
+    int result = 0;
 
     snprintf(resPath, sizeof(resPath)-1, "/res/images/%s.png", name);
     resPath[sizeof(resPath)-1] = '\0';
@@ -73,170 +69,182 @@
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    png_ptr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-    if (!png_ptr) {
+    *png_ptr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    if (!*png_ptr) {
         result = -4;
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
-    if (!info_ptr) {
+    *info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(*png_ptr);
+    if (!*info_ptr) {
         result = -5;
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr))) {
+    if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(*png_ptr))) {
         result = -6;
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    png_init_io(png_ptr, fp);
-    png_set_sig_bytes(png_ptr, sizeof(header));
-    png_read_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
+    png_init_io(*png_ptr, fp);
+    png_set_sig_bytes(*png_ptr, sizeof(header));
+    png_read_info(*png_ptr, *info_ptr);
 
     int color_type, bit_depth;
-    png_uint_32 width, height;
-    png_get_IHDR(png_ptr, info_ptr, &width, &height, &bit_depth,
+    png_get_IHDR(*png_ptr, *info_ptr, width, height, &bit_depth,
             &color_type, NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
-    int channels = png_get_channels(png_ptr, info_ptr);
+    *channels = png_get_channels(*png_ptr, *info_ptr);
 
-    if (!(bit_depth <= 8 &&
-          ((channels == 3 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB) ||
-           (channels == 1 && (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE ||
-                              color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY))))) {
-        return -7;
+    if (bit_depth == 8 && *channels == 3 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB) {
+        // 8-bit RGB images: great, nothing to do.
+    } else if (bit_depth <= 8 && *channels == 1 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY) {
+        // 1-, 2-, 4-, or 8-bit gray images: expand to 8-bit gray.
+        png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8(*png_ptr);
+    } else if (bit_depth == 8 && *channels == 1 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE) {
+        // paletted images: expand to 8-bit RGB.  Note that we DON'T
+        // currently expand the tRNS chunk (if any) to an alpha
+        // channel, because minui doesn't support alpha channels in
+        // general.
+        png_set_palette_to_rgb(*png_ptr);
+        *channels = 3;
+    } else {
+        fprintf(stderr, "minui doesn't support PNG depth %d channels %d color_type %d\n",
+                bit_depth, (int) channels, color_type);
+        result = -7;
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    size_t stride = (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY ? 1 : 4) * width;
+    return result;
 
-    surface = malloc_surface(stride * height);
+  exit:
+    if (result < 0) {
+        png_destroy_read_struct(png_ptr, info_ptr, NULL);
+    }
+    if (fp != NULL) {
+        fclose(fp);
+    }
+
+    return result;
+}
+
+// "display" surfaces are transformed into the framebuffer's required
+// pixel format (currently only RGBX is supported) at load time, so
+// gr_blit() can be nothing more than a memcpy() for each row.  The
+// next two functions are the only ones that know anything about the
+// framebuffer pixel format; they need to be modified if the
+// framebuffer format changes (but nothing else should).
+
+// Allocate and return a gr_surface sufficient for storing an image of
+// the indicated size in the framebuffer pixel format.
+static gr_surface init_display_surface(png_uint_32 width, png_uint_32 height) {
+    gr_surface surface;
+
+    surface = malloc_surface(width * height * 4);
+    if (surface == NULL) return NULL;
+
+    surface->width = width;
+    surface->height = height;
+    surface->row_bytes = width * 4;
+    surface->pixel_bytes = 4;
+
+    return surface;
+}
+
+// Copy 'input_row' to 'output_row', transforming it to the
+// framebuffer pixel format.  The input format depends on the value of
+// 'channels':
+//
+//   1 - input is 8-bit grayscale
+//   3 - input is 24-bit RGB
+//   4 - input is 32-bit RGBA/RGBX
+//
+// 'width' is the number of pixels in the row.
+static void transform_rgb_to_draw(unsigned char* input_row,
+                                  unsigned char* output_row,
+                                  int channels, int width) {
+    int x;
+    unsigned char* ip = input_row;
+    unsigned char* op = output_row;
+
+    switch (channels) {
+        case 1:
+            // expand gray level to RGBX
+            for (x = 0; x < width; ++x) {
+                *op++ = *ip;
+                *op++ = *ip;
+                *op++ = *ip;
+                *op++ = 0xff;
+                ip++;
+            }
+            break;
+
+        case 3:
+            // expand RGBA to RGBX
+            for (x = 0; x < width; ++x) {
+                *op++ = *ip++;
+                *op++ = *ip++;
+                *op++ = *ip++;
+                *op++ = 0xff;
+            }
+            break;
+
+        case 4:
+            // copy RGBA to RGBX
+            memcpy(output_row, input_row, width*4);
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+int res_create_display_surface(const char* name, gr_surface* pSurface) {
+    gr_surface surface = NULL;
+    int result = 0;
+    png_structp png_ptr = NULL;
+    png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
+    png_uint_32 width, height;
+    png_byte channels;
+
+    *pSurface = NULL;
+
+    result = open_png(name, &png_ptr, &info_ptr, &width, &height, &channels);
+    if (result < 0) return result;
+
+    surface = init_display_surface(width, height);
     if (surface == NULL) {
         result = -8;
         goto exit;
     }
-    unsigned char* pData = surface->data;
-    surface->width = width;
-    surface->height = height;
-    surface->row_bytes = stride;
-    surface->pixel_bytes = (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY ? 1 : 4);
 
-    int alpha = (channels == 4);
-    png_set_expand(png_ptr);
-    if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY) {
-        alpha = 1;
-    }
-
+    unsigned char* p_row = malloc(width * 4);
     unsigned int y;
-    if (channels == 3 || (channels == 1 && !alpha)) {
-        for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
-            unsigned char* pRow = pData + y * stride;
-            png_read_row(png_ptr, pRow, NULL);
-
-            int x;
-            for(x = width - 1; x >= 0; x--) {
-                int sx = x * 3;
-                int dx = x * 4;
-                unsigned char r = pRow[sx];
-                unsigned char g = pRow[sx + 1];
-                unsigned char b = pRow[sx + 2];
-                unsigned char a = 0xff;
-                pRow[dx    ] = r; // r
-                pRow[dx + 1] = g; // g
-                pRow[dx + 2] = b; // b
-                pRow[dx + 3] = a;
-            }
-        }
-    } else {
-        for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
-            unsigned char* pRow = pData + y * stride;
-            png_read_row(png_ptr, pRow, NULL);
-        }
+    for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
+        png_read_row(png_ptr, p_row, NULL);
+        transform_rgb_to_draw(p_row, surface->data + y * surface->row_bytes, channels, width);
     }
+    free(p_row);
 
-    *pSurface = (gr_surface) surface;
+    *pSurface = surface;
 
-exit:
+  exit:
     png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr, NULL);
-
-    if (fp != NULL) {
-        fclose(fp);
-    }
-    if (result < 0) {
-        if (surface) {
-            free(surface);
-        }
-    }
+    if (result < 0 && surface != NULL) free(surface);
     return result;
 }
 
-int res_create_multi_surface(const char* name, int* frames, gr_surface** pSurface) {
-    char resPath[256];
+int res_create_multi_display_surface(const char* name, int* frames, gr_surface** pSurface) {
+    gr_surface* surface = NULL;
     int result = 0;
-    unsigned char header[8];
     png_structp png_ptr = NULL;
     png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
+    png_uint_32 width, height;
+    png_byte channels;
     int i;
-    gr_surface* surface = NULL;
 
     *pSurface = NULL;
     *frames = -1;
 
-    snprintf(resPath, sizeof(resPath)-1, "/res/images/%s.png", name);
-    resPath[sizeof(resPath)-1] = '\0';
-    FILE* fp = fopen(resPath, "rb");
-    if (fp == NULL) {
-        result = -1;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    size_t bytesRead = fread(header, 1, sizeof(header), fp);
-    if (bytesRead != sizeof(header)) {
-        result = -2;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    if (png_sig_cmp(header, 0, sizeof(header))) {
-        result = -3;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    png_ptr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-    if (!png_ptr) {
-        result = -4;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
-    if (!info_ptr) {
-        result = -5;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr))) {
-        result = -6;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    png_init_io(png_ptr, fp);
-    png_set_sig_bytes(png_ptr, sizeof(header));
-    png_read_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
-
-    int color_type, bit_depth;
-    png_uint_32 width, height;
-    png_get_IHDR(png_ptr, info_ptr, &width, &height, &bit_depth,
-            &color_type, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-
-    int channels = png_get_channels(png_ptr, info_ptr);
-
-    if (!(bit_depth <= 8 &&
-          ((channels == 3 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB) ||
-           (channels == 1 && (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE ||
-                              color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY))))) {
-        return -7;
-        goto exit;
-    }
+    result = open_png(name, &png_ptr, &info_ptr, &width, &height, &channels);
+    if (result < 0) return result;
 
     *frames = 1;
     png_textp text;
@@ -257,67 +265,35 @@
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    size_t stride = (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY ? 1 : 4) * width;
-    size_t pixelSize = stride * height / *frames;
-
     surface = malloc(*frames * sizeof(gr_surface));
     if (surface == NULL) {
         result = -8;
         goto exit;
     }
     for (i = 0; i < *frames; ++i) {
-        surface[i] = malloc_surface(pixelSize);
-        surface[i]->width = width;
-        surface[i]->height = height / *frames;
-        surface[i]->row_bytes = stride;
-        surface[i]->pixel_bytes = (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY ? 1 : 4);
-    }
-
-    int alpha = (channels == 4);
-    png_set_expand(png_ptr);
-    if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY) {
-        alpha = 1;
-    }
-
-    png_uint_32 y;
-    if (channels == 3 || (channels == 1 && !alpha)) {
-        for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
-            int fy = y / *frames;
-            int fr = y % *frames;
-            unsigned char* pRow = surface[fr]->data + fy * stride;
-            png_read_row(png_ptr, pRow, NULL);
-
-            int x;
-            for(x = width - 1; x >= 0; x--) {
-                int sx = x * 3;
-                int dx = x * 4;
-                unsigned char r = pRow[sx];
-                unsigned char g = pRow[sx + 1];
-                unsigned char b = pRow[sx + 2];
-                unsigned char a = 0xff;
-                pRow[dx    ] = r; // r
-                pRow[dx + 1] = g; // g
-                pRow[dx + 2] = b; // b
-                pRow[dx + 3] = a;
-            }
-        }
-    } else {
-        for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
-            int fy = y / *frames;
-            int fr = y % *frames;
-            unsigned char* pRow = surface[fr]->data + fy * stride;
-            png_read_row(png_ptr, pRow, NULL);
+        surface[i] = init_display_surface(width, height / *frames);
+        if (surface[i] == NULL) {
+            result = -8;
+            goto exit;
         }
     }
 
+    unsigned char* p_row = malloc(width * 4);
+    unsigned int y;
+    for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
+        png_read_row(png_ptr, p_row, NULL);
+        int frame = y % *frames;
+        unsigned char* out_row = surface[frame]->data +
+            (y / *frames) * surface[frame]->row_bytes;
+        transform_rgb_to_draw(p_row, out_row, channels, width);
+    }
+    free(p_row);
+
     *pSurface = (gr_surface*) surface;
 
 exit:
     png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr, NULL);
 
-    if (fp != NULL) {
-        fclose(fp);
-    }
     if (result < 0) {
         if (surface) {
             for (i = 0; i < *frames; ++i) {
@@ -329,7 +305,50 @@
     return result;
 }
 
-static int matches_locale(const char* loc) {
+int res_create_alpha_surface(const char* name, gr_surface* pSurface) {
+    gr_surface surface = NULL;
+    int result = 0;
+    png_structp png_ptr = NULL;
+    png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
+    png_uint_32 width, height;
+    png_byte channels;
+
+    *pSurface = NULL;
+
+    result = open_png(name, &png_ptr, &info_ptr, &width, &height, &channels);
+    if (result < 0) return result;
+
+    if (channels != 1) {
+        result = -7;
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
+    surface = malloc_surface(width * height);
+    if (surface == NULL) {
+        result = -8;
+        goto exit;
+    }
+    surface->width = width;
+    surface->height = height;
+    surface->row_bytes = width;
+    surface->pixel_bytes = 1;
+
+    unsigned char* p_row;
+    unsigned int y;
+    for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
+        p_row = surface->data + y * surface->row_bytes;
+        png_read_row(png_ptr, p_row, NULL);
+    }
+
+    *pSurface = surface;
+
+  exit:
+    png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr, NULL);
+    if (result < 0 && surface != NULL) free(surface);
+    return result;
+}
+
+static int matches_locale(const char* loc, const char* locale) {
     if (locale == NULL) return 0;
 
     if (strcmp(loc, locale) == 0) return 1;
@@ -346,70 +365,35 @@
     return (strncmp(locale, loc, i) == 0 && locale[i] == '_');
 }
 
-int res_create_localized_surface(const char* name, gr_surface* pSurface) {
-    char resPath[256];
+int res_create_localized_alpha_surface(const char* name,
+                                       const char* locale,
+                                       gr_surface* pSurface) {
     gr_surface surface = NULL;
     int result = 0;
-    unsigned char header[8];
     png_structp png_ptr = NULL;
     png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
+    png_uint_32 width, height;
+    png_byte channels;
 
     *pSurface = NULL;
 
-    snprintf(resPath, sizeof(resPath)-1, "/res/images/%s.png", name);
-    resPath[sizeof(resPath)-1] = '\0';
-    FILE* fp = fopen(resPath, "rb");
-    if (fp == NULL) {
-        result = -1;
+    if (locale == NULL) {
+        surface = malloc_surface(0);
+        surface->width = 0;
+        surface->height = 0;
+        surface->row_bytes = 0;
+        surface->pixel_bytes = 1;
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    size_t bytesRead = fread(header, 1, sizeof(header), fp);
-    if (bytesRead != sizeof(header)) {
-        result = -2;
+    result = open_png(name, &png_ptr, &info_ptr, &width, &height, &channels);
+    if (result < 0) return result;
+
+    if (channels != 1) {
+        result = -7;
         goto exit;
     }
 
-    if (png_sig_cmp(header, 0, sizeof(header))) {
-        result = -3;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    png_ptr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-    if (!png_ptr) {
-        result = -4;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
-    if (!info_ptr) {
-        result = -5;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr))) {
-        result = -6;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    png_init_io(png_ptr, fp);
-    png_set_sig_bytes(png_ptr, sizeof(header));
-    png_read_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
-
-    int color_type, bit_depth;
-    png_uint_32 width, height;
-    png_get_IHDR(png_ptr, info_ptr, &width, &height, &bit_depth,
-            &color_type, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-    int channels = png_get_channels(png_ptr, info_ptr);
-
-    if (!(bit_depth <= 8 &&
-          (channels == 1 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY))) {
-        return -7;
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    png_set_expand(png_ptr);
-
     unsigned char* row = malloc(width);
     png_uint_32 y;
     for (y = 0; y < height; ++y) {
@@ -419,7 +403,7 @@
         int len = row[4];
         char* loc = (char*)row+5;
 
-        if (y+1+h >= height || matches_locale(loc)) {
+        if (y+1+h >= height || matches_locale(loc, locale)) {
             printf("  %20s: %s (%d x %d @ %d)\n", name, loc, w, h, y);
 
             surface = malloc_surface(w*h);
@@ -427,8 +411,6 @@
                 result = -8;
                 goto exit;
             }
-            unsigned char* pData = surface->data;
-
             surface->width = w;
             surface->height = h;
             surface->row_bytes = w;
@@ -437,7 +419,7 @@
             int i;
             for (i = 0; i < h; ++i, ++y) {
                 png_read_row(png_ptr, row, NULL);
-                memcpy(pData + i*w, row, w);
+                memcpy(surface->data + i*w, row, w);
             }
 
             *pSurface = (gr_surface) surface;
@@ -452,15 +434,7 @@
 
 exit:
     png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr, NULL);
-
-    if (fp != NULL) {
-        fclose(fp);
-    }
-    if (result < 0) {
-        if (surface) {
-            free(surface);
-        }
-    }
+    if (result < 0 && surface != NULL) free(surface);
     return result;
 }