diff --git a/data/coords.layout.flat.png b/data/coords.layout.flat.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37b3e9b
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/coords.layout.flat.png differ
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 9cfc674..17968cf 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ OBJECTS += $(IMGUI_DIR)/imgui.o $(IMGUI_DIR)/imgui_demo.o $(IMGUI_DIR)/imgui_dra
 #	don't know a good way to require this in make without forcing a specific version
 LDFLAGS = -lSDL2 -lGLEW -lGL
 
+# SDL2_image
+CXXFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --cflags SDL2_image)
+LDFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --libs SDL2_image)
+
 # TODO: only needed for gl3w, remove later
 LDFLAGS += -ldl
 
diff --git a/src/gooey.h b/src/gooey.h
index 7ac202e..c39918b 100644
--- a/src/gooey.h
+++ b/src/gooey.h
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ renderGooey(SDL_Handles &handles, HexDrawMode &mode, bool &is_debug,
 {
 	ImGui_ImplSdlGL3_NewFrame(handles.window);
 	
-#if 1
 	ImGuiWindowFlags window_flags = 0;
 	window_flags |= ImGuiWindowFlags_NoTitleBar;
 	window_flags |= ImGuiWindowFlags_NoScrollbar;
@@ -60,11 +59,10 @@ renderGooey(SDL_Handles &handles, HexDrawMode &mode, bool &is_debug,
 	window_flags |= ImGuiWindowFlags_NoCollapse;
 
 	ImGui::SetNextWindowPos(ImVec2(0,0));
-	ImGui::SetNextWindowSize(ImVec2(300, 250));
+	ImGui::SetNextWindowSize(ImVec2(300, 550));
 	ImGui::SetNextWindowBgAlpha(0.3f);
 	bool show_window;
 	ImGui::Begin("", &show_window, window_flags);
-#endif
 
 	ImGuiIO& io = ImGui::GetIO();
 	ImGui::Text("%.3f ms/frame, (%.1f FPS)", 1000.0f / io.Framerate, io.Framerate);
@@ -84,6 +82,11 @@ renderGooey(SDL_Handles &handles, HexDrawMode &mode, bool &is_debug,
 	ImGui::Text("is_selecting");
 	ImGui::SameLine(); ImGui::TextUnformatted(is_selecting ? "true" : "false");
 
+	// testing SDL_image
+	SDL_Surface* image = handles.texSurfaces[0];
+	ImGui::Image((void*)(intptr_t) image->userdata, ImVec2(image->w, image->h));
+	//ImGui::ShowMetricsWindow();
+
 	if (current_hex)
 	{
 		Hex ch = current_hex->hex;
@@ -96,10 +99,8 @@ renderGooey(SDL_Handles &handles, HexDrawMode &mode, bool &is_debug,
 	}
 
 	ImGui::End();
-
 	ImGui::Render();
 	ImGui_ImplSdlGL3_RenderDrawData(ImGui::GetDrawData());
-
 }
 
 #endif // GOOEY_H
diff --git a/src/hexgame.cpp b/src/hexgame.cpp
index f7d2f52..26ba44e 100644
--- a/src/hexgame.cpp
+++ b/src/hexgame.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include <SDL.h>
+#include <SDL_image.h>
 
 #include "hexgame.h"
 #include "hexlib.h"
@@ -352,6 +353,7 @@ cleanUp(SDL_Handles &handles)
 	freeBuffers();	// renderer.h
 	for (SDL_Surface *surface : handles.texSurfaces)
 			SDL_FreeSurface(surface);
+	IMG_Quit();	// SDL_image
 	SDL_GL_DeleteContext(handles.glContext);
 	SDL_DestroyWindow(handles.window);
 	SDL_Quit();
@@ -407,6 +409,26 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 		LOG(ERROR) << "Unable to initialize graphics, exiting\n";
 		return 1;
 	}
+
+	{
+		// load support for the JPG and PNG image formats
+		int flags=IMG_INIT_JPG|IMG_INIT_PNG;
+		int initted=IMG_Init(flags);
+		if((initted&flags) != flags)
+		{
+			LOG(ERROR) << "IMG_Init: Failed to init required jpg and png support!\n";
+			LOG(ERROR) << "IMG_Init: " << IMG_GetError() << "\n";
+			return 1;
+		}
+
+		// pre-load textures
+		std::string path = "../data/coords.layout.flat.png";
+		if (!addTexture(handles, path))
+		{
+			LOG(ERROR) << "Error adding " << path << "\n";
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
 	
 	if (!createScene(g_game_state->hex_array))
 	{
diff --git a/src/renderer.h b/src/renderer.h
index 99507bf..ef3cbfa 100644
--- a/src/renderer.h
+++ b/src/renderer.h
@@ -182,6 +182,34 @@ initRenderer(SDL_Handles &handles, v2i vpDims)
 	return true;
 }
 
+bool
+addTexture(SDL_Handles &handles, std::string path)
+{
+	// testing
+	LOG(INFO) << "Loading image: " << path << "\n";
+	SDL_Surface* image = IMG_Load(path.c_str());
+
+	if (!image)
+	{
+		LOG(ERROR) << "IMG_Load: " << IMG_GetError() << "\n";
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	GLuint tex_id;
+	glGenTextures(1, &tex_id);
+	glBindTexture(GL_TEXTURE_2D, tex_id);
+	glPixelStorei(GL_UNPACK_ROW_LENGTH, 0);
+	glTexImage2D(GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0, GL_RGBA, image->w, image->h, 0, GL_RGBA, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, image->pixels);
+	glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER, GL_NEAREST);
+	glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_NEAREST);
+
+	// store opengl id in SDL_Surface.userdat
+	image->userdata = (void*)(intptr_t) tex_id;
+	handles.texSurfaces.push_back(image);
+
+	return true;
+}
+
 // NOTE: mat_id should match the matrix variable name in the shader source
 bool
 initShaderProgram(gl_render_group &rg, const char * vertex_code, const char * frag_code, const char * mat_id)