diff --git a/include/buffer.h b/include/buffer.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e95fdc..0000000
--- a/include/buffer.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-#pragma once
-
-#include "swappy.h"
-
-bool buffer_init_from_file(struct swappy_state *state);
-void buffer_resize_patterns(struct swappy_state *state);
-void buffer_free_all(struct swappy_state *state);
diff --git a/include/pixbuf.h b/include/pixbuf.h
index 68a0cfa..4d439f7 100644
--- a/include/pixbuf.h
+++ b/include/pixbuf.h
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 
 #include "swappy.h"
 
+GdkPixbuf *pixbuf_init_from_file(struct swappy_state *state);
 GdkPixbuf *pixbuf_get_from_state(struct swappy_state *state);
 void pixbuf_save_state_to_folder(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf, char *folder,
                                  char *filename_format);
 void pixbuf_save_to_file(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf, char *file);
 void pixbuf_save_to_stdout(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf);
+void pixbuf_scale_surface_from_widget(struct swappy_state *state,
+                                      GtkWidget *widget);
diff --git a/include/swappy.h b/include/swappy.h
index 7818af0..1007b5f 100644
--- a/include/swappy.h
+++ b/include/swappy.h
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ struct swappy_state {
   struct swappy_state_ui *ui;
   struct swappy_config *config;
 
+  GdkPixbuf *original_image;
   cairo_surface_t *original_image_surface;
   cairo_surface_t *scaled_image_surface;
   cairo_surface_t *rendered_surface;
@@ -165,8 +166,6 @@ struct swappy_state {
   struct swappy_box *window;
   struct swappy_box *geometry;
 
-  cairo_rectangle_int_t *drawing_area_rect;
-
   GList *paints;
   GList *redo_paints;
   struct swappy_paint *temp_paint;
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index f78d93a..847f450 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ executable(
 		'src/main.c',
 		'src/algebra.c',
 		'src/application.c',
-		'src/buffer.c',
 		'src/box.c',
 		'src/config.c',
 		'src/clipboard.c',
diff --git a/src/application.c b/src/application.c
index df9c562..923be68 100644
--- a/src/application.c
+++ b/src/application.c
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <time.h>
 
-#include "buffer.h"
 #include "clipboard.h"
 #include "config.h"
 #include "file.h"
@@ -231,8 +230,6 @@ void blur_clicked_handler(GtkWidget *widget, struct swappy_state *state) {
 
 void application_finish(struct swappy_state *state) {
   paint_free_all(state);
-  buffer_free_all(state);
-  g_free(state->drawing_area_rect);
   cairo_surface_destroy(state->rendered_surface);
   cairo_surface_destroy(state->original_image_surface);
   cairo_surface_destroy(state->scaled_image_surface);
@@ -247,6 +244,7 @@ void application_finish(struct swappy_state *state) {
   g_free(state->geometry);
   g_free(state->window);
   g_free(state->ui);
+  g_object_unref(state->original_image);
   g_object_unref(state->app);
 
   config_free(state);
@@ -394,27 +392,21 @@ gboolean draw_area_handler(GtkWidget *widget, cairo_t *cr,
 gboolean draw_area_configure_handler(GtkWidget *widget,
                                      GdkEventConfigure *event,
                                      struct swappy_state *state) {
-  g_debug("received configure_event handler");
+  g_debug("received configure_event callback");
   cairo_surface_destroy(state->rendered_surface);
-  g_free(state->drawing_area_rect);
 
   cairo_surface_t *surface = gdk_window_create_similar_surface(
       gtk_widget_get_window(widget), CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR_ALPHA,
       gtk_widget_get_allocated_width(widget),
       gtk_widget_get_allocated_height(widget));
 
-  state->rendered_surface = surface;
+  g_info("size of drawing area surface: %ux%u",
+         cairo_image_surface_get_width(surface),
+         cairo_image_surface_get_height(surface));
 
-  GtkAllocation *alloc = g_new(GtkAllocation, 1);
-  gtk_widget_get_allocation(widget, alloc);
-  state->drawing_area_rect = alloc;
-  buffer_resize_patterns(state);
+  state->rendered_surface = surface;
 
-  g_info("size of cairo_surface: %ux%u with type: %d",
-         cairo_image_surface_get_width(surface),
-         cairo_image_surface_get_height(surface),
-         cairo_image_surface_get_format(surface));
-  g_info("size of area to render: %ux%u", alloc->width, alloc->height);
+  pixbuf_scale_surface_from_widget(state, widget);
 
   render_state(state);
 
@@ -562,18 +554,34 @@ static void compute_window_size(struct swappy_state *state) {
   state->window->y = workarea.y;
 
   double threshold = 0.75;
-  double scaling = 1.0;
 
-  if (state->geometry->width > workarea.width * threshold) {
-    scaling = workarea.width * threshold / state->geometry->width;
-  } else if (state->geometry->height > workarea.height * threshold) {
-    scaling = workarea.height * threshold / state->geometry->height;
-  }
+  int image_width = gdk_pixbuf_get_width(state->original_image);
+  int image_height = gdk_pixbuf_get_height(state->original_image);
 
-  state->window->width = state->geometry->width * scaling;
-  state->window->height = state->geometry->height * scaling;
+  int max_width = workarea.width * threshold;
+  int max_height = workarea.height * threshold;
 
+  g_info("size of image: %ux%u", image_width, image_height);
   g_info("size of monitor at window: %ux%u", workarea.width, workarea.height);
+  g_info("maxium size allowed for window: %ux%u", max_width, max_height);
+
+  int scaled_width = image_width;
+  int scaled_height = image_height;
+
+  double scaling_factor_width = (double)max_width / image_width;
+  double scaling_factor_height = (double)max_height / image_height;
+
+  if (scaling_factor_height < 1.0 || scaling_factor_width < 1.0) {
+    double scaling_factor = MIN(scaling_factor_width, scaling_factor_height);
+    scaled_width = image_width * scaling_factor;
+    scaled_height = image_height * scaling_factor;
+    g_info("rendering area will be scaled by a factor of: %.2lf",
+           scaling_factor);
+  }
+
+  state->window->width = scaled_width;
+  state->window->height = scaled_height;
+
   g_info("size of window to render: %ux%u", state->window->width,
          state->window->height);
 }
@@ -675,8 +683,8 @@ static bool load_layout(struct swappy_state *state) {
 }
 
 static bool init_gtk_window(struct swappy_state *state) {
-  if (!state->geometry) {
-    g_critical("no geometry found, did you use -f option?");
+  if (!state->original_image) {
+    g_critical("original image not loaded");
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -725,7 +733,7 @@ static gint command_line_handler(GtkApplication *app,
       state->temp_file_str = temp_file_str;
     }
 
-    if (!buffer_init_from_file(state)) {
+    if (!pixbuf_init_from_file(state)) {
       return EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/buffer.c b/src/buffer.c
deleted file mode 100644
index ac4b050..0000000
--- a/src/buffer.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,94 +0,0 @@
-#include "buffer.h"
-
-#include <cairo.h>
-
-#include "box.h"
-#include "swappy.h"
-
-bool buffer_init_from_file(struct swappy_state *state) {
-  char *file =
-      state->temp_file_str != NULL ? state->temp_file_str : state->file_str;
-
-  g_info("creating cairo image surface from file: %s", file);
-
-  cairo_surface_t *surface = cairo_image_surface_create_from_png(file);
-  cairo_status_t status = cairo_surface_status(surface);
-
-  if (status) {
-    g_warning("error while loading png file: %s - cairo status: %s", file,
-              cairo_status_to_string(status));
-    return false;
-  }
-
-  int width = cairo_image_surface_get_width(surface);
-  int height = cairo_image_surface_get_height(surface);
-
-  struct swappy_box *geometry = g_new(struct swappy_box, 1);
-
-  geometry->x = 0;
-  geometry->y = 0;
-  geometry->width = (int32_t)width;
-  geometry->height = (int32_t)height;
-
-  g_info("size of image: %dx%d", width, height);
-
-  state->geometry = geometry;
-
-  cairo_pattern_t *output_pattern = cairo_pattern_create_for_surface(surface);
-  state->patterns = g_list_append(state->patterns, output_pattern);
-  state->original_image_surface = surface;
-
-  return true;
-}
-
-static void scale_pattern(gpointer data, gpointer user_data) {
-  struct swappy_state *state = (struct swappy_state *)user_data;
-  cairo_pattern_t *pattern = (cairo_pattern_t *)data;
-  int image_width, image_height;
-  int rendered_width, rendered_height;
-
-  image_width = state->geometry->width;
-  image_height = state->geometry->height;
-
-  rendered_width = state->drawing_area_rect->width;
-  rendered_height = state->drawing_area_rect->height;
-
-  cairo_surface_t *scaled = cairo_surface_create_similar(
-      state->rendered_surface, CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR_ALPHA, rendered_width,
-      rendered_height);
-  cairo_t *cr = cairo_create(scaled);
-
-  double sx = (double)rendered_width / image_width;
-  double sy = (double)rendered_height / image_height;
-
-  cairo_matrix_t matrix;
-  cairo_matrix_init_scale(&matrix, 1.0 / sx, 1.0 / sy);
-  cairo_pattern_set_matrix(pattern, &matrix);
-  cairo_set_source_surface(cr, state->original_image_surface, 0, 0);
-  cairo_set_source(cr, pattern);
-  cairo_paint(cr);
-
-  cairo_destroy(cr);
-
-  if (state->scaled_image_surface) {
-    cairo_surface_destroy(state->scaled_image_surface);
-  }
-
-  state->scaled_image_surface = scaled;
-}
-
-void buffer_resize_patterns(struct swappy_state *state) {
-  g_list_foreach(state->patterns, scale_pattern, state);
-}
-
-static void free_pattern(gpointer data) {
-  cairo_pattern_t *pattern = data;
-  cairo_pattern_destroy(pattern);
-}
-
-void buffer_free_all(struct swappy_state *state) {
-  if (state->patterns) {
-    g_list_free_full(state->patterns, free_pattern);
-    state->patterns = NULL;
-  }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pixbuf.c b/src/pixbuf.c
index 41173a1..f06e172 100644
--- a/src/pixbuf.c
+++ b/src/pixbuf.c
@@ -63,6 +63,21 @@ void pixbuf_save_to_stdout(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf) {
   g_object_unref(out);
 }
 
+GdkPixbuf *pixbuf_init_from_file(struct swappy_state *state) {
+  GError *error = NULL;
+  char *file =
+      state->temp_file_str != NULL ? state->temp_file_str : state->file_str;
+  GdkPixbuf *image = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file(file, &error);
+
+  if (error != NULL) {
+    g_error("unable to load file: %s - reason: %s", file, error->message);
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  state->original_image = image;
+  return image;
+}
+
 void pixbuf_save_to_file(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf, char *file) {
   if (g_strcmp0(file, "-") == 0) {
     pixbuf_save_to_stdout(pixbuf);
@@ -70,3 +85,43 @@ void pixbuf_save_to_file(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf, char *file) {
     write_file(pixbuf, file);
   }
 }
+
+void pixbuf_scale_surface_from_widget(struct swappy_state *state,
+                                      GtkWidget *widget) {
+  GtkAllocation *alloc = g_new(GtkAllocation, 1);
+  GdkPixbuf *image = state->original_image;
+  gtk_widget_get_allocation(widget, alloc);
+
+  gboolean has_alpha = gdk_pixbuf_get_has_alpha(image);
+  cairo_format_t format = has_alpha ? CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32 : CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24;
+  gint image_width = gdk_pixbuf_get_width(image);
+  gint image_height = gdk_pixbuf_get_height(image);
+  cairo_surface_t *surface =
+      cairo_image_surface_create(format, image_width, image_height);
+
+  if (!surface) {
+    g_error("unable to create cairo surface from pixbuf");
+    goto cleanup;
+  } else {
+    cairo_t *cr;
+    cr = cairo_create(surface);
+    double scale_x = (double)alloc->width / image_width;
+    double scale_y = (double)alloc->height / image_height;
+    g_info("image scaled on x,y: %.2lf,%.2lf", scale_x, scale_y);
+    cairo_scale(cr, scale_x, scale_y);
+    gdk_cairo_set_source_pixbuf(cr, image, 0, 0);
+    cairo_paint(cr);
+    cairo_destroy(cr);
+  }
+
+  g_info("size of area to render: %ux%u", alloc->width, alloc->height);
+
+  if (state->scaled_image_surface) {
+    cairo_surface_destroy(state->scaled_image_surface);
+    state->scaled_image_surface = NULL;
+  }
+  state->scaled_image_surface = surface;
+
+cleanup:
+  g_free(alloc);
+}