diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 43c835e..550684f 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -53,4 +53,13 @@ roguish = executable('roguish', [
   ],
   dependencies: dependencies)
 
+roguish = executable('img2ansi', [
+  'dbc.cpp',
+  'panel.cpp',
+  'ansi_parser.cpp',
+  'render.cpp',
+  'scratchpad/img2ansi.cpp'
+  ],
+  dependencies: dependencies)
+
 test('tests', runtests)
diff --git a/scratchpad/img2ansi.cpp b/scratchpad/img2ansi.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21d991a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scratchpad/img2ansi.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#include <fmt/core.h>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include "panel.hpp"
+#include "color.hpp"
+#include "render.hpp"
+#include "dbc.hpp"
+#include <SFML/Graphics/Image.hpp>
+
+using namespace fmt;
+using namespace std;
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+  dbc::check(argc == 2, "USAGE: img2ansi <image_file>");
+
+  string image_file(argv[1]);
+
+  println("LOADING IMAGE: {}", image_file);
+
+  // load the image from argv
+  sf::Image image;
+  image.loadFromFile(image_file);
+
+  // create a grid panel to hold the cells
+  // divide the image into cells
+  // for each cell:
+  //    get the color
+  //    calculate value
+  //    find character that's closest
+  //    write to panel/canvas with ftxui
+  // display in sfml window with renderer
+}