diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp
index 0de5e35d1..e9934252a 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp
@@ -118,6 +118,18 @@ bool painted(mapnik::image_32 const& im)
     return im.painted();
 }
 
+unsigned get_pixel(mapnik::image_32 const& im, int x, int y)
+{
+    if (x < static_cast<int>(im.width()) && y < static_cast<int>(im.height()))
+    {
+        mapnik::image_data_32 const & data = im.data();
+        return data(x,y);
+    }
+    PyErr_SetString(PyExc_IndexError, "invalid x,y for image dimensions");
+    boost::python::throw_error_already_set();
+    return 0;
+}
+
 void set_pixel(mapnik::image_32 & im, unsigned x, unsigned y, mapnik::color const& c)
 {
     im.setPixel(x, y, c.rgba());
@@ -216,6 +228,7 @@ void export_image()
         .def("premultiply",&image_32::premultiply)
         .def("demultiply",&image_32::demultiply)
         .def("set_pixel",&set_pixel)
+        .def("get_pixel",&get_pixel)
         //TODO(haoyu) The method name 'tostring' might be confusing since they actually return bytes in Python 3
 
         .def("tostring",&tostring1)
diff --git a/tests/visual_tests/compare.py b/tests/visual_tests/compare.py
index 4e57127c0..98edde22a 100644
--- a/tests/visual_tests/compare.py
+++ b/tests/visual_tests/compare.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-#import math, operator
-import Image
 import sys
+import mapnik
 
 COMPUTE_THRESHOLD = 16
 
@@ -11,37 +10,43 @@ passed = 0
 
 # returns true if pixels are not identical
 def compare_pixels(pixel1, pixel2):
-    r_diff = abs(pixel1[0] - pixel2[0])
-    g_diff = abs(pixel1[1] - pixel2[1])
-    b_diff = abs(pixel1[2] - pixel2[2])
-    if(r_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD or g_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD or b_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD):
+    if pixel1 == pixel2:
+        return False
+    # will only work on little endian
+    r_diff = abs((pixel1 & 0xff) - (pixel2 & 0xff))
+    g_diff = abs(((pixel1 >> 8) & 0xff) - ((pixel2 >> 8) & 0xff))
+    b_diff = abs(((pixel1 >> 16) & 0xff)- ((pixel2 >> 16) & 0xff))
+    a_diff = abs(((pixel1 >> 24) & 0xff) - ((pixel2 >> 24) & 0xff))
+    if(r_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD or
+       g_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD or
+       b_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD or
+       a_diff > COMPUTE_THRESHOLD):
         return True
     else:
         return False
 
-# compare tow images and return number of different pixels
-def compare(fn1, fn2):
+# compare two images and return number of different pixels
+def compare(actual, expected):
     global errors
     global passed
-    im1 = Image.open(fn1)
+    im1 = mapnik.Image.open(actual)
     try:
-        im2 = Image.open(fn2)
+        im2 = mapnik.Image.open(expected)
     except IOError:
-        errors.append((None, fn1, fn2))
+        errors.append((None, actual, expected))
         return -1
     diff = 0
-    pixels = im1.size[0] * im1.size[1]
-    delta_pixels = im2.size[0] * im2.size[1]  - pixels
+    pixels = im1.width() * im1.height()
+    delta_pixels = (im2.width() * im2.height()) - pixels
     if delta_pixels != 0:
-        errors.append((delta_pixels, fn1, fn2))
+        errors.append((delta_pixels, actual, expected))
         return delta_pixels
-    im1 = im1.getdata()
-    im2 = im2.getdata()
-    for i in range(3, pixels - 1, 3):
-        if(compare_pixels(im1[i], im2[i])):
-            diff = diff + 1
+    for x in range(0,im1.width(),2):
+        for y in range(0,im1.height(),2):
+            if compare_pixels(im1.get_pixel(x,y),im2.get_pixel(x,y)):
+                diff += 1
     if diff != 0:
-        errors.append((diff, fn1, fn2))
+        errors.append((diff, actual, expected))
     passed += 1
     return diff