diff --git a/include/mapnik/image_scaling.hpp b/include/mapnik/image_scaling.hpp
index c3ae15129..0c36e396e 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/image_scaling.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/image_scaling.hpp
@@ -60,42 +60,13 @@ enum scaling_method_e
 MAPNIK_DECL boost::optional<scaling_method_e> scaling_method_from_string(std::string const& name);
 MAPNIK_DECL boost::optional<std::string> scaling_method_to_string(scaling_method_e scaling_method);
 
-MAPNIK_DECL void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray8 & target,
-                      image_data_gray8 const& source,
-                      scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                      double image_ratio_x,
-                      double image_ratio_y,
-                      double x_off_f,
-                      double y_off_f,
-                      double filter_factor);
-
-MAPNIK_DECL void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray32f & target,
-                      image_data_gray32f const& source,
-                      scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                      double image_ratio_x,
-                      double image_ratio_y,
-                      double x_off_f,
-                      double y_off_f,
-                      double filter_factor);
-
-MAPNIK_DECL void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray16 & target,
-                      image_data_gray16 const& source,
-                      scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                      double image_ratio_x,
-                      double image_ratio_y,
-                      double x_off_f,
-                      double y_off_f,
-                      double filter_factor);
-
-MAPNIK_DECL void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 & target,
-                      image_data_rgba8 const& source,
-                      scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                      double image_ratio_x,
-                      double image_ratio_y,
-                      double x_off_f,
-                      double y_off_f,
-                      double filter_factor);
-
-
+template <typename T> MAPNIK_DECL void scale_image_agg(T & target, T const& source,
+                                                       scaling_method_e scaling_method,
+                                                       double image_ratio_x,
+                                                       double image_ratio_y,
+                                                       double x_off_f,
+                                                       double y_off_f,
+                                                       double filter_factor);
 }
+
 #endif // MAPNIK_IMAGE_SCALING_HPP
diff --git a/src/image_scaling.cpp b/src/image_scaling.cpp
index 9d717ea81..ea5d0bd01 100644
--- a/src/image_scaling.cpp
+++ b/src/image_scaling.cpp
@@ -96,36 +96,89 @@ boost::optional<std::string> scaling_method_to_string(scaling_method_e scaling_m
     return mode;
 }
 
-void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 & target,
-                     image_data_rgba8 const& source,
-                     scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                     double image_ratio_x,
-                     double image_ratio_y,
-                     double x_off_f,
-                     double y_off_f,
+
+namespace detail {
+
+template <typename T>
+struct agg_scaling_traits  {};
+
+template <>
+struct agg_scaling_traits<image_data_rgba8>
+{
+    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_rgba32_pre;
+    using color_type = agg::rgba8;
+    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
+    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
+    using span_image_filter = agg::span_image_filter_rgba_nn<img_src_type,interpolator_type>;
+    using span_image_resample_affine = agg::span_image_resample_rgba_affine<img_src_type>;
+
+};
+
+template <>
+struct agg_scaling_traits<image_data_gray8>
+{
+    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_gray8_pre;
+    using color_type = agg::gray8;
+    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
+    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
+    using span_image_filter = agg::span_image_filter_gray_nn<img_src_type,interpolator_type>;
+    using span_image_resample_affine = agg::span_image_resample_gray_affine<img_src_type>;
+};
+
+template <>
+struct agg_scaling_traits<image_data_gray16>
+{
+    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_gray16_pre;
+    using color_type = agg::gray16;
+    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
+    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
+    using span_image_filter = agg::span_image_filter_gray_nn<img_src_type,interpolator_type>;
+    using span_image_resample_affine = agg::span_image_resample_gray_affine<img_src_type>;
+};
+
+template <>
+struct agg_scaling_traits<image_data_gray32f>
+{
+    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_gray32_pre;
+    using color_type = agg::gray32;
+    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
+    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
+    using span_image_filter = agg::span_image_filter_gray_nn<img_src_type,interpolator_type>;
+    using span_image_resample_affine = agg::span_image_resample_gray_affine<img_src_type>;
+};
+
+}
+template <typename T>
+void scale_image_agg(T & target, T const& source, scaling_method_e scaling_method,
+                     double image_ratio_x, double image_ratio_y, double x_off_f, double y_off_f,
                      double filter_factor)
 {
     // "the image filters should work namely in the premultiplied color space"
     // http://old.nabble.com/Re:--AGG--Basic-image-transformations-p1110665.html
     // "Yes, you need to use premultiplied images only. Only in this case the simple weighted averaging works correctly in the image fitering."
     // http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.graphics.agg/3443
-    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_rgba32_pre;
+    using image_data_type = T;
+    using pixel_type = typename image_data_type::pixel_type;
+    using pixfmt_pre = typename detail::agg_scaling_traits<image_data_type>::pixfmt_pre;
+    using color_type = typename detail::agg_scaling_traits<image_data_type>::color_type;
+    using img_src_type = typename detail::agg_scaling_traits<image_data_type>::img_src_type;
+    using interpolator_type = typename detail::agg_scaling_traits<image_data_type>::interpolator_type;
     using renderer_base_pre = agg::renderer_base<pixfmt_pre>;
 
     // define some stuff we'll use soon
     agg::rasterizer_scanline_aa<> ras;
     agg::scanline_u8 sl;
-    agg::span_allocator<agg::rgba8> sa;
+    agg::span_allocator<color_type> sa;
     agg::image_filter_lut filter;
 
     // initialize source AGG buffer
-    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_src(const_cast<unsigned char*>(source.getBytes()), source.width(), source.height(), source.width() * 4);
+    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_src(const_cast<unsigned char*>(source.getBytes()), source.width(), source.height(), source.width() * sizeof(pixel_type));
     pixfmt_pre pixf_src(rbuf_src);
-    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
+
     img_src_type img_src(pixf_src);
 
     // initialize destination AGG buffer (with transparency)
-    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_dst(target.getBytes(), target.width(), target.height(), target.width() * 4);
+    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_dst(target.getBytes(), target.width(), target.height(), target.width() * sizeof(pixel_type));
     pixfmt_pre pixf_dst(rbuf_dst);
     renderer_base_pre rb_dst_pre(pixf_dst);
 
@@ -134,7 +187,7 @@ void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 & target,
     img_mtx /= agg::trans_affine_scaling(image_ratio_x, image_ratio_y);
 
     // create a linear interpolator for our scaling matrix
-    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
+
     interpolator_type interpolator(img_mtx);
 
     // draw an anticlockwise polygon to render our image into
@@ -150,7 +203,7 @@ void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 & target,
     {
     case SCALING_NEAR:
     {
-        using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_filter_rgba_nn<img_src_type, interpolator_type>;
+        using span_gen_type = typename detail::agg_scaling_traits<image_data_type>::span_image_filter;
         span_gen_type sg(img_src, interpolator);
         agg::render_scanlines_aa(ras, sl, rb_dst_pre, sa, sg);
         return;
@@ -192,7 +245,7 @@ void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 & target,
     // http://old.nabble.com/Re%3A-Newbie---texture-p5057255.html
 
     // high quality resampler
-    using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_resample_rgba_affine<img_src_type>;
+    using span_gen_type = typename detail::agg_scaling_traits<image_data_type>::span_image_resample_affine;
 
     // faster, lower quality
     //using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_filter_rgba<img_src_type,interpolator_type>;
@@ -204,204 +257,19 @@ void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 & target,
     //using span_gen_type = mapnik::span_image_resample_rgba_affine<img_src_type>;
     span_gen_type sg(img_src, interpolator, filter);
     agg::render_scanlines_aa(ras, sl, rb_dst_pre, sa, sg);
-}
-
-void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray8 & target,
-                     image_data_gray8 const& source,
-                     scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                     double image_ratio_x,
-                     double image_ratio_y,
-                     double x_off_f,
-                     double y_off_f,
-                     double filter_factor)
-{
-    // TODO
-}
-
-void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray32f & target,
-                     image_data_gray32f const& source,
-                     scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                     double image_ratio_x,
-                     double image_ratio_y,
-                     double x_off_f,
-                     double y_off_f,
-                     double filter_factor)
-{
-    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_gray32_pre;
-    using renderer_base_pre = agg::renderer_base<pixfmt_pre>;
-
-    // define some stuff we'll use soon
-    agg::rasterizer_scanline_aa<> ras;
-    agg::scanline_u8 sl;
-    agg::span_allocator<agg::gray32> sa;
-    agg::image_filter_lut filter;
-
-    // initialize source AGG buffer
-    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_src(const_cast<unsigned char*>(source.getBytes()), source.width(), source.height(), source.width() * 4);
-    pixfmt_pre pixf_src(rbuf_src);
-    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
-    img_src_type img_src(pixf_src);
-
-    // initialize destination AGG buffer (with transparency)
-    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_dst(target.getBytes(), target.width(), target.height(), target.width() * 4);
-    pixfmt_pre pixf_dst(rbuf_dst);
-    renderer_base_pre rb_dst_pre(pixf_dst);
-
-    // create a scaling matrix
-    agg::trans_affine img_mtx;
-    img_mtx /= agg::trans_affine_scaling(image_ratio_x, image_ratio_y);
-
-    // create a linear interpolator for our scaling matrix
-    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
-    interpolator_type interpolator(img_mtx);
-
-    // draw an anticlockwise polygon to render our image into
-    double scaled_width = target.width();
-    double scaled_height = target.height();
-    ras.reset();
-    ras.move_to_d(x_off_f,                y_off_f);
-    ras.line_to_d(x_off_f + scaled_width, y_off_f);
-    ras.line_to_d(x_off_f + scaled_width, y_off_f + scaled_height);
-    ras.line_to_d(x_off_f,                y_off_f + scaled_height);
-
-    switch(scaling_method)
-    {
-    case SCALING_NEAR:
-    {
-        using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_filter_gray_nn<img_src_type, interpolator_type>;
-        span_gen_type sg(img_src, interpolator);
-        agg::render_scanlines_aa(ras, sl, rb_dst_pre, sa, sg);
-        return;
-    }
-    case SCALING_BILINEAR:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_bilinear(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_BICUBIC:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_bicubic(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_SPLINE16:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_spline16(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_SPLINE36:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_spline36(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_HANNING:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_hanning(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_HAMMING:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_hamming(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_HERMITE:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_hermite(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_KAISER:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_kaiser(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_QUADRIC:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_quadric(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_CATROM:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_catrom(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_GAUSSIAN:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_gaussian(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_BESSEL:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_bessel(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_MITCHELL:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_mitchell(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_SINC:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_sinc(filter_factor), true); break;
-    case SCALING_LANCZOS:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_lanczos(filter_factor), true); break;
-    case SCALING_BLACKMAN:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_blackman(filter_factor), true); break;
-    }
-    using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_resample_gray_affine<img_src_type>;
-    span_gen_type sg(img_src, interpolator, filter);
-    agg::render_scanlines_aa(ras, sl, rb_dst_pre, sa, sg);
-}
-
-void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray16 & target,
-                     image_data_gray16 const& source,
-                     scaling_method_e scaling_method,
-                     double image_ratio_x,
-                     double image_ratio_y,
-                     double x_off_f,
-                     double y_off_f,
-                     double filter_factor)
-{
-    using pixfmt_pre = agg::pixfmt_gray16_pre;
-    using renderer_base_pre = agg::renderer_base<pixfmt_pre>;
-
-    // define some stuff we'll use soon
-    agg::rasterizer_scanline_aa<> ras;
-    agg::scanline_u8 sl;
-    agg::span_allocator<agg::gray16> sa;
-    agg::image_filter_lut filter;
-
-    // initialize source AGG buffer
-    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_src(const_cast<unsigned char*>(source.getBytes()), source.width(), source.height(), source.width() * 2);
-    pixfmt_pre pixf_src(rbuf_src);
-    using img_src_type = agg::image_accessor_clone<pixfmt_pre>;
-    img_src_type img_src(pixf_src);
-
-    // initialize destination AGG buffer (with transparency)
-    agg::rendering_buffer rbuf_dst(target.getBytes(), target.width(), target.height(), target.width() * 2);
-    pixfmt_pre pixf_dst(rbuf_dst);
-    renderer_base_pre rb_dst_pre(pixf_dst);
-
-    // create a scaling matrix
-    agg::trans_affine img_mtx;
-    img_mtx /= agg::trans_affine_scaling(image_ratio_x, image_ratio_y);
-
-    // create a linear interpolator for our scaling matrix
-    using interpolator_type = agg::span_interpolator_linear<>;
-    interpolator_type interpolator(img_mtx);
-
-    // draw an anticlockwise polygon to render our image into
-    double scaled_width = target.width();
-    double scaled_height = target.height();
-    ras.reset();
-    ras.move_to_d(x_off_f,                y_off_f);
-    ras.line_to_d(x_off_f + scaled_width, y_off_f);
-    ras.line_to_d(x_off_f + scaled_width, y_off_f + scaled_height);
-    ras.line_to_d(x_off_f,                y_off_f + scaled_height);
-
-    switch(scaling_method)
-    {
-    case SCALING_NEAR:
-    {
-        using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_filter_gray_nn<img_src_type, interpolator_type>;
-        span_gen_type sg(img_src, interpolator);
-        agg::render_scanlines_aa(ras, sl, rb_dst_pre, sa, sg);
-        return;
-    }
-    case SCALING_BILINEAR:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_bilinear(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_BICUBIC:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_bicubic(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_SPLINE16:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_spline16(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_SPLINE36:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_spline36(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_HANNING:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_hanning(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_HAMMING:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_hamming(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_HERMITE:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_hermite(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_KAISER:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_kaiser(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_QUADRIC:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_quadric(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_CATROM:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_catrom(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_GAUSSIAN:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_gaussian(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_BESSEL:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_bessel(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_MITCHELL:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_mitchell(), true); break;
-    case SCALING_SINC:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_sinc(filter_factor), true); break;
-    case SCALING_LANCZOS:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_lanczos(filter_factor), true); break;
-    case SCALING_BLACKMAN:
-        filter.calculate(agg::image_filter_blackman(filter_factor), true); break;
-    }
-    using span_gen_type = agg::span_image_resample_gray_affine<img_src_type>;
-    span_gen_type sg(img_src, interpolator, filter);
-    agg::render_scanlines_aa(ras, sl, rb_dst_pre, sa, sg);
-}
+
+}
+
+template void scale_image_agg(image_data_rgba8 &, image_data_rgba8 const&, scaling_method_e,
+                              double, double , double, double , double);
+
+template void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray8 &, image_data_gray8 const&, scaling_method_e,
+                              double, double , double, double , double);
+
+template void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray16 &, image_data_gray16 const&, scaling_method_e,
+                              double, double , double, double , double);
+
+template void scale_image_agg(image_data_gray32f &, image_data_gray32f const&, scaling_method_e,
+                              double, double , double, double , double);
 
 }