diff --git a/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Oh.My.Stitcher.csproj b/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Oh.My.Stitcher.csproj
index ca91574..b82d246 100644
--- a/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Oh.My.Stitcher.csproj
+++ b/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Oh.My.Stitcher.csproj
@@ -6,13 +6,21 @@
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <InvariantGlobalization>true</InvariantGlobalization>
     <PublishAot>true</PublishAot>
+    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="NetVips" Version="3.1.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="NetVips.Native.linux-x64" Version="8.17.1" />
     <PackageReference Include="Validation" Version="2.6.68" />
     <PackageReference Include="ZLogger" Version="2.5.10" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\vendor\NetVips\NetVips.csproj" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <InternalsVisibleTo Include="Oh.My.Stitcher.Benchmark" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
 </Project>
diff --git a/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Tile.cs b/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Tile.cs
index 7d613c7..72ba464 100644
--- a/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Tile.cs
+++ b/src/Oh.My.Stitcher/Tile.cs
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 // ReSharper disable ReplaceSliceWithRangeIndexer
 
+using System.Buffers.Text;
 using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using System.Text;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory;
 using NetVips;
+using Oh.My.Stitcher.NetVips;
 using ZLogger;
 
 namespace Oh.My.Stitcher;
@@ -73,6 +76,71 @@ public static class Tile
     return true;
   }
 
+  public static bool TryCreateFast(in Stitch request, string tilesDirectory, List<Image> images, ILogger logger,
+    IMemoryCache cache, out Image? image, out string? cacheKey, out string? cacheFile)
+  {
+    if( !TryParseRect(request.CanvasRect, out int minRow, out int maxRow, out int minCol, out int maxCol) )
+      throw new ArgumentException($"Invalid canvas_rect: '{request.CanvasRect}'");
+    if( maxRow > byte.MaxValue || maxCol > byte.MaxValue )
+      throw new NotSupportedException($"Unsupported rect row: {maxRow}, col: {maxCol}");
+
+    logger.ZLogDebug(
+      $"rect: {request.CanvasRect}, minRow: {minRow}, maxRow: {maxRow}, minCol: {minCol}, maxCol: {maxCol}");
+    int width = maxCol - minCol + 1;
+    int height = maxRow - minRow + 1;
+
+    float cropOffsetX = request.CropOffset.X;
+    float cropOffsetY = request.CropOffset.Y;
+    float cropSizeW = request.CropSize.Width;
+    float cropSizeH = request.CropSize.Height;
+    float outputScale = request.OutputScale;
+
+    image = null;
+    cacheKey = cacheFile = null;
+
+    // predicted size
+    int predictedW = (int)( width * TILE_SIZE * cropSizeW * outputScale );
+    int predictedH = (int)( height * TILE_SIZE * cropSizeH * outputScale );
+    bool canBeCached = ( predictedW * predictedH ) <= MAX_CACHED_TILE_SIZE;
+    if( canBeCached )
+    {
+      Span<byte> buffer = stackalloc byte[24];
+      byte minRowByte = (byte)minRow;
+      byte maxRowByte = (byte)maxRow;
+      byte minColByte = (byte)minCol;
+      byte maxColByte = (byte)maxCol;
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer, in minRowByte);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[1..], in maxRowByte);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[2..], in minColByte);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[3..], in maxColByte);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[4..], in cropOffsetX);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[8..], in cropOffsetY);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[12..], in cropSizeW);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[16..], in cropSizeH);
+      MemoryMarshal.Write(buffer[20..], in outputScale);
+      cacheKey = Convert.ToHexString(buffer).ToLowerInvariant();
+      if( cache.TryGetValue(cacheKey, out cacheFile) && File.Exists(cacheFile) )
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    Span<byte> pathBuffer = stackalloc byte[512];
+    for( int row = minRow; row <= maxRow; row++ )
+    for( int col = minCol; col <= maxCol; col++ )
+    {
+      int length = FullPathFast(tilesDirectory, row, col, pathBuffer);
+      images.Add(( OperationHacks.Call("pngload", pathBuffer.Slice(0, length + 1)) as Image )!);
+    }
+
+    using var canvasImage = Image.Arrayjoin(images.ToArray(), width);
+    int cropLeft = (int)( canvasImage.Width * cropOffsetX );
+    int cropTop = (int)( canvasImage.Height * cropOffsetY );
+    int cropWidth = (int)( canvasImage.Width * cropSizeW );
+    int cropHeight = (int)( canvasImage.Height * cropSizeH );
+
+    image = canvasImage.Crop(cropLeft, cropTop, cropWidth, cropHeight).Resize(outputScale);
+    return true;
+  }
+
   public static Image CreateError(Exception e)
   {
     const int padding = 20;
@@ -80,60 +148,84 @@ public static class Tile
     return text.Embed(padding, padding, text.Width + ( 2 * padding ), text.Height + ( 2 * padding ));
   }
 
-  private static string FullPath(string directory, int row, int col)
+  internal static string FullPath(string directory, int row, int col)
   {
     string letterPart = "";
-    while (row > 0)
+    while( row > 0 )
     {
-      int remainder = (row - 1) % 26;
-      letterPart = (char)('A' + remainder) + letterPart;
-      row = (row - 1) / 26;
+      int remainder = ( row - 1 ) % 26;
+      letterPart = (char)( 'A' + remainder ) + letterPart;
+      row = ( row - 1 ) / 26;
     }
+
     string fileName = $"{letterPart}{col}.png";
     return Path.Combine(directory, fileName);
   }
 
-  private static bool TryParseRect(string rect, out int minRow, out int maxRow, out int minCol, out int maxCol)
+  internal static int FullPathFast(string directory, int row, int col, Span<byte> buffer)
   {
-    minRow = maxRow = minCol = maxCol = 0;
-    string[] corners = rect.Split(':');
-    switch( corners.Length )
+    int p = 0;
+    p += Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(directory, buffer);
+    buffer[p++] = (byte)Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
+    int letterStart = p;
+    if( row > 0 )
     {
-      case 1:
-        {
-          if( !TryParseName(corners[0], out int r, out int c) )
-            return false;
+      while( row > 0 )
+      {
+        buffer[p++] = (byte)( 'A' + ( row - 1 ) % 26 );
+        row = ( row - 1 ) / 26;
+      }
 
-          minRow = maxRow = r;
-          minCol = maxCol = c;
-          return true;
-        }
-
-      case 2:
-        {
-          if( !TryParseName(corners[0], out int r1, out int c1) || !TryParseName(corners[1], out int r2, out int c2) )
-            return false;
-
-          minRow = Math.Min(r1, r2);
-          maxRow = Math.Max(r1, r2);
-          minCol = Math.Min(c1, c2);
-          maxCol = Math.Max(c1, c2);
-          return true;
-        }
-
-      default:
-        return false;
+      buffer.Slice(letterStart, p - letterStart).Reverse();
     }
+
+    Utf8Formatter.TryFormat(col, buffer.Slice(p), out int numBytesWritten);
+    p += numBytesWritten;
+
+    ".png"u8.CopyTo(buffer.Slice(p));
+    p += 4;
+
+    buffer[p] = 0; // null terminator
+    return p;
   }
 
-  private static bool TryParseName(string name, out int row, out int col)
+  internal static bool TryParseRect(ReadOnlySpan<char> rect, out int minRow, out int maxRow, out int minCol,
+    out int maxCol)
+  {
+    minRow = maxRow = minCol = maxCol = 0;
+    int colonIndex = rect.IndexOf(':');
+
+    if( colonIndex == -1 )
+    {
+      if( !TryParseName(rect, out int r, out int c) )
+        return false;
+
+      minRow = maxRow = r;
+      minCol = maxCol = c;
+      return true;
+    }
+
+    ReadOnlySpan<char> left = rect.Slice(0, colonIndex);
+    ReadOnlySpan<char> right = rect.Slice(colonIndex + 1);
+
+    if( !TryParseName(left, out int r1, out int c1) || !TryParseName(right, out int r2, out int c2) )
+      return false;
+
+    minRow = Math.Min(r1, r2);
+    maxRow = Math.Max(r1, r2);
+    minCol = Math.Min(c1, c2);
+    maxCol = Math.Max(c1, c2);
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  private static bool TryParseName(ReadOnlySpan<char> name, out int row, out int col)
   {
     row = col = 0;
-    ReadOnlySpan<char> span = name.AsSpan().Trim();
+    ReadOnlySpan<char> span = name.Trim();
     int splitIndex = span.IndexOfAnyInRange('0', '9');
     if( splitIndex <= 0 )
       return false;
-    if( !int.TryParse(span.Slice(splitIndex), out col))
+    if( !int.TryParse(span.Slice(splitIndex), out col) )
       return false;
     int letter = 0;
     foreach( char c in span.Slice(0, splitIndex) )