diff --git a/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c b/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
index 7372fcab..a649c868 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
@@ -109,13 +109,18 @@ typedef struct _DT2Vips {
 } DT2Vips;
 
 static DT2Vips vips_DT2Vips[] = {
-	{ DT_UNSIGNED_CHAR, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR },
-	{ DT_SIGNED_SHORT, VIPS_FORMAT_SHORT },
-	{ DT_SIGNED_INT, VIPS_FORMAT_INT },
-	{ DT_FLOAT, VIPS_FORMAT_FLOAT },
-	{ DT_COMPLEX, VIPS_FORMAT_COMPLEX },
-	{ DT_DOUBLE, VIPS_FORMAT_DOUBLE },
-	{ DT_RGB, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR }
+	{ DT_UINT8, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR },
+	{ DT_INT8, VIPS_FORMAT_CHAR },
+	{ DT_UINT16, VIPS_FORMAT_USHORT },
+	{ DT_INT16, VIPS_FORMAT_SHORT },
+	{ DT_UINT32, VIPS_FORMAT_UINT },
+	{ DT_INT32, VIPS_FORMAT_INT },
+	{ DT_FLOAT32, VIPS_FORMAT_FLOAT },
+	{ DT_FLOAT64, VIPS_FORMAT_DOUBLE },
+	{ DT_COMPLEX64, VIPS_FORMAT_COMPLEX },
+	{ DT_COMPLEX128, VIPS_FORMAT_DPCOMPLEX },
+	{ DT_RGB, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR },
+	{ DT_RGBA32, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR }
 };
 
 /* Slow and horrid version if there's no recent glib.
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c b/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e5e2cd9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libvips/foreign/niftisave.c
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+/* save to nifti
+ *
+ * 5/7/18
+ * 	- from fitssave.c
+ */
+
+/*
+
+    This file is part of VIPS.
+    
+    VIPS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+    02110-1301  USA
+
+ */
+
+/*
+
+    These files are distributed with VIPS - http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk
+
+ */
+
+/*
+#define DEBUG_VERBOSE
+#define DEBUG
+ */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif /*HAVE_CONFIG_H*/
+#include <vips/intl.h>
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <vips/vips.h>
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CFITSIO
+
+#include "pforeign.h"
+
+typedef struct _VipsForeignSaveNifti {
+	VipsForeignSave parent_object;
+
+	/* Filename for save.
+	 */
+	char *filename; 
+
+} VipsForeignSaveNifti;
+
+typedef VipsForeignSaveClass VipsForeignSaveNiftiClass;
+
+G_DEFINE_TYPE( VipsForeignSaveNifti, vips_foreign_save_nifti, 
+	VIPS_TYPE_FOREIGN_SAVE );
+
+static int
+vips_foreign_save_nifti_build( VipsObject *object )
+{
+	VipsForeignSave *save = (VipsForeignSave *) object;
+	VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti = (VipsForeignSaveNifti *) object;
+	VipsImage **t = (VipsImage **) 
+		vips_object_local_array( VIPS_OBJECT( nifti ), 2 );
+
+	if( VIPS_OBJECT_CLASS( vips_foreign_save_nifti_parent_class )->
+		build( object ) )
+		return( -1 );
+
+	return( 0 );
+}
+
+/* Save a bit of typing.
+ */
+#define UC VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR
+#define C VIPS_FORMAT_CHAR
+#define US VIPS_FORMAT_USHORT
+#define S VIPS_FORMAT_SHORT
+#define UI VIPS_FORMAT_UINT
+#define I VIPS_FORMAT_INT
+#define F VIPS_FORMAT_FLOAT
+#define X VIPS_FORMAT_COMPLEX
+#define D VIPS_FORMAT_DOUBLE
+#define DX VIPS_FORMAT_DPCOMPLEX
+
+static int vips_nifti_bandfmt[10] = {
+/* UC  C   US  S   UI  I   F   X   D   DX */
+   UC, C,  US, S,  UI, I,  F,  X,  D,  DX
+};
+
+static void
+vips_foreign_save_nifti_class_init( VipsForeignSaveNiftiClass *class )
+{
+	GObjectClass *gobject_class = G_OBJECT_CLASS( class );
+	VipsObjectClass *object_class = (VipsObjectClass *) class;
+	VipsForeignClass *foreign_class = (VipsForeignClass *) class;
+	VipsForeignSaveClass *save_class = (VipsForeignSaveClass *) class;
+
+	gobject_class->set_property = vips_object_set_property;
+	gobject_class->get_property = vips_object_get_property;
+
+	object_class->nickname = "niftisave";
+	object_class->description = _( "save image to nifti file" );
+	object_class->build = vips_foreign_save_nifti_build;
+
+	foreign_class->suffs = vips__nifti_suffs;
+
+	save_class->saveable = VIPS_SAVEABLE_ANY;
+	save_class->format_table = vips_nifti_bandfmt;
+
+	VIPS_ARG_STRING( class, "filename", 1, 
+		_( "Filename" ),
+		_( "Filename to save to" ),
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_REQUIRED_INPUT, 
+		G_STRUCT_OFFSET( VipsForeignSaveNifti, filename ),
+		NULL );
+}
+
+static void
+vips_foreign_save_nifti_init( VipsForeignSaveNifti *nifti )
+{
+}
+
+#endif /*HAVE_CFITSIO*/
+
+/**
+ * vips_niftisave: (method)
+ * @in: image to save 
+ * @filename: file to write to 
+ * @...: %NULL-terminated list of optional named arguments
+ *
+ * Write a VIPS image to a file in NIFTI format.
+ *
+ * See also: vips_image_write_to_file().
+ *
+ * Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error.
+ */
+int
+vips_niftisave( VipsImage *in, const char *filename, ... )
+{
+	va_list ap;
+	int result;
+
+	va_start( ap, filename );
+	result = vips_call_split( "niftisave", ap, in, filename );
+	va_end( ap );
+
+	return( result );
+}