diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index ad1c44d8..8a7660e0 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -9,20 +9,6 @@ blocking bugs
 
   similarly for vips_max() of an image which contains NaN, -INFINITY etc.
 
-- vips_image_new_from_file() etc. don't allow options in file names ... should
-  they have varargs instead for options? or a version which goes view
-  new_from_string and does allow options?
-
-  oop has this been fixed?
-
-  vips_image_build() now calls vips_foreign_load_options()
-
-  test
-
-  is this the best solution?
-
-  could we make a vips_image_new_from_file() which allowed varargs options?
-
 - clicking on bad pngs in the file browser will lock nip2
 
   they don't seem to bother "header" though, strange
diff --git a/libvips/include/vips/object.h b/libvips/include/vips/object.h
index 51c6f622..42336dec 100644
--- a/libvips/include/vips/object.h
+++ b/libvips/include/vips/object.h
@@ -338,6 +338,40 @@ int vips_object_get_argument_priority( VipsObject *object, const char *name );
 
 #define VIPS_ARGUMENT_FOR_ALL_END } } }
 
+/* And some macros to collect args from a va list. 
+ */
+#define VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_SET( PSPEC, ARG_CLASS, AP ) \
+	if( (ARG_CLASS->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_INPUT) ) { \
+		GValue value = { 0, }; \
+		gchar *error = NULL; \
+ 		\
+		/* Input args are given inline, eg. ("factor", 12.0)  \
+		 * and must be collected. \
+		 */ \
+		g_value_init( &value, G_PARAM_SPEC_VALUE_TYPE( PSPEC ) ); \
+		G_VALUE_COLLECT( &value, AP, 0, &error ); \
+		\
+		/* Don't bother with the error message. \
+		 */ \
+		if( error ) { \
+			VIPS_DEBUG_MSG( "VIPS_OBJECT_COLLECT_SET: err\n" ); \
+			g_free( error ); \
+		}
+
+#define VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_GET( PSPEC, ARG_CLASS, AP ) \
+		g_value_unset( &value ); \
+	} \
+	else if( (ARG_CLASS->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_OUTPUT) ) { \
+		void **arg __attribute__ ((unused)); \
+ 		\
+		/* Output args are a pointer to where to send the \
+		 * result. \
+		 */ \
+		arg = va_arg( AP, void ** ); 
+
+#define VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_END \
+	} 
+
 #define VIPS_TYPE_OBJECT (vips_object_get_type())
 #define VIPS_OBJECT( obj ) \
 	(G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_CAST( (obj), VIPS_TYPE_OBJECT, VipsObject ))
diff --git a/libvips/iofuncs/image.c b/libvips/iofuncs/image.c
index 1f45c3d0..547d2000 100644
--- a/libvips/iofuncs/image.c
+++ b/libvips/iofuncs/image.c
@@ -1304,13 +1304,13 @@ vips_image_new( void )
  *       <emphasis>"r"</emphasis>
  *       opens the named file for reading. If the file is not in the native 
  *       VIPS format for your machine, vips_image_new_mode() 
- *       automatically converts the file for you in memory. 
+ *       automatically converts the file for you. 
  *
  *       For some large files (eg. TIFF) this may 
  *       not be what you want, it can fill memory very quickly. Instead, you
  *       can either use "rd" mode (see below), or you can use the lower-level 
  *       API and control the loading process yourself. See 
- *       #VipsBandFormat. 
+ *       #VipsForeign. 
  *
  *       vips_image_new_mode() can read files in most formats.
  *
@@ -1339,7 +1339,7 @@ vips_image_new( void )
  *	 For example:
  *
  *       |[
- *         vips --vips-disc-threshold 500m im_copy fred.tif fred.v
+ *         vips --vips-disc-threshold 500m copy fred.tif fred.v
  *       ]|
  *
  *       will copy via disc if "fred.tif" is more than 500 Mbytes
diff --git a/libvips/iofuncs/operation.c b/libvips/iofuncs/operation.c
index 605529cf..df7b757b 100644
--- a/libvips/iofuncs/operation.c
+++ b/libvips/iofuncs/operation.c
@@ -303,38 +303,6 @@ vips_operation_new( const char *name )
 #define va_copy(d,s) ((d) = (s))
 #endif
 
-#define VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET( PSPEC, ARG_CLASS, AP ) \
-	if( (ARG_CLASS->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_INPUT) ) { \
-		GValue value = { 0, }; \
-		gchar *error = NULL; \
- 		\
-		/* Input args are given inline, eg. ("factor", 12.0)  \
-		 * and must be collected. \
-		 */ \
-		g_value_init( &value, G_PARAM_SPEC_VALUE_TYPE( PSPEC ) ); \
-		G_VALUE_COLLECT( &value, AP, 0, &error ); \
-		\
-		/* Don't bother with the error message. \
-		 */ \
-		if( error ) { \
-			VIPS_DEBUG_MSG( "VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET: err\n" ); \
-			g_free( error ); \
-		}
-
-#define VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_GET( PSPEC, ARG_CLASS, AP ) \
-		g_value_unset( &value ); \
-	} \
-	else if( (ARG_CLASS->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_OUTPUT) ) { \
-		void **arg __attribute__ ((unused)); \
- 		\
-		/* Output args are a pointer to where to send the \
-		 * result. \
-		 */ \
-		arg = va_arg( AP, void ** ); 
-
-#define VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_END \
-	} 
-
 static int
 vips_operation_set_valist_required( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 {
@@ -349,7 +317,7 @@ vips_operation_set_valist_required( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 		g_assert( argument_instance );
 
 		if( (argument_class->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_REQUIRED) ) {
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
 #ifdef VIPS_DEBUG
 			{
@@ -365,14 +333,14 @@ vips_operation_set_valist_required( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 			g_object_set_property( G_OBJECT( operation ),
 				g_param_spec_get_name( pspec ), &value );
 
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
 #ifdef VIPS_DEBUG
 			printf( "\tskipping arg %p for %s\n", 
 				arg, g_param_spec_get_name( pspec ) );
 #endif /*VIPS_DEBUG */
 
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_END
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_END
 		}
 	} VIPS_ARGUMENT_FOR_ALL_END
 
@@ -399,14 +367,14 @@ vips_operation_set_valist_optional( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 			&pspec, &argument_class, &argument_instance ) )
 			return( -1 );
 
-		VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
 		g_object_set_property( G_OBJECT( operation ), 
 			name, &value );
 
-		VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
-		VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_END
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_END
 
 		name = va_arg( ap, char * );
 	}
@@ -425,9 +393,9 @@ vips_operation_get_valist_required( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 	VIPS_ARGUMENT_FOR_ALL( operation, 
 		pspec, argument_class, argument_instance ) {
 		if( (argument_class->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_REQUIRED) ) {
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
 			if( !argument_instance->assigned ) 
 				continue;
@@ -451,7 +419,7 @@ vips_operation_get_valist_required( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 				g_object_unref( object ); 
 			}
 
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_END
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_END
 		}
 	} VIPS_ARGUMENT_FOR_ALL_END
 
@@ -478,13 +446,13 @@ vips_operation_get_valist_optional( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 			&pspec, &argument_class, &argument_instance ) )
 			return( -1 );
 
-		VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
 		/* We must collect input args as we walk the name/value list,
 		 * but we don't do anything with them.
 		 */
 
-		VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, ap );
 
 		/* Here's an output arg.
 		 */
@@ -513,7 +481,7 @@ vips_operation_get_valist_optional( VipsOperation *operation, va_list ap )
 			}
 		}
 
-		VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_END
+		VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_END
 
 		name = va_arg( ap, char * );
 	}
@@ -592,13 +560,13 @@ vips_call( const char *operation_name, ... )
 		g_assert( argument_instance );
 
 		if( (argument_class->flags & VIPS_ARGUMENT_REQUIRED) ) {
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, 
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_SET( pspec, argument_class, 
 				optional );
 
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, 
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_GET( pspec, argument_class, 
 				optional );
 
-			VIPS_OPERATION_COLLECT_END
+			VIPS_ARGUMENT_COLLECT_END
 		}
 	} VIPS_ARGUMENT_FOR_ALL_END