diff --git a/lib/color/col1b.ex b/lib/color/col1b.ex
index 8c6cff3..8f5de1f 100644
--- a/lib/color/col1b.ex
+++ b/lib/color/col1b.ex
@@ -73,20 +73,18 @@ defmodule Exa.Color.Col1b do
 
   # binary conversions ----------
 
-  @c1 [:gray, :index]
-
   @behaviour Colorb
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def to_bin(i, pix \\ :gray) when pix in @c1 and is_col1b(i),
+  def to_bin(pix \\ :gray, i) when is_pix1(pix) and is_col1b(i), 
     do: <<i>>
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def append_bin(buf, pix \\ :gray, i) when pix in @c1 and is_binary(buf) and is_col1b(i),
+  def append_bin(pix \\ :gray, buf, i) when is_pix1(pix) and is_binary(buf) and is_col1b(i),
     do: <<buf::binary, i>>
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def from_bin(<<i, rest::binary>>, pix \\ :gray) when pix in @c1,
+  def from_bin(pix \\ :gray, <<i, rest::binary>>) when is_pix1(pix),
     do: {i, rest}
 
   # -----------------
diff --git a/lib/color/col3b.ex b/lib/color/col3b.ex
index 416d182..37b243c 100644
--- a/lib/color/col3b.ex
+++ b/lib/color/col3b.ex
@@ -184,15 +184,15 @@ defmodule Exa.Color.Col3b do
   @behaviour Colorb
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def to_bin(col, pix \\ :rgb) when is_pix3(pix),
-    do: append_bin(<<>>, pix, col)
+  def to_bin(pix \\ :rgb, col) when is_pix3(pix),
+    do: append_bin(pix, <<>>, col)
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def append_bin(buf, pix \\ :rgb, {c1, c2, c3}) when is_pix3(pix) and is_binary(buf),
+  def append_bin(pix \\ :rgb, buf, {c1, c2, c3}) when is_pix3(pix) and is_binary(buf),
     do: <<buf::binary, c1, c2, c3>>
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def from_bin(<<c1, c2, c3, rest::binary>>, pix \\ :rgb) when is_pix3(pix),
+  def from_bin(pix \\ :rgb, <<c1, c2, c3, rest::binary>>) when is_pix3(pix),
     do: {{c1, c2, c3}, rest}
 
   # -----------------
diff --git a/lib/color/col4b.ex b/lib/color/col4b.ex
index a11ea47..196973c 100644
--- a/lib/color/col4b.ex
+++ b/lib/color/col4b.ex
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ defmodule Exa.Color.Col4b do
   require Logger
   import Exa.Types
 
+  import Exa.Color.Types
   alias Exa.Color.Types, as: C
 
   alias Exa.Math
@@ -146,19 +147,17 @@ defmodule Exa.Color.Col4b do
   #        unless the src and dst pixels are different
   #        then need 2 args 
 
-  @c4 [:rgba, :argb, :bgra, :abgr]
-
   @behaviour Colorb
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def to_bin(col, pix \\ :rgba) when pix in @c4,
-    do: append_bin(<<>>, pix, col)
+  def to_bin(pix \\ :rgba, col) when is_pix4(pix),
+    do: append_bin(pix, <<>>, col)
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def append_bin(buf, pix \\ :rgba, {c1, c2, c3, c4}) when pix in @c4 and is_binary(buf),
+  def append_bin(pix \\ :rgba, buf, {c1, c2, c3, c4}) when is_pix4(pix) and is_binary(buf),
     do: <<buf::binary, c1, c2, c3, c4>>
 
   @impl Colorb
-  def from_bin(<<c1, c2, c3, c4, rest::binary>>, pix \\ :rgba) when pix in @c4,
+  def from_bin(pix \\ :rgba, <<c1, c2, c3, c4, rest::binary>>) when is_pix4(pix),
     do: {{c1, c2, c3, c4}, rest}
 end
diff --git a/lib/color/colorb.ex b/lib/color/colorb.ex
index c796eab..d865ee0 100644
--- a/lib/color/colorb.ex
+++ b/lib/color/colorb.ex
@@ -1,48 +1,49 @@
 defmodule Exa.Color.Colorb do
-  @moduledoc "A behaviour for byte colors."
+  @moduledoc """
+  A behaviour for byte colors,
+  with a generic interface that dispatches 
+  to concrete implementations.
+  """
 
-  import Exa.Color.Types
   alias Exa.Color.Types, as: C
 
   alias Exa.Color.Col1b
   alias Exa.Color.Col3b
   alias Exa.Color.Col4b
 
+  # dispatch map from tags to implementation module
+  @disp %{
+  :gray => Col1b,
+  :index => Col1b,
+  :rgb => Col3b,
+  :bgr => Col3b,
+  :rgba => Col4b,
+  :bgra => Col4b,
+  :argb => Col4b,
+  :abgr =>  Col4b,
+  }
+
+  # it's more natural to have the buffer as first arg for piping
+  # but dispatching implementations must have the tag as 1st arg
+
   @doc "Convert a color to a binary."
-  @callback to_bin(C.colorb(), C.pixel()) :: binary()
+  @callback to_bin(C.pixel(), C.colorb()) :: binary()
 
   @doc "Append a color to a binary."
-  @callback append_bin(binary(), C.pixel(), C.colorb()) :: binary()
+  @callback append_bin(C.pixel(), binary(), C.colorb()) :: binary()
 
   @doc "Read a color from a binary."
-  @callback from_bin(binary(), C.pixel()) :: {C.colorb(), binary()}
-
-  # kinda like a protocol, but with tagged pixels instead of a struct...
-
-  def from_bin(buf, :gray), do: Col1b.from_bin(buf, :gray)
-  def from_bin(buf, :index), do: Col1b.from_bin(buf, :index)
-  def from_bin(buf, :rgb), do: Col3b.from_bin(buf, :rgb)
-  def from_bin(buf, :bgr), do: Col3b.from_bin(buf, :bgr)
-  def from_bin(buf, :rgba), do: Col4b.from_bin(buf, :rgba)
-  def from_bin(buf, :bgra), do: Col4b.from_bin(buf, :bgra)
-  def from_bin(buf, :argb), do: Col4b.from_bin(buf, :argb)
-  def from_bin(buf, :abgr), do: Col4b.from_bin(buf, :abgr)
-
-  def append_bin(buf, :gray, col), do: Col1b.append_bin(buf, :gray, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :index, col), do: Col1b.append_bin(buf, :index, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :rgb, col), do: Col3b.append_bin(buf, :rgb, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :bgr, col), do: Col3b.append_bin(buf, :bgr, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :rgba, col), do: Col4b.append_bin(buf, :rgba, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :bgra, col), do: Col4b.append_bin(buf, :bgra, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :argb, col), do: Col4b.append_bin(buf, :argb, col)
-  def append_bin(buf, :abgr, col), do: Col4b.append_bin(buf, :abgr, col)
-
-  def to_bin(col, :gray) when is_col1b(col), do: Col1b.to_bin(col, :gray)
-  def to_bin(col, :index) when is_col1b(col), do: Col1b.to_bin(col, :index)
-  def to_bin(col, :rgb) when is_col3b(col), do: Col3b.to_bin(col, :rgb)
-  def to_bin(col, :bgr) when is_col3b(col), do: Col3b.to_bin(col, :bgr)
-  def to_bin(col, :argb) when is_col4b(col), do: Col4b.to_bin(col, :argb)
-  def to_bin(col, :abgr) when is_col4b(col), do: Col4b.to_bin(col, :abgr)
-  def to_bin(col, :rgba) when is_col4b(col), do: Col4b.to_bin(col, :rgba)
-  def to_bin(col, :bgra) when is_col4b(col), do: Col4b.to_bin(col, :bgra)
+  @callback from_bin(C.pixel(), binary()) :: {C.colorb(), binary()}
+
+  def from_bin(pix, buf) do
+    Exa.Dispatch.dispatch(@disp, pix, :from_bin, [buf])
+  end
+
+  def append_bin(pix, buf, col) do
+    Exa.Dispatch.dispatch(@disp, pix, :append_bin, [buf, col])
+  end
+
+  def to_bin(pix, col) do
+    Exa.Dispatch.dispatch(@disp, pix, :to_bin, [col])
+  end
 end