diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 683ab7a..16a1001 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,4 +12,5 @@ randomwalk
 oscilloscope
 lissajous
 squarmania
+testbed
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1b36380..b558f66 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
+#
 
-all:		spirale.png
+all:		testbed
 
 # -----------------------------------------------
 
 genplotting.o:	genplotting.f90 Makefile
 	gfortran -Wall -c $< 
 
+testbed:	testbed.f90 Makefile genplotting.o
+	gfortran -Wall $< genplotting.o -o $@
+
 # -----------------------------------------------
 
 starfield:	starfield.f90 Makefile genplotting.o
diff --git a/genplotting.f90 b/genplotting.f90
index cc326c4..c281d92 100644
--- a/genplotting.f90
+++ b/genplotting.f90
@@ -115,6 +115,41 @@ subroutine genp_end (foo)
 
 end subroutine
 ! ---------------------------------------------------------
+!                  /!\  warning /!\
+!    this procedure is highly experimental, don't use it
+!    for any real (or critical) work, but it was fine for
+!    playing around with the #UselessGraphic concept.
+
+subroutine genp_do_render(srcfile, tgafile, xsize, ysize)
+  character (len=*), intent(in)   :: srcfile, tgafile
+  integer, intent(in)             :: xsize, ysize
+
+  character (len=1664)            :: cmdline
+  character (len=20)              :: dima, dimb
+  integer                         :: i, j, errcode
+
+  write(0, '("--- genp do_render ---")')
+  write(0, '("    srcfile: ", A)') srcfile
+  write(0, '("    tgafile: ", A)') tgafile
+  write(0, '("    picsize: ", 2I5)') xsize, ysize
+
+  write(dima, '(I5, "x", I5)') xsize, ysize
+  ! write(0, '("dima [",A, "]")') dima
+  dimb = ""   ;   j = 1
+  do i=1, len(dima)
+    if (dima(i:i) .NE. ' ') then
+      dimb(j:j) = dima(i:i)
+      j = j +1
+    endif
+  enddo
+  ! write(0, '("[",A, "]")') trim(dimb)
+  write(cmdline, '("genplot2 -s ", A, " ", A, " ", A)') &
+                          trim(dimb), srcfile, tgafile
+  write(0, '(A)') trim(cmdline)
+  call execute_command_line(cmdline, exitstat=errcode)
+  write(0, '("errcode was :", I6)') errcode
+
+end subroutine
 ! ---------------------------------------------------------
 
 end module genplotting
diff --git a/testbed.f90 b/testbed.f90
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f326bab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testbed.f90
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+program testbed
+  use genplotting
+  implicit none
+
+  call genp_init(0, "foo.scratch")
+  call plot_axes(13.37)
+  call genp_end(0)
+  call genp_do_render("foo.scratch", "foo.tga", 512, 512)
+
+end program