diff --git a/src/display.cpp b/src/display.cpp
index 532289d4e530..981620dcb08a 100644
--- a/src/display.cpp
+++ b/src/display.cpp
@@ -1506,7 +1506,6 @@ void display::draw_text_in_hex(const map_location& loc,
 	drawing_buffer_add(layer, loc, x, y, text_surf);
 }
 
-//TODO: convert this to use sdl::ttexture
 void display::render_image(int x, int y, const display::tdrawing_layer drawing_layer,
 		const map_location& loc, surface image,
 		bool hreverse, bool greyscale, fixed_t alpha,
diff --git a/src/font/text.cpp b/src/font/text.cpp
index 11693c04cb90..260ba54f54e7 100644
--- a/src/font/text.cpp
+++ b/src/font/text.cpp
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ ttext::~ttext()
 	surface_.assign(nullptr);
 }
 
-surface ttext::render() const
+surface& ttext::render() const
 {
 	this->rerender();
 	return surface_;
diff --git a/src/font/text.hpp b/src/font/text.hpp
index 52f336b5ed0d..c9375ff36b33 100644
--- a/src/font/text.hpp
+++ b/src/font/text.hpp
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class ttext
 	 * Before rendering it tests whether a redraw is needed and if so it first
 	 * redraws the surface before returning it.
 	 */
-	surface render() const;
+	surface& render() const;
 
 	/** Returns the width needed for the text. */
 	int get_width() const;
diff --git a/src/gui/core/canvas.cpp b/src/gui/core/canvas.cpp
index 0d22cdc47314..aae023bac4dd 100644
--- a/src/gui/core/canvas.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/core/canvas.cpp
@@ -1125,9 +1125,9 @@ void timage::draw(surface& canvas,
 
 				for(int x = 0; x < columns; ++x) {
 					for(int y = 0; y < rows; ++y) {
-						const SDL_Rect dest = sdl::create_rect(
+						SDL_Rect dest = sdl::create_rect(
 								x * image_->w, y * image_->h, 0, 0);
-						blit_surface(image_, nullptr, surf, &dest);
+						sdl_blit(image_, nullptr, surf, &dest);
 					}
 				}
 
@@ -1153,7 +1153,7 @@ void timage::draw(surface& canvas,
 		surf = flip_surface(surf, false);
 	}
 
-	blit_surface(surf, &src_clip, canvas, &dst_clip);
+	sdl_blit(surf, &src_clip, canvas, &dst_clip);
 }
 
 timage::tresize_mode timage::get_resize_mode(const std::string& resize_mode)
@@ -1350,7 +1350,7 @@ void ttext::draw(surface& canvas,
 							 : PANGO_ELLIPSIZE_END)
 			.set_characters_per_line(characters_per_line_);
 
-	surface surf = text_renderer.render();
+	surface& surf = text_renderer.render();
 	if(surf->w == 0) {
 		DBG_GUI_D << "Text: Rendering '" << text
 				  << "' resulted in an empty canvas, leave.\n";
diff --git a/src/sdl/utils.cpp b/src/sdl/utils.cpp
index 99f25ce8d2de..9c92b861e23d 100644
--- a/src/sdl/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/sdl/utils.cpp
@@ -64,10 +64,10 @@ const_surface_lock::~const_surface_lock()
 SDL_Color int_to_color(const Uint32 rgb)
 {
 	SDL_Color result;
-	result.r = (0x00FF0000 & rgb )>> 16;
-	result.g = (0x0000FF00 & rgb) >> 8;
-	result.b = (0x000000FF & rgb);
-	result.a = SDL_ALPHA_OPAQUE;
+	result.r = static_cast<Uint8>((SDL_RED_MASK & rgb) >> SDL_RED_BITSHIFT);
+	result.g = static_cast<Uint8>((SDL_GREEN_MASK & rgb) >> SDL_GREEN_BITSHIFT);
+	result.b = static_cast<Uint8>((SDL_BLUE_MASK & rgb) >> SDL_BLUE_BITSHIFT);
+	result.a = static_cast<Uint8>((SDL_ALPHA_MASK & rgb) >> SDL_ALPHA_BITSHIFT);
 	return result;
 }
 
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ bool operator<(const surface& a, const surface& b)
 bool is_neutral(const surface& surf)
 {
 	return (surf->format->BytesPerPixel == 4 &&
-		surf->format->Rmask == 0xFF0000u &&
-		(surf->format->Amask | 0xFF000000u) == 0xFF000000u);
+		surf->format->Rmask == SDL_RED_MASK &&
+		(surf->format->Amask | SDL_ALPHA_MASK) == SDL_ALPHA_MASK);
 }
 
 static SDL_PixelFormat& get_neutral_pixel_format()
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@ static SDL_PixelFormat& get_neutral_pixel_format()
 
 		if(first_time) {
 			first_time = false;
-			surface surf(SDL_CreateRGBSurface(SDL_SWSURFACE,1,1,32,0xFF0000,0xFF00,0xFF,0xFF000000));
+			surface surf(SDL_CreateRGBSurface(SDL_SWSURFACE,1,1,32,SDL_RED_MASK,SDL_GREEN_MASK,
+											  SDL_BLUE_MASK,SDL_ALPHA_MASK));
 			format = *surf->format;
 			format.palette = nullptr;
 		}
diff --git a/src/sdl/utils.hpp b/src/sdl/utils.hpp
index 48557431882c..27e6b2296b53 100644
--- a/src/sdl/utils.hpp
+++ b/src/sdl/utils.hpp
@@ -45,6 +45,16 @@
 #define SDL_BUTTON_WHEELRIGHT 7
 #endif
 
+#define SDL_ALPHA_MASK (0xFF000000)
+#define SDL_RED_MASK   (0x00FF0000)
+#define SDL_GREEN_MASK (0x0000FF00)
+#define SDL_BLUE_MASK  (0x000000FF)
+
+#define SDL_ALPHA_BITSHIFT (24)
+#define SDL_RED_BITSHIFT   (16)
+#define SDL_GREEN_BITSHIFT (8)
+#define SDL_BLUE_BITSHIFT  (0)
+
 SDL_Keycode sdl_keysym_from_name(std::string const &keyname);
 
 class surface
diff --git a/src/widgets/multimenu.cpp b/src/widgets/multimenu.cpp
index a749b1fcdf44..186be338e7e6 100644
--- a/src/widgets/multimenu.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/multimenu.cpp
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ namespace gui {
 		surface img = image::get_image(active_items_[row_index]
 									   ? "buttons/checkbox-pressed.png"
 									   : "buttons/checkbox.png");
-		blit_surface(img, nullptr, video().getSurface(), &rect);
+		SDL_Rect tmprect = rect;
+		sdl_blit(img, nullptr, video().getSurface(), &tmprect);
 		SDL_Rect newrect = {
 				Sint16 (rect.x + img->w + 2),
 				rect.y,