diff --git a/cogl-color.h b/cogl-color.h
index 0cbc479a4..73de891de 100644
--- a/cogl-color.h
+++ b/cogl-color.h
@@ -228,6 +228,18 @@ float     cogl_color_get_blue        (const CoglColor *color);
  */
 float     cogl_color_get_alpha       (const CoglColor *color);
 
+/**
+ * cogl_color_premultiply:
+ * @color: the color to premultiply
+ *
+ * Converts a non-premultiplied color to a pre-multiplied color. For
+ * example, semi-transparent red is (1.0, 0, 0, 0.5) when non-premultiplied
+ * and (0.5, 0, 0, 0.5) when premultiplied.
+ *
+ * Since: 1.0
+ */
+void cogl_color_premultiply (CoglColor *color);
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __COGL_COLOR_H__ */
diff --git a/cogl-material.h b/cogl-material.h
index 497d7f852..786ff344a 100644
--- a/cogl-material.h
+++ b/cogl-material.h
@@ -138,6 +138,11 @@ gboolean cogl_is_material (CoglHandle handle);
  *
  * This is the basic color of the material, used when no lighting is enabled.
  *
+ * Note that if you don't add any layers to the material then the color
+ * will be blended unmodified with the destination; the default blend
+ * expects premultiplied colors: for example, use (0.5, 0.0, 0.0, 0.5) for
+ * semi-transparent red. See cogl_color_premultiply().
+ *
  * The default value is (1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
  *
  * Since 1.0
@@ -475,6 +480,11 @@ void cogl_material_set_alpha_test_function (CoglHandle            material,
  * </programlisting>
  * </section>
  *
+ * The default blend string is:
+ *  "RGBA = ADD (SRC_COLOR, DST_COLOR*(1-SRC_COLOR[A]))"
+ * That gives normal alpha-blending when the calculated color for the material
+ * is in premultiplied form.
+ *
  * Returns: TRUE if the blend string was successfully parsed, and the described
  *          blending is supported by the underlying driver/hardware. If there
  *          was an error, it returns FALSE.
diff --git a/cogl-texture.h b/cogl-texture.h
index 15cadc879..e3a2264a1 100644
--- a/cogl-texture.h
+++ b/cogl-texture.h
@@ -68,7 +68,13 @@ CoglHandle      cogl_texture_new_with_size    (guint            width,
  * @filename: the file to load
  * @flags: Optional flags for the texture, or %COGL_TEXTURE_NONE
  * @internal_format: the #CoglPixelFormat to use for the GPU storage of the
- *    texture
+ *    texture. If COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ANY is given then a premultiplied
+ *    format similar to the format of the source data will be used. The
+ *    default blending equations of Cogl expect premultiplied color data;
+ *    the main use of passing a non-premultiplied format here is if you
+ *    have non-premultiplied source data and are going to adjust the blend
+ *    mode (see cogl_material_set_blend()) or use the data for something
+ *    other than straight blending.
  * @error: return location for a #GError or %NULL
  *
  * Creates a COGL texture from an image file.
@@ -90,7 +96,13 @@ CoglHandle      cogl_texture_new_from_file    (const gchar       *filename,
  * @flags: Optional flags for the texture, or %COGL_TEXTURE_NONE
  * @format: the #CoglPixelFormat the buffer is stored in in RAM
  * @internal_format: the #CoglPixelFormat that will be used for storing
- *    the buffer on the GPU
+ *    the buffer on the GPU. If COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ANY is given then a
+ *    premultiplied format similar to the format of the source data will
+ *    be used. The default blending equations of Cogl expect premultiplied
+ *    color data; the main use of passing a non-premultiplied format here
+ *    is if you have non-premultiplied source data and are going to adjust
+ *    the blend mode (see cogl_material_set_blend()) or use the data for
+ *    something other than straight blending.
  * @rowstride: the memory offset in bytes between the starts of
  *    scanlines in @data
  * @data: pointer the memory region where the source buffer resides
diff --git a/cogl.h.in b/cogl.h.in
index 9425a1267..c1cc10f29 100644
--- a/cogl.h.in
+++ b/cogl.h.in
@@ -386,13 +386,22 @@ gboolean        cogl_get_backface_culling_enabled (void);
  * @z_near: Position along z-axis where no fogging should be applied
  * @z_far: Position along z-axes where full fogging should be applied
  *
- * Enables fogging. Fogging causes vertices that are further away from
- * the eye to be rendered with a different color. The color is determined
- * according to the chosen fog mode; at it's simplest the color is
- * linearly interpolated so that vertices at @z_near are drawn fully
- * with their original color and vertices at @z_far are drawn fully
- * with @fog_color. Fogging will remain enabled until you call
- * cogl_disable_fog().
+ * Enables fogging. Fogging causes vertices that are further away from the eye
+ * to be rendered with a different color. The color is determined according to
+ * the chosen fog mode; at it's simplest the color is linearly interpolated so
+ * that vertices at @z_near are drawn fully with their original color and
+ * vertices at @z_far are drawn fully with @fog_color. Fogging will remain
+ * enabled until you call cogl_disable_fog().
+ *
+ * Note: The fogging functions only work correctly when primitives use
+ *       unmultiplied alpha colors. By default Cogl will premultiply textures
+ *       and cogl_set_source_color will premultiply colors, so unless you
+ *       explicitly load your textures requesting an unmultiplied
+ *       internal_format and use cogl_material_set_color you can only use
+ *       fogging with fully opaque primitives.
+ *
+ *       We can look to improve this in the future when we can depend on
+ *       fragment shaders.
  */
 void            cogl_set_fog                  (const CoglColor *fog_color,
                                                CoglFogMode      mode,
@@ -455,8 +464,13 @@ void            cogl_set_source               (CoglHandle material);
  * cogl_set_source_color:
  * @color: a #CoglColor
  *
- * Sets the source color using normalized values for each component.
- * This color will be used for any subsequent drawing operation.
+ * This is a convenience function for creating a solid fill source material
+ * from the given color. This color will be used for any subsequent drawing
+ * operation.
+ *
+ * The color will be premultiplied by Cogl, so the color should be
+ * non-premultiplied. For example: use (1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.5) for
+ * semi-transparent red.
  *
  * See also cogl_set_source_color4ub() and cogl_set_source_color4f()
  * if you already have the color components.
diff --git a/common/cogl-bitmap-fallback.c b/common/cogl-bitmap-fallback.c
index e118459e1..ddff6ea40 100644
--- a/common/cogl-bitmap-fallback.c
+++ b/common/cogl-bitmap-fallback.c
@@ -163,9 +163,9 @@ _cogl_unpremult_alpha_last (const guchar *src, guchar *dst)
 {
   guchar alpha = src[3];
 
-  dst[0] = ((((gulong) src[0] >> 16) & 0xff) * 255 ) / alpha;
-  dst[1] = ((((gulong) src[1] >> 8) & 0xff) * 255 ) / alpha;
-  dst[2] = ((((gulong) src[2] >> 0) & 0xff) * 255 ) / alpha;
+  dst[0] = (src[0] * 255) / alpha;
+  dst[1] = (src[1] * 255) / alpha;
+  dst[2] = (src[2] * 255) / alpha;
   dst[3] = alpha;
 }
 
@@ -175,11 +175,46 @@ _cogl_unpremult_alpha_first (const guchar *src, guchar *dst)
   guchar alpha = src[0];
 
   dst[0] = alpha;
-  dst[1] = ((((gulong) src[1] >> 16) & 0xff) * 255 ) / alpha;
-  dst[2] = ((((gulong) src[2] >> 8) & 0xff) * 255 ) / alpha;
-  dst[3] = ((((gulong) src[3] >> 0) & 0xff) * 255 ) / alpha;
+  dst[1] = (src[1] * 255) / alpha;
+  dst[2] = (src[2] * 255) / alpha;
+  dst[3] = (src[3] * 255) / alpha;
 }
 
+/* No division form of floor((c*a + 128)/255) (I first encountered
+ * this in the RENDER implementation in the X server.) Being exact
+ * is important for a == 255 - we want to get exactly c.
+ */
+#define MULT(d,c,a,t) G_STMT_START { t = c * a + 128; d = ((t >> 8) + t) >> 8; } G_STMT_END
+
+inline static void
+_cogl_premult_alpha_last (const guchar *src, guchar *dst)
+{
+  guchar alpha = src[3];
+  /* Using a separate temporary per component has given slightly better
+   * code generation with GCC in the past; it shouldn't do any worse in
+   * any case.
+   */
+  guint t1, t2, t3;
+  MULT(dst[0], src[0], alpha, t1);
+  MULT(dst[1], src[1], alpha, t2);
+  MULT(dst[2], src[2], alpha, t3);
+  dst[3] = alpha;
+}
+
+inline static void
+_cogl_premult_alpha_first (const guchar *src, guchar *dst)
+{
+  guchar alpha = src[0];
+  guint t1, t2, t3;
+
+  dst[0] = alpha;
+  MULT(dst[1], src[1], alpha, t1);
+  MULT(dst[2], src[2], alpha, t2);
+  MULT(dst[3], src[3], alpha, t3);
+}
+
+#undef MULT
+
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_fallback_can_convert (CoglPixelFormat src, CoglPixelFormat dst)
 {
@@ -211,6 +246,12 @@ _cogl_bitmap_fallback_can_unpremult (CoglPixelFormat format)
   return ((format & COGL_UNORDERED_MASK) == COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_32);
 }
 
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_fallback_can_premult (CoglPixelFormat format)
+{
+  return ((format & COGL_UNORDERED_MASK) == COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_32);
+}
+
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_fallback_convert (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
 			       CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp,
@@ -324,34 +365,86 @@ _cogl_bitmap_fallback_unpremult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
 			    * dst_bmp->height
 			    * dst_bmp->rowstride);
 
-  /* FIXME: Optimize */
   for (y = 0; y < bmp->height; y++)
     {
       src = (guchar*)bmp->data      + y * bmp->rowstride;
       dst = (guchar*)dst_bmp->data  + y * dst_bmp->rowstride;
 
-      for (x = 0; x < bmp->width; x++)
-	{
-	  /* FIXME: Would be nice to at least remove this inner
-           * branching, but not sure it can be done without
-           * rewriting of the whole loop */
-	  if (bmp->format & COGL_AFIRST_BIT)
-	    {
-	      if (src[0] == 0)
-		_cogl_unpremult_alpha_0 (src, dst);
-	      else
-		_cogl_unpremult_alpha_first (src, dst);
-	    }
-	  else
-	    {
-	      if (src[3] == 0)
-		_cogl_unpremult_alpha_0 (src, dst);
-	      else
-		_cogl_unpremult_alpha_last (src, dst);
-	    }
+      if (bmp->format & COGL_AFIRST_BIT)
+        {
+          for (x = 0; x < bmp->width; x++)
+            {
+              if (src[0] == 0)
+                _cogl_unpremult_alpha_0 (src, dst);
+              else
+                _cogl_unpremult_alpha_first (src, dst);
+              src += bpp;
+              dst += bpp;
+            }
+        }
+      else
+        {
+          for (x = 0; x < bmp->width; x++)
+            {
+              if (src[0] == 0)
+                _cogl_unpremult_alpha_0 (src, dst);
+              else
+                _cogl_unpremult_alpha_last (src, dst);
+              src += bpp;
+              dst += bpp;
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
-	  src += bpp;
-	  dst += bpp;
+  return TRUE;
+}
+
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_fallback_premult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
+			       CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp)
+{
+  guchar  *src;
+  guchar  *dst;
+  gint     bpp;
+  gint     x,y;
+
+  /* Make sure format supported for un-premultiplication */
+  if (!_cogl_bitmap_fallback_can_premult (bmp->format))
+    return FALSE;
+
+  bpp = _cogl_get_format_bpp (bmp->format);
+
+  /* Initialize destination bitmap */
+  *dst_bmp = *bmp;
+  dst_bmp->format |= COGL_PREMULT_BIT;
+
+  /* Allocate a new buffer to hold converted data */
+  dst_bmp->data = g_malloc (sizeof(guchar)
+			    * dst_bmp->height
+			    * dst_bmp->rowstride);
+
+  for (y = 0; y < bmp->height; y++)
+    {
+      src = (guchar*)bmp->data      + y * bmp->rowstride;
+      dst = (guchar*)dst_bmp->data  + y * dst_bmp->rowstride;
+
+      if (bmp->format & COGL_AFIRST_BIT)
+	{
+	  for (x = 0; x < bmp->width; x++)
+	    {
+	      _cogl_premult_alpha_first (src, dst);
+	      src += bpp;
+	      dst += bpp;
+	    }
+	}
+      else
+	{
+	  for (x = 0; x < bmp->width; x++)
+	    {
+	      _cogl_premult_alpha_last (src, dst);
+	      src += bpp;
+	      dst += bpp;
+	    }
 	}
     }
 
diff --git a/common/cogl-bitmap-pixbuf.c b/common/cogl-bitmap-pixbuf.c
index f1e500534..1b75cd0ba 100644
--- a/common/cogl-bitmap-pixbuf.c
+++ b/common/cogl-bitmap-pixbuf.c
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ _cogl_bitmap_can_unpremult (CoglPixelFormat format)
   return FALSE;
 }
 
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_can_premult (CoglPixelFormat format)
+{
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_convert (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
 		      CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp,
@@ -64,6 +70,13 @@ _cogl_bitmap_unpremult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
   return FALSE;
 }
 
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_premult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
+		      CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp)
+{
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
 #ifdef USE_QUARTZ
 
 /* lacking GdkPixbuf and other useful GError domains, define one of our own */
diff --git a/common/cogl-bitmap-private.h b/common/cogl-bitmap-private.h
index f54961bd0..b6e425733 100644
--- a/common/cogl-bitmap-private.h
+++ b/common/cogl-bitmap-private.h
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ _cogl_bitmap_can_unpremult (CoglPixelFormat format);
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_fallback_can_unpremult (CoglPixelFormat format);
 
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_can_premult (CoglPixelFormat format);
+
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_fallback_can_premult (CoglPixelFormat format);
+
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_convert (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
 		      CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp,
@@ -69,6 +75,14 @@ gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_fallback_unpremult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
 				 CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp);
 
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_premult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
+		      CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp);
+
+gboolean
+_cogl_bitmap_fallback_premult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
+			       CoglBitmap       *dst_bmp);
+
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_from_file (CoglBitmap  *bmp,
 			const gchar *filename,
diff --git a/common/cogl-bitmap.c b/common/cogl-bitmap.c
index f4c322abb..3dc7fd534 100644
--- a/common/cogl-bitmap.c
+++ b/common/cogl-bitmap.c
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ _cogl_bitmap_convert_and_premult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
     }
 
   /* Do we need to unpremultiply */
-  if ((bmp->format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) == 0 &&
-      (dst_format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) > 0)
+  if ((bmp->format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) > 0 &&
+      (dst_format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) == 0)
     {
       /* Try unpremultiplying using imaging library */
       if (!_cogl_bitmap_unpremult (&new_bmp, &tmp_bmp))
@@ -112,14 +112,28 @@ _cogl_bitmap_convert_and_premult (const CoglBitmap *bmp,
     }
 
   /* Do we need to premultiply */
-  if ((bmp->format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) > 0 &&
-      (dst_format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) == 0)
+  if ((bmp->format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) == 0 &&
+      (dst_format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT) > 0)
     {
-      /* FIXME: implement premultiplication */
+      /* Try premultiplying using imaging library */
+      if (!_cogl_bitmap_premult (&new_bmp, &tmp_bmp))
+	{
+	  /* ... or try fallback */
+	  if (!_cogl_bitmap_fallback_premult (&new_bmp, &tmp_bmp))
+	    {
+	      if (new_bmp_owner)
+		g_free (new_bmp.data);
+
+	      return FALSE;
+	    }
+	}
+
+      /* Update bitmap with new data */
       if (new_bmp_owner)
 	g_free (new_bmp.data);
 
-      return FALSE;
+      new_bmp = tmp_bmp;
+      new_bmp_owner = TRUE;
     }
 
   /* Output new bitmap info */
diff --git a/common/cogl-color.c b/common/cogl-color.c
index 306005f2f..df338fcc4 100644
--- a/common/cogl-color.c
+++ b/common/cogl-color.c
@@ -153,6 +153,14 @@ cogl_color_get_alpha (const CoglColor *color)
   return  ((float) color->alpha / 255.0);
 }
 
+void
+cogl_color_premultiply (CoglColor *color)
+{
+  color->red = (color->red * color->alpha + 128) / 255;
+  color->green = (color->green * color->alpha + 128) / 255;
+  color->blue = (color->blue * color->alpha + 128) / 255;
+}
+
 void
 cogl_set_source_color4ub (guint8 red,
                           guint8 green,
diff --git a/common/cogl-material.c b/common/cogl-material.c
index 831fa30f1..7e3935bff 100644
--- a/common/cogl-material.c
+++ b/common/cogl-material.c
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ cogl_material_new (void)
   material->blend_constant[2] = 0;
   material->blend_constant[3] = 0;
 #endif
-  material->blend_src_factor_rgb = GL_SRC_ALPHA;
+  material->blend_src_factor_rgb = GL_ONE;
   material->blend_dst_factor_rgb = GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA;
   material->flags |= COGL_MATERIAL_FLAG_DEFAULT_BLEND_FUNC;
 
diff --git a/common/cogl.c b/common/cogl.c
index 336303917..5857db2d3 100644
--- a/common/cogl.c
+++ b/common/cogl.c
@@ -250,12 +250,17 @@ cogl_get_backface_culling_enabled (void)
 void
 cogl_set_source_color (const CoglColor *color)
 {
+  CoglColor premultiplied;
+
   _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NO_RETVAL);
 
   /* In case cogl_set_source_texture was previously used... */
   cogl_material_remove_layer (ctx->default_material, 0);
 
-  cogl_material_set_color (ctx->default_material, color);
+  premultiplied = *color;
+  cogl_color_premultiply (&premultiplied);
+  cogl_material_set_color (ctx->default_material, &premultiplied);
+
   cogl_set_source (ctx->default_material);
 }
 
diff --git a/gl/cogl-texture.c b/gl/cogl-texture.c
index 3af78f9a0..877107d3c 100644
--- a/gl/cogl-texture.c
+++ b/gl/cogl-texture.c
@@ -1085,18 +1085,12 @@ _cogl_pixel_format_to_gl (CoglPixelFormat  format,
   GLenum          glformat = 0;
   GLenum          gltype = 0;
 
-  /* No premultiplied formats accepted  by GL
-   * (FIXME: latest hardware?) */
+  /* FIXME: check YUV support */
 
-  if (format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT)
-    format = (format & COGL_UNPREMULT_MASK);
-
-  /* Everything else accepted
-   * (FIXME: check YUV support) */
   required_format = format;
 
   /* Find GL equivalents */
-  switch (format)
+  switch (format & COGL_UNPREMULT_MASK)
     {
     case COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_A_8:
       glintformat = GL_ALPHA;
@@ -1195,9 +1189,15 @@ _cogl_texture_bitmap_prepare (CoglTexture     *tex,
   CoglPixelFormat   new_data_format;
   gboolean          success;
 
-  /* Was there any internal conversion requested? */
+  /* Was there any internal conversion requested?
+   * By default Cogl will use a premultiplied internal format. Later we will
+   * add control over this. */
   if (internal_format == COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ANY)
-    internal_format = tex->bitmap.format;
+    {
+      if ((tex->bitmap.format & COGL_A_BIT) &&
+          tex->bitmap.format != COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_A_8)
+        internal_format = tex->bitmap.format | COGL_PREMULT_BIT;
+    }
 
   /* Find closest format accepted by GL */
   new_data_format = _cogl_pixel_format_to_gl (internal_format,
diff --git a/gles/cogl-texture.c b/gles/cogl-texture.c
index ae3e437b8..ab1653e07 100644
--- a/gles/cogl-texture.c
+++ b/gles/cogl-texture.c
@@ -1184,18 +1184,12 @@ _cogl_pixel_format_to_gl (CoglPixelFormat  format,
   GLenum          glformat = 0;
   GLenum          gltype = 0;
 
-  /* No premultiplied formats accepted  by GL
-   * (FIXME: latest hardware?) */
+  /* FIXME: check YUV support */
 
-  if (format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT)
-    format = (format & COGL_UNPREMULT_MASK);
-
-  /* Everything else accepted
-   * (FIXME: check YUV support) */
   required_format = format;
 
   /* Find GL equivalents */
-  switch (format)
+  switch (format & COGL_UNPREMULT_MASK)
     {
     case COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_A_8:
       glintformat = GL_ALPHA;
@@ -1226,6 +1220,7 @@ _cogl_pixel_format_to_gl (CoglPixelFormat  format,
       glformat = GL_RGBA;
       gltype = GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE;
       required_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888;
+      required_format |= (format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT);
       break;
 
       /* The following three types of channel ordering
@@ -1270,9 +1265,15 @@ _cogl_texture_bitmap_prepare (CoglTexture     *tex,
   CoglPixelFormat   new_data_format;
   gboolean          success;
 
-  /* Was there any internal conversion requested? */
+  /* Was there any internal conversion requested?
+   * By default Cogl will use a premultiplied internal format. Later we will
+   * add control over this. */
   if (internal_format == COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ANY)
-    internal_format = tex->bitmap.format;
+    {
+      if ((tex->bitmap.format & COGL_A_BIT) &&
+          tex->bitmap.format != COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_A_8)
+        internal_format = tex->bitmap.format | COGL_PREMULT_BIT;
+    }
 
   /* Find closest format accepted by GL */
   new_data_format = _cogl_pixel_format_to_gl (internal_format,