diff --git a/kitty/data-types.c b/kitty/data-types.c
index 85f64925f..a64b87d8e 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.c
+++ b/kitty/data-types.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ extern int init_LineBuf(PyObject *);
 extern int init_Cursor(PyObject *);
 extern int init_Line(PyObject *);
 extern int init_ColorProfile(PyObject *);
+extern int init_SpriteMap(PyObject *);
 extern PyObject* create_256_color_table();
 #include "gl.h"
 
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
         if (!init_Line(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_Cursor(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_ColorProfile(m)) return NULL;
+        if (!init_SpriteMap(m)) return NULL;
         if (!add_module_gl_constants(m)) return NULL;
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "BOLD", BOLD_SHIFT);
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "ITALIC", ITALIC_SHIFT);
diff --git a/kitty/data-types.h b/kitty/data-types.h
index 91757776b..ea266d001 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.h
+++ b/kitty/data-types.h
@@ -157,6 +157,26 @@ typedef struct {
 
 } ColorProfile;
 
+typedef struct SpritePosition SpritePosition;
+struct SpritePosition {
+    SpritePosition *next;
+    unsigned int x, y, z;
+    char_type ch;
+    combining_type cc;
+    bool is_second;
+    bool filled;
+    bool rendered;
+};
+
+typedef struct {
+    PyObject_HEAD
+
+    size_t max_array_len, max_texture_size, xnum, ynum, max_y;
+    unsigned int x, y, z;
+    SpritePosition cache[1024];
+
+} SpriteMap;
+
 
 Line* alloc_line();
 Cursor* alloc_cursor();
diff --git a/kitty/sprites.c b/kitty/sprites.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c36d20b9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kitty/sprites.c
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+/*
+ * sprites.c
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+ *
+ * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
+ */
+
+#include "data-types.h"
+
+static PyObject*
+new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject UNUSED *kwds) {
+    SpriteMap *self;
+    unsigned long mlen, msz;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "kk", &msz, &mlen)) return NULL;
+
+    self = (SpriteMap *)type->tp_alloc(type, 0);
+    if (self != NULL) {
+        self->max_array_len = mlen;
+        self->max_texture_size = msz;
+    }
+    return (PyObject*) self;
+}
+
+static void
+dealloc(SpriteMap* self) {
+    SpritePosition *s, *t;
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof(self->cache)/sizeof(self->cache[0]); i++) {
+        s = &(self->cache[i]);
+        s = s->next;
+        while (s) {
+            t = s;
+            s = s->next;
+            PyMem_Free(t);
+        }
+    }
+    Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject*)self);
+}
+
+static PyObject*
+layout(SpriteMap *self, PyObject *args) {
+#define layout_doc "layout(cell_width, cell_height) -> Invalidate the cache and prepare it for new cell size"
+    unsigned long cell_width, cell_height;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "kk", &cell_width, &cell_height)) return NULL;
+    self->xnum = MAX(1, self->max_texture_size / cell_width);
+    self->max_y = MAX(1, self->max_texture_size / cell_height);
+
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof(self->cache)/sizeof(self->cache[0]); i++) {
+        SpritePosition *s = &(self->cache[i]);
+        do {
+            s->filled = false;
+            s->is_second = false;
+            s->rendered = false;
+            s->ch = 0; s->cc = 0;
+            s->x = 0; s->y = 0; s->z = 0;
+            s = s->next;
+        } while (s != NULL);
+    }
+    Py_RETURN_NONE;
+}
+
+static void
+increment(SpriteMap *self, int *error) {
+    self->x++;
+    if (self->x >= self->xnum) {
+        self->x = 0; self->y++;
+        self->ynum = MIN(MAX(self->ynum, self->y + 1), self->max_y);
+        if (self->y >= self->max_y) {
+            self->y = 0; self->z++;
+            if (self->z >= self->max_array_len) *error = 2;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+static SpritePosition*
+sprite_position_for(SpriteMap *self, char_type ch, combining_type cc, bool is_second, int *error) {
+    char_type attrs = ch >> ATTRS_SHIFT, pos_char;
+    uint8_t bold = (attrs >> BOLD_SHIFT) & 1, italic = (attrs >> ITALIC_SHIFT) & 1;
+    size_t idx = (ch & 0xff) | (bold << 8) | (italic << 9);
+    attrs = bold << BOLD_SHIFT | italic << ITALIC_SHIFT;
+    pos_char = (ch & CHAR_MASK) | (attrs << ATTRS_SHIFT);
+    SpritePosition *s = &(self->cache[idx]);
+    while(true) {
+        if (s->filled) {
+            if (s->ch == pos_char && s->cc == cc && s->is_second == is_second) return s;  // Cache hit
+        } else {
+            break;
+        }
+        if (!s->next) {
+            s->next = PyMem_Calloc(1, sizeof(SpritePosition));
+            if (s->next == NULL) { *error = 1; return NULL; }
+        }
+        s = s->next;
+    }
+    s->ch = pos_char;
+    s->cc = cc;
+    s->is_second = is_second;
+    s->filled = true;
+    s->x = self->x; s->y = self->y; s->z = self->z;
+    increment(self, error);
+    return s;
+}
+
+static void set_sprite_error(int error) {
+    switch(error) {
+        case 1:
+            PyErr_NoMemory(); break;
+        case 2:
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Out of texture space for sprites"); break;
+        default:
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "Unknown error occurred while allocating sprites"); break;
+    }
+}
+
+static PyObject*
+position_for(SpriteMap *self, PyObject *args) {
+#define position_for_doc "position_for(ch, cc, is_second) -> x, y, z the sprite position for the specified text"
+    unsigned long ch = 0;
+    unsigned long long cc = 0;
+    int is_second = 0, error = 0;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "|kKp", &ch, &cc, &is_second)) return NULL;
+    SpritePosition *pos = sprite_position_for(self, ch, cc, is_second, &error);
+    if (pos == NULL) {set_sprite_error(error); return NULL; }
+    return Py_BuildValue("III", pos->x, pos->y, pos->z);
+}
+// Boilerplate {{{
+
+
+static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
+    METHOD(layout, METH_VARARGS)
+    METHOD(position_for, METH_VARARGS)
+    {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
+};
+
+
+static PyTypeObject SpriteMap_Type = {
+    PyVarObject_HEAD_INIT(NULL, 0)
+    .tp_name = "fast_data_types.SpriteMap",
+    .tp_basicsize = sizeof(SpriteMap),
+    .tp_dealloc = (destructor)dealloc, 
+    .tp_flags = Py_TPFLAGS_DEFAULT,        
+    .tp_doc = "SpriteMap",
+    .tp_methods = methods,
+    .tp_new = new,                
+};
+
+INIT_TYPE(SpriteMap)
+// }}}
+
+
diff --git a/kitty_tests/datatypes.py b/kitty_tests/datatypes.py
index adf7bb8e3..79a4de046 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/datatypes.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/datatypes.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from . import BaseTest, filled_line_buf, filled_cursor
 
 from kitty.config import build_ansi_color_table, defaults
 from kitty.utils import is_simple_string, wcwidth, sanitize_title
-from kitty.fast_data_types import LineBuf, Cursor as C, REVERSE, ColorProfile
+from kitty.fast_data_types import LineBuf, Cursor as C, REVERSE, ColorProfile, SpriteMap
 
 
 def create_lbuf(*lines):
@@ -274,3 +274,16 @@ class TestDataTypes(BaseTest):
             col = getattr(defaults, 'color{}'.format(i))
             self.assertEqual(c.ansi_color(30 + i), col[0] << 16 | col[1] << 8 | col[2])
         self.ae(c.color_256(255), 0xeeeeee)
+
+    def test_sprite_map(self):
+        s = SpriteMap(10, 2)
+        s.layout(5, 5)
+        self.ae(s.position_for(0), (0, 0, 0))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(1), (1, 0, 0))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(2), (0, 1, 0))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(3), (1, 1, 0))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(4), (0, 0, 1))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(5), (1, 0, 1))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(0, 1), (0, 1, 1))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(0, 2), (1, 1, 1))
+        self.ae(s.position_for(0, 2), (1, 1, 1))
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 2ea6d583f..f7c88f492 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -85,7 +85,10 @@ def main():
     args = option_parser().parse_args()
     init_env(args.debug)
     if args.action == 'build':
-        compile_c_extension('kitty/fast_data_types', 'kitty/line.c', 'kitty/data-types.c', 'kitty/line-buf.c', 'kitty/cursor.c', 'kitty/colors.c')
+        compile_c_extension(
+            'kitty/fast_data_types', 'kitty/line.c', 'kitty/data-types.c',
+            'kitty/line-buf.c', 'kitty/cursor.c', 'kitty/colors.c',
+            'kitty/sprites.c')
     elif args.action == 'test':
         os.execlp(sys.executable, sys.executable, os.path.join(base, 'test.py'))