diff --git a/kitty/blit_fragment.glsl b/kitty/blit_fragment.glsl
index f7b319180..8a160a203 100644
--- a/kitty/blit_fragment.glsl
+++ b/kitty/blit_fragment.glsl
@@ -7,5 +7,5 @@ out vec4 color;
 
 void main() {
     color = texture(image, texcoord);
-    color = vec4(color.rgb / color.a, color.a);
+    color = vec4(color.rgb, color.a);
 }
diff --git a/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl b/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl
index 586c8811f..ffc80fedd 100644
--- a/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl
+++ b/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl
@@ -51,10 +51,45 @@ vec4 alpha_blend_premul(vec3 over, float over_alpha, vec3 under, float under_alp
     float alpha = mix(under_alpha, 1.0f, over_alpha);
     return vec4(premul_blend(over, over_alpha, under), alpha);
 }
+
+vec4 blend_onto_opaque_premul(vec3 over, float over_alpha, vec3 under) {
+    // same as alpha_blend_premul with under_alpha = 1 outputs a blended color
+    // with alpha 1 which is effectively pre-multiplied since alpha is 1
+    return vec4(premul_blend(over, over_alpha, under), 1.0);
+}
+
+
 // }}}
 
+
+/*
+ * Explanation of rendering:
+ * There are a couple of cases, in order of increasing complexity:
+ * 1) Simple -- this path is used when there are either no images, or all images are
+ *    drawn on top of text and the background is opaque. In this case, there is a single pass,
+ *    of this shader with cell foreground and background colors blended directly.
+ *    Expected output is a color premultiplied by alpha, with an alpha specified as well.
+ *
+ * 2) Interleaved -- this path is used if background is not opaque and there are images or
+ *    if the background is opaque but there are images under text. Rendering happens in
+ *    multiple passes drawing the background and foreground separately and blending.
+ *
+ *    2a) Opaque bg with images under text
+ *        There are multiple passes, each pass is blended onto the previous using the opaque blend func (alpha, 1- alpha):
+ *        1) Draw only the background -- expected output is color with alpha 1
+ *        2) Draw the images that are supposed to be below text. This happens in the graphics shader
+ *        3) Draw the special cells (selection/cursor). Output is same as from step 1, with bg_alpha 1 for special cells and 0 otherwise
+ *        4) Draw the foreground -- expected output is color with alpha which is blended using the opaque blend func
+ *        5) Draw the images that are supposed to be above text again in the graphics shader
+ *
+ *    2b) Transparent bg with images
+ *        First everything is rendered into a framebuffer, and then the framebauffer is blended onto
+ *        the screen. The framebuffer is needed because it allows access to the background color pixels
+ *        to blend with the image pixels. The steps are basically the same as for 2a.
+ */
 #ifdef NEEDS_FOREGROUND
 vec4 calculate_foreground() {
+    // returns the effective foreground color in pre-multiplied form
     vec4 text_fg = texture(sprites, sprite_pos);
     vec3 fg = mix(foreground, text_fg.rgb, colored_sprite);
     float text_alpha = text_fg.a;
@@ -70,15 +105,12 @@ vec4 calculate_foreground() {
 #endif
 
 void main() {
-#ifdef BACKGROUND
+#ifdef SIMPLE
+    vec4 fg = calculate_foreground();
 #ifdef TRANSPARENT
-    // bg_alpha is doubled to match rendering in the SIMPLE case
-    // and also rendering of the margin/padding, see https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/pull/1291
-    // to test use background_opacity, window_margin_width and icat to display
-    // an image.
-    final_color = vec4(background.rgb * bg_alpha * bg_alpha, bg_alpha);
+    final_color = alpha_blend_premul(fg.rgb, fg.a, background.rgb * bg_alpha, bg_alpha);
 #else
-    final_color = vec4(background.rgb, 1.0f);
+    final_color = blend_onto_opaque_premul(fg.rgb, fg.a, background.rgb);
 #endif
 #endif
 
@@ -90,29 +122,22 @@ void main() {
 #endif
 #endif
 
-#if defined(FOREGROUND) || defined(SIMPLE)
-    // FOREGROUND or SIMPLE
-    vec4 fg = calculate_foreground();  // pre-multiplied foreground
+#ifdef BACKGROUND
+#ifdef TRANSPARENT
+    final_color = vec4(background.rgb * bg_alpha, bg_alpha);
+#else
+    final_color = vec4(background.rgb, 1.0f);
+#endif
+#endif
 
 #ifdef FOREGROUND
-    // FOREGROUND
+    vec4 fg = calculate_foreground();  // pre-multiplied foreground
 #ifdef TRANSPARENT
     final_color = fg;
 #else
     final_color = vec4(fg.rgb / fg.a, fg.a);
 #endif
 
-#else
-    // SIMPLE
-#ifdef TRANSPARENT
-    final_color = alpha_blend_premul(fg.rgb, fg.a, background * bg_alpha, bg_alpha);
-    final_color = vec4(final_color.rgb, final_color.a);
-#else
-    // since background alpha is 1.0, it is effectively pre-multiplied
-    final_color = vec4(premul_blend(fg.rgb, fg.a, background), 1.0f);
-    final_color = vec4(final_color.rgb, final_color.a);
-#endif
 #endif
 
-#endif
 }
diff --git a/kitty/shaders.c b/kitty/shaders.c
index 404ccd208..347998652 100644
--- a/kitty/shaders.c
+++ b/kitty/shaders.c
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ draw_cells_interleaved_premult(ssize_t vao_idx, ssize_t gvao_idx, Screen *screen
     glDisable(GL_BLEND);
     glBindFramebuffer(GL_DRAW_FRAMEBUFFER, 0);
 
-    // Now render the framebuffer to the screen reversing alpha pre-multiplication
+    // Now render the framebuffer to the screen
     glEnable(GL_SCISSOR_TEST);
     bind_program(BLIT_PROGRAM); bind_vertex_array(blit_vertex_array);
     static bool blit_constants_set = false;