diff --git a/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/fetchSlice.worker.ts b/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/fetchSlice.worker.ts
index f261238..d6bf140 100644
--- a/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/fetchSlice.worker.ts
+++ b/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/fetchSlice.worker.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // a web-worker which fetches slices of data, decodes them, and returns the result as a flat float32 array, using transferables
 import type { Chunk } from 'zarrita';
-import { getSlice, type ZarrDataset, type ZarrRequest } from './zarr-data';
+import { type ZarrDataset, type ZarrRequest } from '@alleninstitute/vis-omezarr';
+import { getSlice } from './zarr-data';
 
 const ctx = self;
 type ZarrSliceRequest = {
diff --git a/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/sliceWorkerPool.ts b/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/sliceWorkerPool.ts
index e2d4271..e0a32d5 100644
--- a/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/sliceWorkerPool.ts
+++ b/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/sliceWorkerPool.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { uniqueId } from 'lodash';
-import type { ZarrDataset, ZarrRequest } from './zarr-data';
+import type { ZarrDataset, ZarrRequest } from '@alleninstitute/vis-omezarr';
 
 type PromisifiedMessage = {
     requestCacheKey: string;
diff --git a/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data.ts b/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c14120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/src/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+// lets make some easy to understand utils to access .zarr data stored in an s3 bucket somewhere
+// import { HTTPStore, NestedArray, type TypedArray, openArray, openGroup, slice } from "zarr";
+import * as zarr from 'zarrita';
+import { some } from 'lodash';
+import { Box2D, type Interval, Vec2, type box2D, limit, type vec2 } from '@alleninstitute/vis-geometry';
+import type { AxisAlignedPlane } from '~/data-renderers/versa-renderer';
+
+// documentation for ome-zarr datasets (from which these types are built)
+// can be found here:
+// https://ngff.openmicroscopy.org/latest/#multiscale-md
+//
+export type ZarrDataset = Awaited<ReturnType<typeof loadMetadata>>;
+type AxisDesc = {
+    name: string; // x or y or z or time or ?
+    type: string; // space or time or ?
+    unit: string; // see list of possible units: https://ngff.openmicroscopy.org/latest/#axes-md
+};
+
+// todo, there are other types of coordinate transforms...
+type ScaleTransform = {
+    type: 'scale';
+    scale: ReadonlyArray<number>;
+};
+
+function isScaleTransform(trn: unknown): trn is ScaleTransform {
+    if (typeof trn === 'object' && trn !== null) {
+        const scaleTransform = trn as ScaleTransform;
+        return scaleTransform.type === 'scale' && scaleTransform.scale !== undefined;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+type DatasetDesc = {
+    path: string;
+    coordinateTransformations: ReadonlyArray<ScaleTransform | unknown>;
+};
+type DatasetWithShape = DatasetDesc & {
+    shape: number[];
+};
+type ZarrAttr = {
+    axes: ReadonlyArray<AxisDesc>;
+    datasets: ReadonlyArray<DatasetDesc>;
+};
+type ZarrAttrs = {
+    multiscales: ReadonlyArray<ZarrAttr>;
+};
+
+async function getRawInfo(store: zarr.FetchStore) {
+    const group = await zarr.open(store, { kind: 'group' });
+    return group.attrs as ZarrAttrs;
+    // TODO HACK ALERT: I am once again doing the thing that I hate, in which I promise to my friend Typescript that
+    // the junk I just pulled out of this internet file is exactly what I expect it to be: :fingers_crossed:
+}
+
+async function mapAsync<T, R>(arr: ReadonlyArray<T>, fn: (t: T, index: number) => Promise<R>) {
+    return Promise.all(arr.map((v, i) => fn(v, i)));
+}
+// return the mapping from path (aka resolution group???) to the dimensional shape of the data
+async function loadMetadata(url: string) {
+    const store = new zarr.FetchStore(url);
+    const root = zarr.root(store);
+    const attrs: ZarrAttrs = await getRawInfo(store);
+    const addShapeToDesc = async (d: DatasetDesc) => ({
+        ...d,
+        shape: (await zarr.open(root.resolve(d.path), { kind: 'array' })).shape,
+    });
+    return {
+        url,
+        multiscales: await mapAsync(attrs.multiscales, async (attr) => ({
+            ...attr,
+            datasets: await mapAsync<DatasetDesc, DatasetWithShape>(attr.datasets, addShapeToDesc),
+        })),
+    };
+}
+
+type OmeDimension = 'x' | 'y' | 'z' | 't' | 'c';
+const uvTable = {
+    xy: { u: 'x', v: 'y' },
+    xz: { u: 'x', v: 'z' },
+    yz: { u: 'y', v: 'z' },
+} as const;
+const sliceDimension = {
+    xy: 'z',
+    xz: 'y',
+    yz: 'x',
+} as const;
+export function uvForPlane(plane: AxisAlignedPlane) {
+    return uvTable[plane];
+}
+export function sliceDimensionForPlane(plane: AxisAlignedPlane) {
+    return sliceDimension[plane];
+}
+export type ZarrRequest = Record<OmeDimension, number | Interval | null>;
+export function pickBestScale(
+    dataset: ZarrDataset,
+    plane: {
+        u: OmeDimension;
+        v: OmeDimension;
+    },
+    relativeView: box2D, // a box in data-unit-space
+    // in the plane given above
+    displayResolution: vec2
+) {
+    const datasets = dataset.multiscales[0].datasets;
+    const axes = dataset.multiscales[0].axes;
+    const realSize = sizeInUnits(plane, axes, datasets[0])!;
+
+    const vxlPitch = (size: vec2) => Vec2.div(realSize, size);
+    // size, in dataspace, of a pixel 1/res
+    const pxPitch = Vec2.div(Box2D.size(relativeView), displayResolution);
+    const dstToDesired = (a: vec2, goal: vec2) => {
+        const diff = Vec2.sub(a, goal);
+        if (diff[0] * diff[1] > 0) {
+            // the res (a) is higher than our goal -
+            // weight this heavily to prefer smaller than the goal
+            return 1000 * Vec2.length(Vec2.sub(a, goal));
+        }
+        return Vec2.length(Vec2.sub(a, goal));
+    };
+    // we assume the datasets are ordered... hmmm TODO
+    const choice = datasets.reduce(
+        (bestSoFar, cur) =>
+            dstToDesired(vxlPitch(planeSizeInVoxels(plane, axes, bestSoFar)!), pxPitch) >
+            dstToDesired(vxlPitch(planeSizeInVoxels(plane, axes, cur)!), pxPitch)
+                ? cur
+                : bestSoFar,
+        datasets[0]
+    );
+    return choice ?? datasets[datasets.length - 1];
+}
+function indexFor(dim: OmeDimension, axes: readonly AxisDesc[]) {
+    return axes.findIndex((axe) => axe.name === dim);
+}
+
+export function sizeInUnits(
+    plane:
+        | AxisAlignedPlane
+        | {
+              u: OmeDimension;
+              v: OmeDimension;
+          },
+    axes: readonly AxisDesc[],
+    dataset: DatasetWithShape
+): vec2 | undefined {
+    const planeUV = typeof plane === 'string' ? uvForPlane(plane) : plane;
+    const vxls = planeSizeInVoxels(planeUV, axes, dataset);
+
+    if (vxls === undefined) return undefined;
+    let size: vec2 = vxls;
+    // now, just apply the correct transforms, if they exist...
+
+    dataset.coordinateTransformations.forEach((trn) => {
+        if (isScaleTransform(trn)) {
+            // try to apply it!
+            const uIndex = indexOfDimension(axes, planeUV.u);
+            const vIndex = indexOfDimension(axes, planeUV.v);
+            size = Vec2.mul(size, [trn.scale[uIndex], trn.scale[vIndex]]);
+        }
+    });
+    return size;
+}
+export function sizeInVoxels(dim: OmeDimension, axes: readonly AxisDesc[], dataset: DatasetWithShape) {
+    const uI = indexFor(dim, axes);
+    if (uI === -1) return undefined;
+
+    return dataset.shape[uI];
+}
+export function planeSizeInVoxels(
+    plane: {
+        u: OmeDimension;
+        v: OmeDimension;
+    },
+    axes: readonly AxisDesc[],
+    dataset: DatasetWithShape
+): vec2 | undefined {
+    // first - u&v must not refer to the same dimension,
+    // and both should exist in the axes...
+    const { u, v } = plane;
+    if (u === v) return undefined;
+    const uI = indexFor(u, axes);
+    const vI = indexFor(v, axes);
+
+    if (uI === -1 || vI === -1) return undefined;
+
+    return [dataset.shape[uI], dataset.shape[vI]] as const;
+}
+// feel free to freak out if the request is over or under determined or whatever
+function buildQuery(r: Readonly<ZarrRequest>, axes: readonly AxisDesc[], shape: number[]) {
+    const ordered = axes.map((a) => r[a.name as OmeDimension]);
+    // if any are undefined, throw up
+    if (some(ordered, (a) => a === undefined)) {
+        throw new Error('request does not match expected dimensions of ome-zarr dataset!');
+    }
+
+    return ordered.map((d, i) => {
+        const bounds = { min: 0, max: shape[i] };
+        if (d === null) {
+            return d;
+        } else if (typeof d === 'number') {
+            return limit(bounds, d);
+        }
+        return zarr.slice(limit(bounds, d.min), limit(bounds, d.max));
+    });
+}
+
+export async function explain(z: ZarrDataset) {
+    console.dir(z);
+    const root = zarr.root(new zarr.FetchStore(z.url));
+    for (const d of z.multiscales[0].datasets) {
+        zarr.open(root.resolve(d.path), { kind: 'array' }).then((arr) => {
+            console.dir(arr);
+        });
+    }
+}
+
+export function indexOfDimension(axes: readonly AxisDesc[], dim: OmeDimension) {
+    return axes.findIndex((ax) => ax.name === dim);
+}
+export async function getSlice(metadata: ZarrDataset, r: ZarrRequest, layerIndex: number) {
+    // put the request in native order
+    const root = zarr.root(new zarr.FetchStore(metadata.url));
+    const scene = metadata.multiscales[0];
+    const { axes } = scene;
+    const level = scene.datasets[layerIndex] ?? scene.datasets[scene.datasets.length - 1];
+    const arr = await zarr.open(root.resolve(level.path), { kind: 'array' });
+    const result = await zarr.get(arr, buildQuery(r, axes, level.shape));
+    if (typeof result == 'number') {
+        throw new Error('oh noes, slice came back all weird');
+    }
+    return {
+        shape: result.shape,
+        buffer: result,
+    };
+}
+export async function load(url: string) {
+    return loadMetadata(url);
+}
diff --git a/examples/src/data-renderers/versa-renderer.ts b/examples/src/data-renderers/versa-renderer.ts
index cdd9fbf..5d510bb 100644
--- a/examples/src/data-renderers/versa-renderer.ts
+++ b/examples/src/data-renderers/versa-renderer.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import {
     sizeInUnits,
     type ZarrDataset,
     type ZarrRequest,
-} from '~/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data';
+} from '@alleninstitute/vis-omezarr';
 import { getSlicePool } from '~/common/loaders/ome-zarr/sliceWorkerPool';
 import type { Camera } from '~/common/camera';
 
diff --git a/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/planar-slice.ts b/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/planar-slice.ts
index 76327c7..b6d23b1 100644
--- a/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/planar-slice.ts
+++ b/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/planar-slice.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-import { type ZarrDataset, load } from '~/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data';
+import { type ZarrDataset } from '@alleninstitute/vis-omezarr';
 import type { AxisAlignedPlane } from '~/data-renderers/versa-renderer';
 import type { ColorMapping } from '../../data-renderers/types';
 import type { OptionalTransform, Simple2DTransform } from '../types';
+import { load } from '~/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data';
 export type ZarrSliceConfig = {
     type: 'zarrSliceConfig';
     url: string;
diff --git a/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/slice-grid.ts b/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/slice-grid.ts
index 1940b88..867b4e0 100644
--- a/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/slice-grid.ts
+++ b/examples/src/data-sources/ome-zarr/slice-grid.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-import { type ZarrDataset, load } from '~/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data';
+import { type ZarrDataset } from '@alleninstitute/vis-omezarr';
 import type { AxisAlignedPlane } from '~/data-renderers/versa-renderer';
 import type { ColorMapping } from '../../data-renderers/types';
 import type { OptionalTransform, Simple2DTransform } from '../types';
+import { load } from '~/common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data';
 
 export type ZarrSliceGridConfig = {
     type: 'ZarrSliceGridConfig';
diff --git a/examples/src/layers.ts b/examples/src/layers.ts
index bd403d6..cac8181 100644
--- a/examples/src/layers.ts
+++ b/examples/src/layers.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import { buildLoopRenderer, buildMeshRenderer } from './data-renderers/mesh-rend
 import { saveAs } from 'file-saver';
 import type { AnnotationGrid, AnnotationGridConfig } from './data-sources/annotation/annotation-grid';
 import { buildRenderer } from './data-renderers/scatterplot';
-import { sizeInUnits } from './common/loaders/ome-zarr/zarr-data';
+import { sizeInUnits } from '@alleninstitute/vis-omezarr';
 import type { ColumnRequest } from './common/loaders/scatterplot/scatterbrain-loader';
 import { buildVersaRenderer, type AxisAlignedPlane } from './data-renderers/versa-renderer';
 import { buildImageRenderer } from './common/image-renderer';
diff --git a/packages/omezarr/src/index.ts b/packages/omezarr/src/index.ts
index d6093a0..b93fe78 100644
--- a/packages/omezarr/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/omezarr/src/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,19 @@
-export { type OmeZarrDataset, buildOmeZarrSliceRenderer, buildAsyncOmezarrRenderer } from './sliceview/slice-renderer';
+export {
+    type OmeZarrDataset,
+    buildOmeZarrSliceRenderer,
+    buildAsyncOmezarrRenderer,
+    type VoxelTileImage,
+} from './sliceview/slice-renderer';
 export { type VoxelTile, defaultDecoder, getVisibleTiles } from './sliceview/loader';
+export { buildTileRenderer } from './sliceview/tile-renderer';
 export { load as loadOmeZarr } from './zarr-data';
-export { pickBestScale, sizeInUnits, sizeInVoxels, sliceDimensionForPlane, uvForPlane } from './zarr-data';
+export {
+    pickBestScale,
+    sizeInUnits,
+    sizeInVoxels,
+    sliceDimensionForPlane,
+    uvForPlane,
+    planeSizeInVoxels,
+    type ZarrDataset,
+    type ZarrRequest,
+} from './zarr-data';