diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.cc b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.cc
index 28a831f01..ad041d1bb 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.cc
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.cc
@@ -170,6 +170,14 @@ PixelBuffer::to_image () const
 {
   return QImage ((const uchar *) data (), m_width, m_height, m_transparent ? QImage::Format_ARGB32 : QImage::Format_RGB32);
 }
+
+QImage
+PixelBuffer::to_image_copy () const
+{
+  QImage img (m_width, m_height, m_transparent ? QImage::Format_ARGB32 : QImage::Format_RGB32);
+  memcpy (img.bits (), data (), img.sizeInBytes ());
+  return img;
+}
 #endif
 
 void
@@ -364,6 +372,14 @@ BitmapBuffer::to_image () const
   img.setColor (1, 0xffffffff);
   return img;
 }
+
+QImage
+BitmapBuffer::to_image_copy () const
+{
+  QImage img (m_width, m_height, QImage::Format_MonoLSB);
+  memcpy (img.bits (), data (), img.sizeInBytes ());
+  return img;
+}
 #endif
 
 }
diff --git a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.h b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.h
index 64aee0315..c78cfbf66 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.h
+++ b/src/laybasic/laybasic/layPixelBuffer.h
@@ -168,8 +168,19 @@ public:
 #if defined(HAVE_QT)
   /**
    *  @brief Produces a QImage object from the image
+   *
+   *  NOTE: this version creates a reference, i.e. the QImage is valid only
+   *  during the lifetime of the PixelBuffer.
    */
   QImage to_image () const;
+
+  /**
+   *  @brief Produces a QImage object from the image
+   *
+   *  NOTE: this version creates a copy and the QImage is independent of the
+   *  PixelBuffer.
+   */
+  QImage to_image_copy () const;
 #endif
 
   /**
@@ -352,9 +363,20 @@ public:
 
 #if defined(HAVE_QT)
   /**
-   *  @brief Produces a QMonoImage object from the image
+   *  @brief Produces a QImage object from the image
+   *
+   *  NOTE: this version creates a reference, i.e. the QImage is valid only
+   *  during the lifetime of the BitmapBuffer.
    */
   QImage to_image () const;
+
+  /**
+   *  @brief Produces a QImage object from the image
+   *
+   *  NOTE: this version creates a copy and the QImage is independent of the
+   *  BitmapBuffer.
+   */
+  QImage to_image_copy () const;
 #endif
 
 private:
diff --git a/src/laybasic/unit_tests/layPixelBufferTests.cc b/src/laybasic/unit_tests/layPixelBufferTests.cc
index 9e180568d..9f79bc8f0 100644
--- a/src/laybasic/unit_tests/layPixelBufferTests.cc
+++ b/src/laybasic/unit_tests/layPixelBufferTests.cc
@@ -237,6 +237,15 @@ TEST(2)
   tl::info << "PNG file read from " << au;
 
   EXPECT_EQ (compare_images (qimg, au), true);
+
+  qimg = img.to_image_copy ();
+  img.fill (false);
+
+  tmp = tmp_file ("test2.png");
+  qimg.save (tl::to_qstring (tmp));
+  tl::info << "PNG file written to " << tmp;
+
+  EXPECT_EQ (compare_images (qimg, au), true);
 }
 
 #endif
@@ -428,6 +437,15 @@ TEST(12)
   tl::info << "PNG file read from " << au;
 
   EXPECT_EQ (compare_images_mono (qimg.convertToFormat (QImage::Format_Mono), au), true);
+
+  qimg = img.to_image_copy ();
+  img.fill (false);
+
+  tmp = tmp_file ("test2.png");
+  qimg.save (tl::to_qstring (tmp));
+  tl::info << "PNG file written to " << tmp;
+
+  EXPECT_EQ (compare_images_mono (qimg.convertToFormat (QImage::Format_Mono), au), true);
 }
 
 #endif