diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 78229bb..76317da 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ set(PDF2HTMLEX_SRC ${PDF2HTMLEX_SRC}
     src/HTMLRenderer/state.cc
     src/HTMLRenderer/text.cc
     src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.h 
+    src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.cc
     src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.h 
     src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.cc 
     src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.h 
diff --git a/pdf2htmlEX.1.in b/pdf2htmlEX.1.in
index 59e1fa8..b91bff9 100644
--- a/pdf2htmlEX.1.in
+++ b/pdf2htmlEX.1.in
@@ -223,6 +223,12 @@ If set to 0, pdf2htmlEX would try its best to balance the two methods above.
 .B --optimize-text <0|1> (Deafult: 0)
 If set to 1, pdf2htmlEX will try to reduce the number of HTML elements used for text. Turn it off if anything goes wrong.
 
+.SS Background Image
+
+.TP
+.B --bg-format <format> (Default: "png")
+Specify the format for background images, currently "png" and "svg" are supported.
+
 .SS PDF Protection
 
 .TP
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.cc b/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3a2b39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Background renderer
+ * Render all those things not supported as Image
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
+ */
+
+#include "HTMLRenderer/HTMLRenderer.h"
+#include "Param.h"
+
+#include "BackgroundRenderer.h"
+#include "SplashBackgroundRenderer.h"
+#if ENABLE_SVG
+#include "CairoBackgroundRenderer.h"
+#endif
+
+namespace pdf2htmlEX {
+
+BackgroundRenderer * BackgroundRenderer::getBackgroundRenderer(const std::string & format, HTMLRenderer * html_renderer, const Param & param)
+{
+    if(format == "png")
+    {
+        return new SplashBackgroundRenderer(html_renderer, param);
+    }
+    else if (format == "svg")
+    {
+#if ENABLE_SVG
+        return new CairoBackgroundRenderer(html_renderer, param);
+#else
+        return nullptr;
+#endif 
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+}
+
+} // namespace pdf2htmlEX
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.h b/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.h
index ab3d9aa..f6d898e 100644
--- a/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.h
+++ b/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.h
@@ -2,31 +2,36 @@
  * Background renderer
  * Render all those things not supported as Image
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2012 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2012,2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
  */
 
 
 #ifndef BACKGROUND_RENDERER_H__
 #define BACKGROUND_RENDERER_H__
 
-#include "pdf2htmlEX-config.h"
+#include <string>
 
-#if ENABLE_SVG
-
-#include "CairoBackgroundRenderer.h"
+class PDFDoc;
 
 namespace pdf2htmlEX {
-    typedef CairoBackgroundRenderer BackgroundRenderer;
-}
 
-#else
+class Param;
+class HTMLRenderer;
+class BackgroundRenderer 
+{
+public:
+    // return nullptr upon failure
+    static BackgroundRenderer * getBackgroundRenderer(const std::string & format, HTMLRenderer * html_renderer, const Param & param);
 
-#include "SplashBackgroundRenderer.h" 
+    BackgroundRenderer() {}
+    virtual ~BackgroundRenderer() {}
 
-namespace pdf2htmlEX {
-    typedef SplashBackgroundRenderer BackgroundRenderer;
-}
+    virtual void init(PDFDoc * doc) = 0;
+    virtual void render_page(PDFDoc * doc, int pageno) = 0;
+    virtual void embed_image(int pageno) = 0;
 
-#endif // ENABLE_SVG
+};
+
+} // namespace pdf2htmlEX
 
 #endif //BACKGROUND_RENDERER_H__
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer_forward.h b/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer_forward.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 15f1ccb..0000000
--- a/src/BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer_forward.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Background renderer
- * Render all those things not supported as Image
- *
- * Copyright (C) 2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
- */
-
-
-/*
- * This file includes forward declarations since HTMLRenderer and BackgroundRendere have cross references
- */
-
-#ifndef BACKGROUND_RENDERER_FORWARD_H__
-#define BACKGROUND_RENDERER_FORWARD_H__
-
-#include "pdf2htmlEX-config.h"
-
-namespace pdf2htmlEX {
-#if ENABLE_SVG
-    class CairoBackgroundRenderer;
-    typedef CairoBackgroundRenderer BackgroundRenderer;
-#else
-    class SplashBackgroundRenderer;
-    typedef SplashBackgroundRenderer BackgroundRenderer;
-#endif // ENABLE_SVG
-}
-
-
-#endif //BACKGROUND_RENDERER_FORWARD_H__
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.cc b/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.cc
index 12e3be0..c6b0b4e 100644
--- a/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.cc
+++ b/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.cc
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * CairoBackgroundRenderer.cc
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2012 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2012,2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
  */
 
 #include <string>
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ void CairoBackgroundRenderer::drawChar(GfxState *state, double x, double y,
     //    CairoOutputDev::drawChar(state,x,y,dx,dy,originX,originY,code, nBytes, u, uLen);
 }
 
+void CairoBackgroundRenderer::init(PDFDoc * doc)
+{
+    startDoc(doc);
+}
+
 static GBool annot_cb(Annot *, void *) {
     return false;
 };
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.h b/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.h
index e63c0b9..5c0b465 100644
--- a/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.h
+++ b/src/BackgroundRenderer/CairoBackgroundRenderer.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * Cairo Background renderer
  * Render all those things not supported as Image, with Cairo
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2012 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2012,2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
  */
 
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 namespace pdf2htmlEX {
 
 // Based on BackgroundRenderer from poppler
-class CairoBackgroundRenderer : public CairoOutputDev 
+class CairoBackgroundRenderer : public BackgroundRenderer, CairoOutputDev 
 {
 public:
   CairoBackgroundRenderer(HTMLRenderer * html_renderer, const Param & param)
@@ -33,14 +33,15 @@ public:
 
   virtual ~CairoBackgroundRenderer() { }
 
+  virtual void init(PDFDoc * doc);
+  virtual void render_page(PDFDoc * doc, int pageno);
+  virtual void embed_image(int pageno);
+
   virtual void drawChar(GfxState *state, double x, double y,
       double dx, double dy,
       double originX, double originY,
       CharCode code, int nBytes, Unicode *u, int uLen);
 
-  void render_page(PDFDoc * doc, int pageno);
-  void embed_image(int pageno);
-
 protected:
   HTMLRenderer * html_renderer;
   const Param & param;
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.cc b/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.cc
index 5385f4d..e50a53e 100644
--- a/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.cc
+++ b/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.cc
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 /*
  * SplashBackgroundRenderer.cc
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2012 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2012,2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
  */
 
 #include <fstream>
 #include <vector>
+#include <memory>
 
 #include <PDFDoc.h>
 #include <goo/PNGWriter.h>
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ namespace pdf2htmlEX {
 using std::string;
 using std::ifstream;
 using std::vector;
+using std::unique_ptr;
 
 const SplashColor SplashBackgroundRenderer::white = {255,255,255};
 
@@ -63,6 +65,11 @@ void SplashBackgroundRenderer::drawChar(GfxState *state, double x, double y,
     }
 }
 
+void SplashBackgroundRenderer::init(PDFDoc * doc)
+{
+    startDoc(doc);
+}
+
 static GBool annot_cb(Annot *, void *) {
     return false;
 };
@@ -134,7 +141,8 @@ void SplashBackgroundRenderer::dump_image(const char * filename, int x1, int y1,
     if(!f)
         throw string("Cannot open file for background image " ) + filename;
 
-    ImgWriter * writer = new PNGWriter();
+    // use unique_ptr to auto delete the object upon exception
+    auto writer = unique_ptr<ImgWriter>(new PNGWriter);
     if(!writer->init(f, width, height, param.h_dpi, param.v_dpi))
         throw "Cannot initialize PNGWriter";
         
@@ -157,7 +165,6 @@ void SplashBackgroundRenderer::dump_image(const char * filename, int x1, int y1,
         throw "Cannot write background image";
     }
 
-    delete writer;
     fclose(f);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.h b/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.h
index 1301354..dea2bf0 100644
--- a/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.h
+++ b/src/BackgroundRenderer/SplashBackgroundRenderer.h
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
  * Splash Background renderer
  * Render all those things not supported as Image, with Splash
  *
- * by WangLu
- * 2012.08.06
+ * Copyright (C) 2012,2013 Lu Wang <coolwanglu@gmail.com>
  */
 
 
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@
 namespace pdf2htmlEX {
 
 // Based on BackgroundRenderer from poppler
-class SplashBackgroundRenderer : public SplashOutputDev 
+class SplashBackgroundRenderer : public BackgroundRenderer, SplashOutputDev 
 {
 public:
   static const SplashColor white;
@@ -36,6 +35,10 @@ public:
 
   virtual ~SplashBackgroundRenderer() { }
 
+  virtual void init(PDFDoc * doc);
+  virtual void render_page(PDFDoc * doc, int pageno);
+  virtual void embed_image(int pageno);
+
 #if POPPLER_OLDER_THAN_0_23_0
   virtual void startPage(int pageNum, GfxState *state);
 #else
@@ -57,11 +60,8 @@ public:
           SplashOutputDev::fill(state);
   }
 
-  void render_page(PDFDoc * doc, int pageno);
-  void embed_image(int pageno);
-  void dump_image(const char * filename, int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2);
-
 protected:
+  void dump_image(const char * filename, int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2);
   HTMLRenderer * html_renderer;
   const Param & param;
 };
diff --git a/src/HTMLRenderer/HTMLRenderer.h b/src/HTMLRenderer/HTMLRenderer.h
index fce9719..98d641e 100644
--- a/src/HTMLRenderer/HTMLRenderer.h
+++ b/src/HTMLRenderer/HTMLRenderer.h
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 #include "StateManager.h"
 #include "HTMLTextPage.h"
 
-#include "BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer_forward.h"
+#include "BackgroundRenderer/BackgroundRenderer.h"
 
 #include "util/const.h"
 #include "util/misc.h"
@@ -321,8 +321,10 @@ protected:
     StringFormatter str_fmt;
 
     // render background image
-    friend class SplashBackgroundRenderer;
-    friend class CairoBackgroundRenderer;
+    friend class SplashBackgroundRenderer; // ugly!
+#if ENABLE_SVG
+    friend class CairoBackgroundRenderer; // ugly!
+#endif
     BackgroundRenderer * bg_renderer;
 
 
diff --git a/src/HTMLRenderer/general.cc b/src/HTMLRenderer/general.cc
index 6799e86..2380e4f 100644
--- a/src/HTMLRenderer/general.cc
+++ b/src/HTMLRenderer/general.cc
@@ -100,8 +100,10 @@ void HTMLRenderer::process(PDFDoc *doc)
     bg_renderer = nullptr;
     if(param.process_nontext)
     {
-        bg_renderer = new BackgroundRenderer(this, param);
-        bg_renderer->startDoc(doc);
+        bg_renderer = BackgroundRenderer::getBackgroundRenderer(param.bg_format, this, param);
+        if(!bg_renderer)
+            throw "Cannot initialize background renderer, unsupported format";
+        bg_renderer->init(doc);
     }
 
     int page_count = (param.last_page - param.first_page + 1);
diff --git a/src/Param.h b/src/Param.h
index 6af32df..d054aca 100644
--- a/src/Param.h
+++ b/src/Param.h
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ struct Param
     int space_as_offset;
     int tounicode;
     int optimize_text;
+
+    // background image
+    std::string bg_format;
     
     // encryption
     std::string owner_password, user_password;
@@ -67,9 +70,7 @@ struct Param
     std::string data_dir;
     int css_draw;
     int debug;
-    int wa_unicode;
     
-    // non-optional
     std::string input_filename, output_filename;
 
     // not a paramater
diff --git a/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc b/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc
index e17e531..e1f58be 100644
--- a/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc
+++ b/src/pdf2htmlEX.cc
@@ -36,18 +36,6 @@ using namespace pdf2htmlEX;
 Param param;
 ArgParser argparser;
 
-void deprecated_single_html(const char * dummy = nullptr)
-{
-    cerr << "--single_html is deprecated. Use `--embed CFIJO` instead." << endl;
-    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-}
-
-void removed_remove_unsed_glyph(const char * dummy = nullptr)
-{
-    cerr << "--remove-unsed-glyph is removed. Use a PDF optimization tool instead." << endl;
-    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-}
-
 void show_usage_and_exit(const char * dummy = nullptr)
 {
     cerr << "Usage: pdf2htmlEX [options] <input.pdf> [<output.html>]" << endl;
@@ -141,6 +129,9 @@ void parse_options (int argc, char **argv)
         .add("space-as-offset", &param.space_as_offset, 0, "treat space characters as offsets")
         .add("tounicode", &param.tounicode, 0, "how to handle ToUnicode CMaps (0=auto, 1=force, -1=ignore)")
         .add("optimize-text", &param.optimize_text, 0, "try to reduce the number of HTML elements used for text")
+
+        // background image
+        .add("bg-format", &param.bg_format, "png", "specify background image format")
         
         // encryption
         .add("owner-password,o", &param.owner_password, "", "owner password (for encrypted files)", true)
@@ -158,10 +149,6 @@ void parse_options (int argc, char **argv)
         .add("version,v", "print copyright and version info", &show_version_and_exit)
         .add("help,h", "print usage information", &show_usage_and_exit)
 
-        // deprecated
-        .add("single-html", "", &deprecated_single_html)
-        .add("remove-unused-glyph", "", &removed_remove_unsed_glyph)
-        
         .add("", &param.input_filename, "", "")
         .add("", &param.output_filename, "", "")
         ;
@@ -192,14 +179,103 @@ void parse_options (int argc, char **argv)
     }
 }
 
-int main(int argc, char **argv)
+void check_param()
 {
-    parse_options(argc, argv);
     if (param.input_filename == "")
     {
         show_usage_and_exit();
     }
 
+    if(param.output_filename.empty())
+    {
+        const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
+        if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
+        {
+            param.output_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + ".html";
+
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            param.output_filename = s + ".html";
+        }
+    }
+
+    if(param.page_filename.empty())
+    {
+        const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
+        if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
+        {
+            param.page_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + "%d.page";
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            param.page_filename = s + "%d.page";
+        }
+        sanitize_filename(param.page_filename);
+    }
+
+    else
+    {
+        // Need to make sure we have a page number placeholder in the filename
+        if(!sanitize_filename(param.page_filename))
+        {
+            // Inject the placeholder just before the file extension
+            const string suffix = get_suffix(param.page_filename);
+            param.page_filename = param.page_filename.substr(0, param.page_filename.size() - suffix.size()) + "%d" + suffix;
+            sanitize_filename(param.page_filename);
+        }
+    }
+    if(param.css_filename.empty())
+    {
+        const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
+
+        if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
+        {
+            param.css_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + ".css";
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            if(!param.split_pages)
+                param.css_filename = s + ".css";
+        }
+    }
+    if(param.outline_filename.empty())
+    {
+        const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
+
+        if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
+        {
+            param.outline_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + ".outline";
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            if(!param.split_pages)
+                param.outline_filename = s + ".outline";
+        }
+    }
+    if(param.bg_format == "svg")
+    {
+#if not ENABLE_SVG
+        cerr << "SVG support is not built" << endl;
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+#endif
+    }
+    else if (param.bg_format == "png")
+    {
+        // pass
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        cerr << "Unknown format for background: " << param.bg_format << endl;
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    parse_options(argc, argv);
+    check_param();
+
     //prepare the directories
     {
         char buf[] = "/tmp/pdf2htmlEX-XXXXXX";
@@ -243,89 +319,20 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             delete ownerPW;
         }
 
-        if (!doc->isOk()) {
+        if (!doc->isOk()) 
             throw "Cannot read the file";
-        }
 
         // check for copy permission
-        if (!doc->okToCopy()) {
-            if (param.no_drm == 0) {
+        if (!doc->okToCopy()) 
+        {
+            if (param.no_drm == 0)
                 throw "Copying of text from this document is not allowed.";
-            }
             cerr << "Document has copy-protection bit set." << endl;
         }
 
         param.first_page = min<int>(max<int>(param.first_page, 1), doc->getNumPages());
         param.last_page = min<int>(max<int>(param.last_page, param.first_page), doc->getNumPages());
 
-        if(param.output_filename.empty())
-        {
-            const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
-            if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
-            {
-                param.output_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + ".html";
-
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                param.output_filename = s + ".html";
-            }
-        }
-
-        if(param.page_filename.empty())
-        {
-            const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
-            if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
-            {
-                param.page_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + "%d.page";
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                param.page_filename = s + "%d.page";
-            }
-            sanitize_filename(param.page_filename);
-        }
-
-		else
-        {
-            // Need to make sure we have a page number placeholder in the filename
-            if(!sanitize_filename(param.page_filename))
-            {
-                // Inject the placeholder just before the file extension
-                const string suffix = get_suffix(param.page_filename);
-                param.page_filename = param.page_filename.substr(0, param.page_filename.size() - suffix.size()) + "%d" + suffix;
-                sanitize_filename(param.page_filename);
-            }
-        }
-        if(param.css_filename.empty())
-        {
-            const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
-
-            if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
-            {
-                param.css_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + ".css";
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                if(!param.split_pages)
-                    param.css_filename = s + ".css";
-            }
-        }
-        if(param.outline_filename.empty())
-        {
-            const string s = get_filename(param.input_filename);
-
-            if(get_suffix(param.input_filename) == ".pdf")
-            {
-                param.outline_filename = s.substr(0, s.size() - 4) + ".outline";
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                if(!param.split_pages)
-                    param.outline_filename = s + ".outline";
-            }
-
-        }
 
         unique_ptr<HTMLRenderer>(new HTMLRenderer(param))->process(doc);