diff --git a/Zotlabs/Lib/Hashpath.php b/Zotlabs/Lib/Hashpath.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e27838ced
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Zotlabs/Lib/Hashpath.php
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+<?php
+namespace Zotlabs\Lib;
+
+
+/*
+ * Zotlabs\Lib\Hashpath
+ *
+ * Creates hashed directory structures for fast access and resistance to overloading any single directory with files.
+ *
+ * Takes a $url which could be any string
+ * a $prefix which is where to place the hash directory in the filesystem, default is current directory
+ * use an empty string for $prefix to place hash directories directly off the root directory
+ * an optional $depth to indicate the hash level
+ * $depth = 1, 256 directories, suitable for < 384K records/files
+ * $depth = 2, 65536 directories, suitable for < 98M records/files
+ * $depth = 3, 16777216 directories, suitable for < 2.5B records/files
+ * ...
+ * The total number of records anticipated divided by the number of hash directories should generally be kept to
+ * less than 1500 entries for optimum performance though this varies by operating system and filesystem type.
+ * ext4 uses 32 bit inode numbers (~4B record limit) so use caution or alternative filesystem types with $depth above 3. 
+ * an optional $mkdir (boolean) to recursively create the directory (ignoring errors) before returning
+ *
+ * examples: for a $url of 'abcdefg' and prefix of 'path' the following paths are returned for $depth = 1 and $depth = 3
+ *    path/7d/7d1a54127b222502f5b79b5fb0803061152a44f92b37e23c6527baf665d4da9a
+ *    path/7d/1a/54/7d1a54127b222502f5b79b5fb0803061152a44f92b37e23c6527baf665d4da9a
+ *
+ * see also: boot.php:os_mkdir() - here we provide the equivalent of mkdir -p with permissions of 770. 
+ *
+ */
+ 
+class Hashpath {
+
+	static function path($url, $prefix = '.', $depth = 1, $mkdir = true) {
+		$hash = hash('sha256', $url);
+		$start = 0;
+		$slice = 2;
+		if ($depth < 1) {
+			$depth = 1;
+		}
+		$sluglen = $depth * $slice;
+
+		do {
+			$slug = substr($hash,$start,$slice);
+			$prefix .= '/' . $slug;
+			$start += $slice;
+			$sluglen -= $slice;
+		}
+		while ($sluglen);
+
+		if ($mkdir) {
+			os_mkdir($prefix, STORAGE_DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS, true);
+		}
+		
+		return $prefix . '/' . $hash;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/Zotlabs/Lib/Img_cache.php b/Zotlabs/Lib/Img_cache.php
index a62fd1c47..d50d41ef7 100644
--- a/Zotlabs/Lib/Img_cache.php
+++ b/Zotlabs/Lib/Img_cache.php
@@ -1,21 +1,18 @@
 <?php
 namespace Zotlabs\Lib;
 
+use Zotlabs\Lib\Hashpath;
 use Zotlabs\Daemon\Run;
 
 class Img_cache {
 
 	static $cache_life = 18600 * 7;
 
-	static function get_filename($url, $prefix = EMPTY_STR, $sluglen = 2) {
-		$hash = hash('sha256', $url);
-		$slug = substr($hash,0,2);
-		$path = $prefix . '/' . $slug;
-		os_mkdir($path, STORAGE_DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS, true);
-		return $path . '/' . $hash;
+	static function get_filename($url, $prefix = '.') {
+		return Hashpath::hash($url,$prefix);
 	}
 
-	static function check($url, $prefix = EMPTY_STR) {
+	static function check($url, $prefix = '.') {
 
 		if (strpos($url,z_root()) !== false) {
 			return false;
diff --git a/include/photo_factory.php b/include/photo_factory.php
index 3baaa54c2..8e687e62f 100644
--- a/include/photo_factory.php
+++ b/include/photo_factory.php
@@ -311,6 +311,130 @@ function import_xchan_photo($photo, $xchan, $thing = false, $force = false) {
 	return([$photo, $thumb, $micro, $type, $failed, $modified]);
 }
 
+
+function import_remote_xchan_photo($photo, $xchan) {
+
+//	logger('Updating channel photo from ' . $photo . ' for ' . $xchan, LOGGER_DEBUG);
+
+	$failed  = true;
+	$hash    = hash('sha256', $photo);
+	$slug    = substr($hash,0,2);
+	$slug2   = substr($hash,2,2);
+	$path    = 'cache/xphoto/' . $slug . '/' . $slug2;
+	$outfile =  $path . '/' . $hash;
+
+	os_mkdir($path, STORAGE_DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS, true);
+	$modified = ((file_exists($outfile)) ? @filemtime($outfile) : 0);
+
+	if (strpos($photo,z_root() === 0)) {
+		return false;
+	}
+	
+	if ($modified) {
+		$h = [ 'headers' => [ 'If-Modified-Since: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s \\G\\M\\T', $modified) . ' GMT' ] ];
+		$recurse = 0;
+		$result = z_fetch_url($photo, true, $recurse, $h);
+	}
+	else {
+		$result = z_fetch_url($photo, true);
+	}
+
+	if ($result['success']) {
+		$type = guess_image_type($photo, $result['header']);
+		
+			if ($type) {
+				$failed = false;
+			}
+	}
+	elseif ($result['return_code'] == 304) {
+		$photo = z_root() . '/photo/' . $hash . '-4';
+		$thumb = z_root() . '/photo/' . $hash . '-5';
+		$micro = z_root() . '/photo/' . $hash . '-6';
+		$failed = false;
+	}
+
+
+	if (! $failed && $result['return_code'] != 304) {
+		$img = photo_factory($img_str, $type);
+		if ($img->is_valid()) {
+			$width = $img->getWidth();
+			$height = $img->getHeight();
+
+			if ($width && $height) {
+				if (($width / $height) > 1.2) {
+					// crop out the sides
+					$margin = $width - $height;
+					$img->cropImage(300, ($margin / 2), 0, $height, $height);
+				}
+				elseif (($height / $width) > 1.2) {
+					// crop out the bottom
+					$margin = $height - $width;
+					$img->cropImage(300, 0, 0, $width, $width);
+				}
+				else {
+					$img->scaleImageSquare(300);
+				}
+			}
+			else {
+				$failed = true;
+			}
+
+			$p = [
+				'xchan'       => $xchan,
+				'resource_id' => $hash,
+				'filename'    => basename($photo),
+				'album'       => $album,
+				'photo_usage' => $flags,
+				'imgscale'    => 4,
+				'edited'      => $modified,
+			];
+
+			$r = $img->save($p);
+			if ($r === false) {
+				$failed = true;
+			}
+			$img->scaleImage(80);
+			$p['imgscale'] = 5;
+			$r = $img->save($p);
+			if ($r === false) {
+				$failed = true;
+			}
+			$img->scaleImage(48);
+			$p['imgscale'] = 6;
+			$r = $img->save($p);
+			if ($r === false) {
+				$failed = true;
+			}
+			$photo = z_root() . '/photo/' . $hash . '-4';
+			$thumb = z_root() . '/photo/' . $hash . '-5';
+			$micro = z_root() . '/photo/' . $hash . '-6';
+		}
+		else {
+			logger('Invalid image from ' . $photo);
+			$failed = true;
+		}
+	}
+	
+	if ($failed) {
+		$default  = get_default_profile_photo();
+		$photo    = z_root() . '/' . $default;
+		$thumb    = z_root() . '/' . get_default_profile_photo(80);
+		$micro    = z_root() . '/' . get_default_profile_photo(48);
+		$type     = 'image/png';
+		$modified = gmdate('Y-m-d H:i:s', filemtime($default));
+	}
+
+	logger('HTTP code: ' . $result['return_code'] . '; modified: ' . $modified
+			. '; failure: ' . ($failed ? 'yes' : 'no') . '; URL: ' . $photo, LOGGER_DEBUG);
+
+	return([$photo, $thumb, $micro, $type, $failed, $modified]);
+}
+
+
+
+
+
+
 /**
   * @brief Import channel photo from a URL.
  *