diff --git a/.run/Run samples.run.xml b/.run/Run samples.run.xml
index e25d7a1..d0c5f86 100644
--- a/.run/Run samples.run.xml	
+++ b/.run/Run samples.run.xml	
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@
     <option name="ALTERNATIVE_JRE_PATH_ENABLED" value="true" />
     <option name="MAIN_CLASS_NAME" value="vipsffm.SampleRunner" />
     <module name="vips-ffm.sample.main" />
-    <option name="PROGRAM_PARAMETERS" value="-Dvipsffm.libpath.vips.override=/opt/homebrew/lib/libvips.dylib -Dvipsffm.libpath.glib.override=/opt/homebrew/lib/libglib-2.0.dylib -Dvipsffm.libpath.gobject.override=/opt/homebrew/lib/libgobject-2.0.dylib" />
     <shortenClasspath name="NONE" />
-    <option name="VM_PARAMETERS" value="--enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED" />
+    <option name="VM_PARAMETERS" value="--enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED -Dvipsffm.libpath.vips.override=/opt/homebrew/lib/libvips.dylib -Dvipsffm.libpath.glib.override=/opt/homebrew/lib/libglib-2.0.dylib -Dvipsffm.libpath.gobject.override=/opt/homebrew/lib/libgobject-2.0.dylib" />
     <method v="2">
       <option name="Make" enabled="true" />
     </method>
diff --git a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/SampleRunner.kt b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/SampleRunner.kt
index ed7fc13..1f834f9 100644
--- a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/SampleRunner.kt
+++ b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/SampleRunner.kt
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import vipsffm.sample.VImageJoinSample
 import vipsffm.sample.VImageFromMemoryToMemorySample
 import vipsffm.sample.VImageGetPointSample
 import vipsffm.sample.VImageMatrixSample
-import vipsffm.sample.VImageStaticThumbnailSample
 import vipsffm.sample.VOptionHyphenSample
 import vipsffm.sample.VSourceTargetSample
 import vipsffm.sample.VTargetToFileSample
@@ -53,7 +52,6 @@ object SampleRunner {
             VImageJoinSample,
             VImageFromBytesSample,
             VImageStreamSample,
-            VImageStaticThumbnailSample,
             VImageGetPagesSample,
             VImageGetPointSample,
             HelperGetSetMetadataSample,
diff --git a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCachingSample.kt b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCachingSample.kt
index dbdddc4..6ca8222 100644
--- a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCachingSample.kt
+++ b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCachingSample.kt
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ object VImageCachingSample: RunnableSample {
         val outputPath = workingDirectory.resolve("rabbit_chain.jpg")
 
         (0 ..< 3).forEach { _ ->
-            val image = VImage.newFromFile(
+            val image = VImage.thumbnail(
                 arena,
-                "sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg"
+                "sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg",
+                400
             )
-                .thumbnailImage(400)
                 .flip(VipsDirection.DIRECTION_VERTICAL)
                 .autorot()
 
diff --git a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCreateThumbnailSample.kt b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCreateThumbnailSample.kt
index f28ac09..235ef30 100644
--- a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCreateThumbnailSample.kt
+++ b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageCreateThumbnailSample.kt
@@ -18,18 +18,9 @@ object VImageCreateThumbnailSample: RunnableSample {
     val logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(VImageCreateThumbnailSample::class.java)
 
     override fun run(arena: Arena, workingDirectory: Path): Result<Unit> {
-        val sourceImage = VImage.newFromFile(
+        val thumbnail = VImage.thumbnail(
             arena,
-            "sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg"
-        )
-        val sourceWidth = sourceImage.width
-        val sourceHeight = sourceImage.height
-        logger.info("source image size: $sourceWidth x $sourceHeight")
-
-        val outputPath = workingDirectory.resolve("rabbit_copy.jpg")
-        sourceImage.writeToFile(outputPath.absolutePathString())
-
-        val thumbnail = sourceImage.thumbnailImage(
+            "sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg",
             400,
             VipsOption.Boolean("auto-rotate", true) // example of an option
         )
diff --git a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromBytesSample.kt b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromBytesSample.kt
index ffc74f1..160014d 100644
--- a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromBytesSample.kt
+++ b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromBytesSample.kt
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ object VImageFromBytesSample: RunnableSample {
         val path = Path.of("sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg")
         val bytes = Files.readAllBytes(path)
         val image = VImage.newFromBytes(arena, bytes)
-            .thumbnailImage(400)
+            .thumbnailImage(400) // prefer VImage.thumbnail if possible
 
         val outputPath = workingDirectory.resolve("rabbit_copy.jpg")
         image.writeToFile(outputPath.absolutePathString())
diff --git a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromMemoryToMemorySample.kt b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromMemoryToMemorySample.kt
index 43314d6..1cccef7 100644
--- a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromMemoryToMemorySample.kt
+++ b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageFromMemoryToMemorySample.kt
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ object VImageFromMemoryToMemorySample : RunnableSample {
 
     override fun run(arena: Arena, workingDirectory: Path): Result<Unit> {
         val path = Path.of("sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg")
-        val image = VImage.newFromFile(arena, path.absolutePathString())
-            .thumbnailImage(400)
+        val image = VImage.thumbnail(
+            arena,
+            path.absolutePathString(),
+            400
+        )
 
         val bands = VipsHelper.image_get_bands(image.unsafeStructAddress)
         val width = image.width
diff --git a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageStaticThumbnailSample.kt b/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageStaticThumbnailSample.kt
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ada76b..0000000
--- a/sample/src/main/kotlin/vipsffm/sample/VImageStaticThumbnailSample.kt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-package vipsffm.sample
-
-import app.photofox.vipsffm.VImage
-import app.photofox.vipsffm.VipsOption
-import app.photofox.vipsffm.enums.VipsAccess
-import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
-import vipsffm.RunnableSample
-import vipsffm.SampleHelper
-import java.lang.foreign.Arena
-import java.nio.file.Path
-import kotlin.io.path.absolutePathString
-
-/**
- * Sense checking basic static VImage thumbnail operations
- */
-object VImageStaticThumbnailSample: RunnableSample {
-
-    val logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(VImageStaticThumbnailSample::class.java)
-
-    override fun run(arena: Arena, workingDirectory: Path): Result<Unit> {
-        val thumbnail = VImage.thumbnail(
-            arena,
-            "sample/src/main/resources/sample_images/rabbit.jpg",
-            400,
-            VipsOption.Boolean("auto-rotate", true) // example of an option
-        )
-        val thumbnailWidth = thumbnail.width
-        val thumbnailHeight = thumbnail.height
-        logger.info("thumbnail image size: $thumbnailWidth x $thumbnailHeight")
-
-        val thumbnailPath = workingDirectory.resolve("rabbit_thumbnail_400.jpg")
-        thumbnail.writeToFile(thumbnailPath.absolutePathString())
-
-        val hasAlpha = thumbnail.hasAlpha()
-        if (hasAlpha) {
-            return Result.failure(
-                RuntimeException("unexpected alpha in image")
-            )
-        }
-
-        return SampleHelper.validate(
-            thumbnailPath,
-            expectedSizeBoundsKb = 20L..100L
-        )
-    }
-}
\ No newline at end of file