diff --git a/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileMerger.cs b/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileMerger.cs
index 4a9a5a24..ae7b4e4c 100644
--- a/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileMerger.cs
+++ b/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileMerger.cs
@@ -44,8 +44,16 @@ public TileMerger(ITileScaler tileScaler, ILogger<TileMerger> logger)
                     this._logger.LogDebug($"[{MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()?.Name}] No images where found return null");
                     return null;
                 case 1:
-                    ImageFormatter.RemoveImageDateAttributes(images[0]);
                     image = images[0];
+                    try
+                    {
+                        ImageFormatter.RemoveImageDateAttributes(image);
+                    }
+                    catch
+                    {
+                        image.Dispose();
+                        throw;
+                    }
                     this._logger.LogDebug($"[{MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()?.Name}] 1 image found");
                     break;
                 default:
@@ -57,21 +65,31 @@ public TileMerger(ITileScaler tileScaler, ILogger<TileMerger> logger)
                         }
 
                         this._logger.LogDebug($"[{MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()?.Name}] {imageCollection.Count} where found for merge, start 'imageMagic' merging");
-                        using (var mergedImage = imageCollection.Flatten(MagickColor.FromRgba(0, 0, 0, 0)))
+                        // Flatten returns an image independent of the collection, so it outlives the
+                        // collection's disposal without an extra full-image copy.
+                        IMagickImage<byte> mergedImage = imageCollection.Flatten(MagickColor.FromRgba(0, 0, 0, 0))!;
+                        try
                         {
                             ImageFormatter.RemoveImageDateAttributes(mergedImage);
-
                             mergedImage.ColorSpace = ColorSpace.sRGB;
                             mergedImage.ColorType = mergedImage.HasAlpha ? ColorType.TrueColorAlpha : ColorType.TrueColor;
-                            image = new MagickImage(mergedImage);
-                            this._logger.LogDebug($"[{MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()?.Name}] 'imageMagic' merging finished");
                         }
+                        catch
+                        {
+                            mergedImage.Dispose();
+                            throw;
+                        }
+                        image = mergedImage;
+                        this._logger.LogDebug($"[{MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()?.Name}] 'imageMagic' merging finished");
                     }
                     break;
             }
 
-            Tile tile = new Tile(targetCoords, image);
-            image.Dispose();
+            Tile tile;
+            using (image)
+            {
+                tile = new Tile(targetCoords, image);
+            }
             tile.ConvertToFormat(strategy.ApplyStrategy(tile.Format));
             return tile;
         }
diff --git a/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileScaler.cs b/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileScaler.cs
index 592c18ce..745411c6 100644
--- a/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileScaler.cs
+++ b/MergerLogic/ImageProcessing/TileScaler.cs
@@ -85,12 +85,16 @@ public TileScaler(IMetricsProvider metricsProvider, ILogger<TileScaler> logger)
                     int maxRowOffset = TILE_SIZE * scaledChannels;
                     int pixelRowBytes = TILE_SIZE * channels;
 
+                    // Read the whole source pixel buffer once instead of allocating a byte[] per source pixel.
+                    var srcValues = srcPixels.GetValues()!;
+                    int srcStride = baseImage.Width * channels;
+
                     //loop relevant source pixels
                     for (int i = pixelX; i < maxSrcX; i++)
                     {
                         for (int j = pixelY; j < maxSrcY; j++)
                         {
-                            var srcPixel = srcPixels.GetValue(i, j);
+                            int srcPixelIdx = (j * srcStride) + (i * channels);
                             var targetXStart = (i - pixelX) * scale;
                             var targetYStart = (j - pixelY) * scale;
                             var targetPixelIdxStart = (targetXStart + (TILE_SIZE * targetYStart)) * channels;
@@ -99,7 +103,7 @@ public TileScaler(IMetricsProvider metricsProvider, ILogger<TileScaler> logger)
                                 for (int pixelRowOffset = 0; pixelRowOffset < maxRowOffset; pixelRowOffset += pixelRowBytes)
                                 {
                                     int pixelIdx = targetPixelIdxStart + pixelColOffset + pixelRowOffset;
-                                    srcPixel!.CopyTo(pixels, pixelIdx); //copy all channels 
+                                    Array.Copy(srcValues, srcPixelIdx, pixels, pixelIdx, channels); //copy all channels
                                 }
                             }
                         }