diff --git a/object.go b/object.go
index cb9ad3c..65a2492 100644
--- a/object.go
+++ b/object.go
@@ -8,8 +8,83 @@ import "git.tebibyte.media/tomo/tomo/event"
 import "git.tebibyte.media/tomo/tomo/input"
 import "git.tebibyte.media/tomo/tomo/canvas"
 
+type Gap image.Point
+
+// Side represents one side of a rectangle.
+type Side int; const (
+	SideTop Side = iota
+	SideRight
+	SideBottom
+	SideLeft
+)
+
 type Inset [4]int
-type Gap   image.Point
+
+// I allows you to create an inset in a CSS-ish way:
+//
+//   - One argument: all sides are set to this value
+//   - Two arguments: the top and bottom sides are set to the first value, and
+//     the left and right sides are set to the second value.
+//   - Three arguments: the top side is set by the first value, the left and
+//     right sides are set by the second vaue, and the bottom side is set by the
+//     third value.
+//   - Four arguments: each value corresponds to a side.
+//
+// This function will panic if an argument count that isn't one of these is
+// given.
+func I (sides ...int) Inset {
+	switch len(sides) {
+	case 1: return Inset { sides[0], sides[0], sides[0], sides[0] }
+	case 2: return Inset { sides[0], sides[1], sides[0], sides[1] }
+	case 3: return Inset { sides[0], sides[1], sides[2], sides[1] }
+	case 4: return Inset { sides[0], sides[1], sides[2], sides[3] }
+	default: panic("I: illegal argument count.")
+	}
+}
+
+// Apply returns the given rectangle, shrunk on all four sides by the given
+// inset. If a measurment of the inset is negative, that side will instead be
+// expanded outward. If the rectangle's dimensions cannot be reduced any
+// further, an empty rectangle near its center will be returned.
+func (inset Inset) Apply (bigger image.Rectangle) (smaller image.Rectangle) {
+	smaller = bigger
+	if smaller.Dx() < inset[3] + inset[1] {
+		smaller.Min.X = (smaller.Min.X + smaller.Max.X) / 2
+		smaller.Max.X = smaller.Min.X
+	} else {
+		smaller.Min.X += inset[3]
+		smaller.Max.X -= inset[1]
+	}
+
+	if smaller.Dy() < inset[0] + inset[2] {
+		smaller.Min.Y = (smaller.Min.Y + smaller.Max.Y) / 2
+		smaller.Max.Y = smaller.Min.Y
+	} else {
+		smaller.Min.Y += inset[0]
+		smaller.Max.Y -= inset[2]
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// Inverse returns a negated version of the inset.
+func (inset Inset) Inverse () (prime Inset) {
+	return Inset {
+		inset[0] * -1,
+		inset[1] * -1,
+		inset[2] * -1,
+		inset[3] * -1,
+	}
+}
+
+// Horizontal returns the sum of SideRight and SideLeft.
+func (inset Inset) Horizontal () int {
+	return inset[SideRight] + inset[SideLeft]
+}
+
+// Vertical returns the sum of SideTop and SideBottom.
+func (inset Inset) Vertical () int {
+	return inset[SideTop] + inset[SideBottom]
+}
 
 type Border struct {
 	Width Inset