diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 167353df..93e313f2 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ include("plot.jl")
 include("subplot.jl")
 
 
-# const LINE_TYPES = (:line, :step, :stepinverted, :sticks, :dots, :none, :heatmap, :hist, :bar)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------
+
 scatter(args...; kw...)    = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :none, marker = :hexagon)
 scatter!(args...; kw...)   = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :none, marker = :hexagon)
 bar(args...; kw...)        = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :bar)
@@ -95,13 +96,6 @@ heatmap!(args...; kw...)   = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :heatmap)
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 
-# # TODO: how do we handle NA values in dataframes?
-# function plot!(plt::Plot, df::DataFrame; kw...)                 # one line per DataFrame column, labels == names(df)
-# end
-
-# function plot!(plt::Plot, df::DataFrame, columns; kw...)        # one line per column, but on a subset of column names
-# end
-
 
 savepng(args...; kw...) = savepng(currentPlot(), args...; kw...)
 savepng(plt::Plot, args...; kw...) = savepng(plt.plotter, plt, args...; kw...)
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 3950d5c1..322f748a 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -241,6 +241,8 @@ function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject, n::Integer; kw...)
   ret
 end
 
+# TODO: handle DataFrames (might have NAs!)
+
 # -------------------------
 
 # most calls should flow through here now... we create a Dict with the keyword args for each series, and plot them
diff --git a/src/subplot.jl b/src/subplot.jl
index 7cf50848..43ac4138 100644
--- a/src/subplot.jl
+++ b/src/subplot.jl
@@ -1,31 +1,51 @@
 
-abstract SubPlotLayout
-
-type AutoGridLayout
-  maxplts::Int
-  maxrows::Int
-  maxcols::Int
+type SubPlotLayout
+  numplts::Int
+  rowcounts::AbstractVector{Int}
 end
 
-# create a grid structure that optimally fits in numplts, optionally fixing the numrows/numcols
-function AutoGridLayout(numplts::Int; numrows::Int = -1, numcols::Int = -1)
+# create a layout directly
+SubPlotLayout(rowcounts::AbstractVector{Int}) = SubPlotLayout(sum(rowcounts), rowcounts)
+
+# create a layout given counts... numrows/numcols == -1 implies we figure out a good number automatically
+function SubPlotLayout(numplts::Int, numrows::Int, numcols::Int)
+
+  # figure out how many rows/columns we need
+  if numrows == -1
+    if numcols == -1
+      numrows = round(Int, sqrt(numplts))
+      numcols = ceil(Int, numplts / numrows)
+    else
+      numrows = ceil(Int, numplts / numcols)
+    end
+  else
+    numcols = ceil(Int, numplts / numrows)
+  end
+
+  # create the rowcounts vector
+  i = 0
+  rowcounts = Int[]
+  for r in 1:numrows
+    cnt = min(numcols, numplts - i)
+    push!(rowcounts, cnt)
+    i += cnt
+  end
+
+  SubPlotLayout(numplts, rowcounts)
 end
 
 
+Base.length(layout::SubPlotLayout) = layout.numplts
+
+
 # ------------------------------------------------------------
 
-doc"""
-y = rand(100,3)
-subplot(y; layout=(2,2), kw...)           # creates 3 lines going into 3 separate plots, laid out on a 2x2 grid (last row is filled with plot #3)
-subplot(y; layout=(1,3), kw...)           # again 3 plots, all in the same row
-subplot(y; layout=[1,[2,3]])              # pass a nested Array to fully specify the layout.  here the first plot will take up the first row, 
-                                          # and the others will share the second row
-"""
 type SubPlot <: PlottingObject
-  plts::Vector{Plot}  # the underlying object
+  o                           # the underlying object
+  plts::Vector{Plot}          # the individual plots
   plotter::PlottingPackage
-  p::Int # number of plots
-  n::Int # number of series
+  p::Int                      # number of plots
+  n::Int                      # number of series
   layout::SubPlotLayout
 end
 
@@ -38,18 +58,37 @@ getplot(subplt::SubPlot, i::Int) = subplt.plts[mod1(i, subplt.p)]
 # ------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
+doc"""
+y = rand(100,3)
+subplot(y; n = 3)                # create an automatic grid, and let it figure out the numrows/numcols... will put plots 1 and 2 on the first row, and plot 3 by itself on the 2nd row
+subplot(y; n = 3, numrows = 1)   # create an automatic grid, but fix the number of rows to 1 (so there are n columns)
+subplot(y; n = 3, numcols = 1)   # create an automatic grid, but fix the number of columns to 1 (so there are n rows)
+subplot(y; layout = [1, 2])      # explicit layout by row... plot #1 goes by itself in the first row, plots 2 and 3 split the 2nd row (note the n kw is unnecessary)
+"""
 function subplot(args...; kw...)
-  subplt = SubPlot(Plot[], plotter(), 0, 0)
-
   d = Dict(kw)
 
-  # figure out the layouts
-  if !haskey(d, :layout) || d[:layout] == :auto
-    # do an automatic grid layout
-
+  # figure out the layout
+  if !haskey(d, :layout)
+    layout = FixedLayout(d[:layout])
   else
-    layout = d[:layout]
+    if !haskey(d, :n)
+      error("You must specify either layout or n when creating a subplot: ", d)
+    end
+    layout = AutoGridLayout(d[:n], get(d, :numrows, -1), get(d, :numcols, -1))
   end
+
+  # initialize the individual plots
+  pkg = plotter()
+  kw0 = getPlotKeywordArgs(kw, 1, 0)
+  plts = Plot[plot(pkg; kw0..., show=false) for i in 1:length(layout)]
+
+  # create the underlying object (each backend will do this differently)
+  o = buildSubplotObject(plts, pkg, layout)
+
+  # create the object and do the plotting
+  subplt = SubPlot(o, plts, pkg, length(layout), 0, layout)
+  subplot!(subplt, args...; kw...)
 end