diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 758941b..98e6730 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+Jan 08, 2015 - v0.8.0rc1  Reduced number of steps required for
+    writing images.  Deprecated old read and write methods in favor
+    of array-style slicing.  Added ignore_pclr_cmap_cdef, verbose,
+    shape, codestream, layer properties.
+
 Oct 06, 2014 - v0.7.2  Added ellipsis support in array-style slicing.
 
 Oct 02, 2014 - v0.7.1  Fixed README to mention Python 3.4
diff --git a/docs/source/api.rst b/docs/source/api.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 7584718..0000000
--- a/docs/source/api.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,116 +0,0 @@
----
-API
----
-
-Jp2k
-----
-.. autoclass:: glymur.Jp2k
-   :members: read, write, wrap, read_bands, get_codestream
-
-Individual Boxes
-----------------
-Jp2kbox
-'''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.Jp2kBox
-   :members:
-
-AssociationBox
-''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.AssociationBox
-   :members:
-
-ColourSpecificationBox
-''''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ColourSpecificationBox
-   :members:
-
-ChannelDefinitionBox
-''''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ChannelDefinitionBox
-   :members:
-
-ComponentMappingBox
-'''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ComponentMappingBox
-   :members:
-
-ContiguousCodestreamBox
-'''''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ContiguousCodestreamBox
-   :members:
-
-DataEntryURLBox
-'''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.DataEntryURLBox
-   :members:
-
-FileTypeBox
-'''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.FileTypeBox
-   :members:
-
-ImageHeaderBox
-''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ImageHeaderBox
-   :members:
-
-JP2HeaderBox
-''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.JP2HeaderBox
-   :members:
-
-JPEG2000SignatureBox
-''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.JPEG2000SignatureBox
-   :members:
-
-LabelBox
-''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.LabelBox
-   :members:
-
-PaletteBox
-''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.PaletteBox
-   :members:
-
-ReaderRequirementsBox
-'''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ReaderRequirementsBox
-   :members:
-
-ResolutionBox
-'''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.ResolutionBox
-   :members:
-
-CaptureResolutionBox
-''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.CaptureResolutionBox
-   :members:
-
-DisplayResolutionBox
-''''''''''''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.DisplayResolutionBox
-   :members:
-
-UUIDBox
-'''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.UUIDBox
-   :members:
-
-UUIDInfoBox
-'''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.UUIDInfoBox
-   :members:
-
-UUIDListBox
-'''''''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.UUIDListBox
-   :members:
-
-XMLBox
-''''''
-.. autoclass:: glymur.jp2box.XMLBox
-   :members:
-
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index e9387f4..c786810 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ copyright = u'2013, John Evans'
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '0.7'
+version = '0.8'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '0.7.2'
+release = '0.8.0rc1'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
index 8c1fb03..62e118d 100644
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ Contents:
    how_do_i
    whatsnew/index
    roadmap
-   api
 
 ------------------
 Indices and tables
diff --git a/docs/source/whatsnew/0.8.rst b/docs/source/whatsnew/0.8.rst
index 5c87f5a..e7215ad 100644
--- a/docs/source/whatsnew/0.8.rst
+++ b/docs/source/whatsnew/0.8.rst
@@ -7,6 +7,18 @@ Changes in 0.8.0
 
     * Simplified writing images by moving data and options into the
       constructor.
-    * The main_header attribute of the ContiguousCodestream class is now called
-      codestream.
     * Deprecated :py:meth:`read` method in favor of array-style slicing.
+      In order to retain certain functionality, the following parameters 
+      to the :py:meth:`read` method have become top-level properties
+
+      * verbose
+      * layer
+      * ignore_pclr_cmap_cdef
+
+    * Two additional properties were introduced.
+
+      * codestream
+      * shape
+
+      
+ 
diff --git a/glymur/version.py b/glymur/version.py
index 55e4b88..8958a5e 100644
--- a/glymur/version.py
+++ b/glymur/version.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from .lib import openjpeg as opj, openjp2 as opj2
 
 # Do not change the format of this next line!  Doing so risks breaking
 # setup.py
-version = "0.7.2"
+version = "0.8.0rc1"
 _sv = LooseVersion(version)
 version_tuple = _sv.version