diff --git a/src/aliby/utils/plot.py b/src/aliby/utils/plot.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..72cf29a441589a7de2252a155e33e4468ea37380
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/aliby/utils/plot.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env jupyter
+"""
+Basic plotting functions for cell visualisation
+"""
+
+from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
+
+
+def plot_overlay(bg, fg, alpha=0.5, ax=plt) -> None:
+    ax.imshow(bg, cmap=plt.cm.gray, interpolation="none")
+    ax.imshow(fg, alpha=alpha, interpolation="none")
+    ax.axis("off")