diff --git a/__tests__/diff-snapshot.spec.js b/__tests__/diff-snapshot.spec.js
index 864df01..a9c78b7 100644
--- a/__tests__/diff-snapshot.spec.js
+++ b/__tests__/diff-snapshot.spec.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable global-require */
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
+const mockSpawn = require('mock-spawn')();
 
 describe('diff-snapshot', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
@@ -47,6 +48,9 @@ describe('diff-snapshot', () => {
         writeFileSync: mockWriteFileSync,
         readFileSync: jest.fn(),
       });
+
+      mockSpawn.setDefault(mockSpawn.simple(0));
+      jest.mock('child_process', () => ({ spawnSync: mockSpawn }));
       jest.mock('fs', () => mockFs);
       jest.mock('mkdirp', () => ({ sync: mockMkdirpSync }));
       const { diffImageToSnapshot } = require('../src/diff-snapshot');
@@ -127,7 +131,7 @@ describe('diff-snapshot', () => {
       // Check that pixelmatch was called
       expect(mockPixelMatch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
       // Check that that it did not attempt to write a diff
-      expect(mockWriteFileSync).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(mockSpawn.calls).toEqual([]);
     });
 
     it('should write a diff image if the test fails', () => {
@@ -156,11 +160,10 @@ describe('diff-snapshot', () => {
         100,
         { threshold: 0.01 }
       );
-      expect(mockWriteFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      expect(mockWriteFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        path.join(mockSnapshotsDir, '__diff_output__', 'id1-diff.png'),
-        expect.any(Buffer)
-      );
+
+      expect(mockSpawn.calls[0].args[0]).toBe(path.resolve('./src/write-result-diff-image.js'));
+      expect(mockSpawn.calls[0].command).toBe('node');
+      expect(mockSpawn.calls[0].opts.input).toEqual(expect.any(Buffer));
     });
 
     it('should pass <= failureThreshold pixel', () => {
diff --git a/__tests__/integration.spec.js b/__tests__/integration.spec.js
index b646214..d975073 100644
--- a/__tests__/integration.spec.js
+++ b/__tests__/integration.spec.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const rimraf = require('rimraf');
 const uniqueId = require('lodash/uniqueId');
+const isPng = require('is-png');
 
 describe('toMatchImageSnapshot', () => {
   const imagePath = path.resolve(__dirname, './stubs', 'TestImage.png');
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@ describe('toMatchImageSnapshot', () => {
 
     it('writes a result image for failing tests', () => {
       const customSnapshotIdentifier = getIdentifierIndicatingCleanupIsRequired();
-
+      const pathToResultImage = path.join(__dirname, diffOutputDir(), `${customSnapshotIdentifier}-diff.png`);
       // First we need to write a new snapshot image
       expect(
         () => expect(imageData).toMatchImageSnapshot({ customSnapshotIdentifier })
@@ -133,9 +134,11 @@ describe('toMatchImageSnapshot', () => {
         () => expect(failImageData).toMatchImageSnapshot({ customSnapshotIdentifier })
       ).toThrow();
 
-      expect(
-        fs.existsSync(path.join(__dirname, diffOutputDir(), `${customSnapshotIdentifier}-diff.png`))
-      ).toBe(true);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(pathToResultImage)).toBe(true);
+
+      const imageBuffer = fs.readFileSync(pathToResultImage);
+      // just because file was written does not mean it is a png image
+      expect(isPng(imageBuffer)).toBe(true);
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 762c5ef..a6be1e3 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@
   ],
   "jest": {
     "preset": "amex-jest-preset",
+    "collectCoverageFrom": [
+      "src/*.js",
+      "!src/write-result-diff-image.js",
+      "!**/node_modules/**",
+      "!test-results/**"
+    ],
     "testMatch": ["<rootDir>/__tests__/**/*.js"],
     "coveragePathIgnorePatterns": ["/node_modules/", "<rootDir>/examples"] 
   },
@@ -34,12 +40,15 @@
     "amex-jest-preset": "^4.0.2",
     "eslint": "^4.15.0",
     "eslint-config-amex": "^7.0.0",
+    "is-png": "^1.1.0",
     "jest": "^22.0.0",
     "lodash": "^4.17.4",
+    "mock-spawn": "^0.2.6",
     "rimraf": "^2.6.2"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "chalk": "^1.1.3",
+    "get-stdin": "^5.0.1",
     "lodash": "^4.17.4",
     "mkdirp": "^0.5.1",
     "pixelmatch": "^4.0.2",
diff --git a/src/diff-snapshot.js b/src/diff-snapshot.js
index 8068882..c58f90a 100644
--- a/src/diff-snapshot.js
+++ b/src/diff-snapshot.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
+const childProcess = require('child_process');
 const pixelmatch = require('pixelmatch');
 const mkdirp = require('mkdirp');
 const { PNG } = require('pngjs');
@@ -75,8 +76,27 @@ function diffImageToSnapshot(options) {
 
     if (!pass) {
       mkdirp.sync(outputDir);
-      const buffer = PNG.sync.write(diffImage);
-      fs.writeFileSync(diffOutputPath, buffer);
+      const compositeResultImage = new PNG({
+        width: imageWidth * 3,
+        height: imageHeight,
+      });
+      // copy baseline, diff, and received images into composite result image
+      PNG.bitblt(
+        baselineImage, compositeResultImage, 0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight, 0, 0
+      );
+      PNG.bitblt(
+        diffImage, compositeResultImage, 0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight, imageWidth, 0
+      );
+      PNG.bitblt(
+        receivedImage, compositeResultImage, 0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight, imageWidth * 2, 0
+      );
+
+      const input = { imagePath: diffOutputPath, image: compositeResultImage };
+
+      // writing diff in separate process to avoid perf issues associated with Math in Jest VM (https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/5163)
+      const writeDiffProcess = childProcess.spawnSync('node', [`${__dirname}/write-result-diff-image.js`], { input: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(input)) });
+      // in case of error print to console
+      if (writeDiffProcess.stderr.toString()) { console.log(writeDiffProcess.stderr.toString()); } // eslint-disable-line no-console, max-len
     }
 
     result = {
diff --git a/src/write-result-diff-image.js b/src/write-result-diff-image.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be05c77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/write-result-diff-image.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+ * is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+ * or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+
+const { PNG } = require('pngjs');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const getStdin = require('get-stdin');
+
+getStdin.buffer().then((buffer) => {
+  try {
+    const input = JSON.parse(buffer);
+    const { imagePath, image } = input;
+
+    image.data = Buffer.from(image.data);
+
+    const pngBuffer = PNG.sync.write(image);
+    fs.writeFileSync(imagePath, pngBuffer);
+    process.exit(0);
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error(error); // eslint-disable-line no-console
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+});