diff --git a/pkg/attest/example_sign_test.go b/pkg/attest/example_sign_test.go
index 358bb2e..0a90d36 100644
--- a/pkg/attest/example_sign_test.go
+++ b/pkg/attest/example_sign_test.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func ExampleSign_remote() {
 	}
 
 	// push image index with signed attestation-manifests
-	err = mirror.PushToRegistry(signedImageIndex, ref)
+	err = mirror.PushIndexToRegistry(signedImageIndex, ref)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func ExampleSign_remote() {
 			},
 		},
 	})
-	err = mirror.SaveAsOCILayout(idx, path)
+	err = mirror.SaveIndexAsOCILayout(idx, path)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/attestation/referrers_test.go b/pkg/attestation/referrers_test.go
index a536c31..0b7173a 100644
--- a/pkg/attestation/referrers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/attestation/referrers_test.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func TestAttestationReferenceTypes(t *testing.T) {
 
 		indexName := fmt.Sprintf("%s/repo:root", u.Host)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		err = mirror.PushToRegistry(signedIndex, indexName)
+		err = mirror.PushIndexToRegistry(signedIndex, indexName)
 
 		for _, platform := range platforms {
 			// can eval policy in the normal way
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ func TestReferencesInDifferentRepo(t *testing.T) {
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		indexName := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s:latest", serverUrl.Host, repoName)
-		err = mirror.PushToRegistry(attIdx.Index, indexName)
+		err = mirror.PushIndexToRegistry(attIdx.Index, indexName)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		signedImages, err := attest.SignedAttestationImages(ctx, attIdx.Index, signer, opts)
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func TestReferencesInDifferentRepo(t *testing.T) {
 		// push signed attestation image to the ref server
 		for _, img := range signedImages {
 			// push references using subject-digest.att convention
-			err = mirror.PushToRegistry(img.Image, fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s:tag-does-not-matter", refServerUrl.Host, repoName))
+			err = mirror.PushImageToRegistry(img.Image, fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s:tag-does-not-matter", refServerUrl.Host, repoName))
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 		}
 		mfs2, err := attIdx.Index.IndexManifest()
diff --git a/pkg/mirror/example_mirror_test.go b/pkg/mirror/example_mirror_test.go
index c4b6cbd..2b9cea8 100644
--- a/pkg/mirror/example_mirror_test.go
+++ b/pkg/mirror/example_mirror_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type TufMirrorOutput struct {
-	metadata          *v1.Image
+	metadata          v1.Image
 	delegatedMetadata []*mirror.MirrorImage
 	targets           []*mirror.MirrorImage
 	delegatedTargets  []*mirror.MirrorIndex
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func ExampleNewTufMirror() {
 func mirrorToRegistry(o *TufMirrorOutput) error {
 	// push metadata to registry
 	metadataRepo := "registry-1.docker.io/docker/tuf-metadata:latest"
-	err := mirror.PushToRegistry(o.metadata, metadataRepo)
+	err := mirror.PushImageToRegistry(o.metadata, metadataRepo)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func mirrorToRegistry(o *TufMirrorOutput) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get repo without tag: %s", metadataRepo)
 		}
 		imageName := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", repo, metadata.Tag)
-		err = mirror.PushToRegistry(metadata.Image, imageName)
+		err = mirror.PushImageToRegistry(metadata.Image, imageName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func mirrorToRegistry(o *TufMirrorOutput) error {
 	targetsRepo := "registry-1.docker.io/docker/tuf-targets"
 	for _, target := range o.targets {
 		imageName := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", targetsRepo, target.Tag)
-		err = mirror.PushToRegistry(target.Image, imageName)
+		err = mirror.PushImageToRegistry(target.Image, imageName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func mirrorToRegistry(o *TufMirrorOutput) error {
 	// push delegated targets to registry
 	for _, target := range o.delegatedTargets {
 		imageName := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", targetsRepo, target.Tag)
-		err = mirror.PushToRegistry(target.Index, imageName)
+		err = mirror.PushIndexToRegistry(target.Index, imageName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -119,14 +119,14 @@ func mirrorToRegistry(o *TufMirrorOutput) error {
 
 func mirrorToLocal(o *TufMirrorOutput, outputPath string) error {
 	// output metadata to local directory
-	err := mirror.SaveAsOCILayout(o.metadata, outputPath)
+	err := mirror.SaveImageAsOCILayout(o.metadata, outputPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	// output delegated metadata to local directory
 	for _, metadata := range o.delegatedMetadata {
 		path := filepath.Join(outputPath, metadata.Tag)
-		err = mirror.SaveAsOCILayout(metadata.Image, path)
+		err = mirror.SaveImageAsOCILayout(metadata.Image, path)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ func mirrorToLocal(o *TufMirrorOutput, outputPath string) error {
 	// output top-level targets to local directory
 	for _, target := range o.targets {
 		path := filepath.Join(outputPath, target.Tag)
-		err = mirror.SaveAsOCILayout(target.Image, path)
+		err = mirror.SaveImageAsOCILayout(target.Image, path)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ func mirrorToLocal(o *TufMirrorOutput, outputPath string) error {
 	// output delegated targets to local directory
 	for _, target := range o.delegatedTargets {
 		path := filepath.Join(outputPath, target.Tag)
-		err = mirror.SaveAsOCILayout(target.Index, path)
+		err = mirror.SaveIndexAsOCILayout(target.Index, path)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/mirror/metadata.go b/pkg/mirror/metadata.go
index aca4e8f..81f1c9f 100644
--- a/pkg/mirror/metadata.go
+++ b/pkg/mirror/metadata.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import (
 // -----------------
 
 // GetMetadataManifest returns an image with TUF root metadata as layers
-func (m *TufMirror) GetMetadataManifest(metadataURL string) (*v1.Image, error) {
+func (m *TufMirror) GetMetadataManifest(metadataURL string) (v1.Image, error) {
 	metadata, err := m.getTufMetadataMirror(metadataURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get metadata: %w", err)
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func (m *TufMirror) getTufMetadataMirror(metadataURL string) (*TufMetadata, erro
 }
 
 // buildMetadataManifest returns an OCI image with TUF metadata as layers with annotations
-func (m *TufMirror) buildMetadataManifest(metadata *TufMetadata) (*v1.Image, error) {
+func (m *TufMirror) buildMetadataManifest(metadata *TufMetadata) (v1.Image, error) {
 	img := empty.Image
 	img = mutate.MediaType(img, types.OCIManifestSchema1)
 	img = mutate.ConfigMediaType(img, types.OCIConfigJSON)
@@ -87,17 +87,17 @@ func (m *TufMirror) buildMetadataManifest(metadata *TufMetadata) (*v1.Image, err
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to make role layer: %w", err)
 		}
-		img, err = mutate.Append(img, *layers...)
+		img, err = mutate.Append(img, layers...)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to append role layer to image: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
-	return &img, nil
+	return img, nil
 }
 
 // makeRoleLayers returns a list of layers for a given TUF role
-func (m *TufMirror) makeRoleLayers(role TufRole, tufMetadata *TufMetadata) (*[]mutate.Addendum, error) {
-	layers := new([]mutate.Addendum)
+func (m *TufMirror) makeRoleLayers(role TufRole, tufMetadata *TufMetadata) ([]mutate.Addendum, error) {
+	var layers []mutate.Addendum
 	ann := map[string]string{tufFileAnnotation: ""}
 	switch role {
 	case metadata.ROOT:
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func (m *TufMirror) makeRoleLayers(role TufRole, tufMetadata *TufMetadata) (*[]m
 		layers = m.annotatedMetaLayers(tufMetadata.Targets)
 	case metadata.TIMESTAMP:
 		ann[tufFileAnnotation] = fmt.Sprintf("%s.json", role)
-		*layers = append(*layers, mutate.Addendum{Layer: static.NewLayer(tufMetadata.Timestamp, tufMetadataMediaType), Annotations: ann})
+		layers = append(layers, mutate.Addendum{Layer: static.NewLayer(tufMetadata.Timestamp, tufMetadataMediaType), Annotations: ann})
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported TUF role: %s", role)
 	}
@@ -116,11 +116,11 @@ func (m *TufMirror) makeRoleLayers(role TufRole, tufMetadata *TufMetadata) (*[]m
 }
 
 // annotatedMetaLayers returns a list of layers with annotations for each TUF metadata file
-func (m *TufMirror) annotatedMetaLayers(meta map[string][]byte) *[]mutate.Addendum {
-	layers := new([]mutate.Addendum)
+func (m *TufMirror) annotatedMetaLayers(meta map[string][]byte) []mutate.Addendum {
+	var layers []mutate.Addendum
 	for name, data := range meta {
 		ann := map[string]string{tufFileAnnotation: name}
-		*layers = append(*layers, mutate.Addendum{Layer: static.NewLayer(data, tufMetadataMediaType), Annotations: ann})
+		layers = append(layers, mutate.Addendum{Layer: static.NewLayer(data, tufMetadataMediaType), Annotations: ann})
 	}
 	return layers
 }
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ func (m *TufMirror) GetDelegatedMetadataMirrors() ([]*MirrorImage, error) {
 }
 
 // getDelegatedTargetsMetadata returns delegated targets metadata as a list of DelegatedTargetMetadata (role name and data)
-func (m *TufMirror) getDelegatedTargetsMetadata() (*[]DelegatedTargetMetadata, error) {
-	delegatedTargets := new([]DelegatedTargetMetadata)
+func (m *TufMirror) getDelegatedTargetsMetadata() ([]DelegatedTargetMetadata, error) {
+	var delegatedTargets []DelegatedTargetMetadata
 	md := m.TufClient.GetMetadata()
 	for _, role := range md.Targets[metadata.TARGETS].Signed.Delegations.Roles {
 		roleMetadata, err := m.TufClient.LoadDelegatedTargets(role.Name, metadata.TARGETS)
@@ -165,15 +165,15 @@ func (m *TufMirror) getDelegatedTargetsMetadata() (*[]DelegatedTargetMetadata, e
 		if md.Root.Signed.ConsistentSnapshot {
 			version = strconv.FormatInt(meta.Version, 10)
 		}
-		*delegatedTargets = append(*delegatedTargets, DelegatedTargetMetadata{Name: role.Name, Version: version, Data: roleBytes})
+		delegatedTargets = append(delegatedTargets, DelegatedTargetMetadata{Name: role.Name, Version: version, Data: roleBytes})
 	}
 	return delegatedTargets, nil
 }
 
 // buildDelegatedMetadataManifests returns a list of mirrors (image/tag pairs) for each delegated target role metadata
-func (m *TufMirror) buildDelegatedMetadataManifests(delegated *[]DelegatedTargetMetadata) ([]*MirrorImage, error) {
+func (m *TufMirror) buildDelegatedMetadataManifests(delegated []DelegatedTargetMetadata) ([]*MirrorImage, error) {
 	manifests := []*MirrorImage{}
-	for _, role := range *delegated {
+	for _, role := range delegated {
 		img := empty.Image
 		img = mutate.MediaType(img, types.OCIManifestSchema1)
 		img = mutate.ConfigMediaType(img, types.OCIConfigJSON)
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ func (m *TufMirror) buildDelegatedMetadataManifests(delegated *[]DelegatedTarget
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to append delegated targets layer to image: %w", err)
 		}
-		manifests = append(manifests, &MirrorImage{Image: &img, Tag: role.Name})
+		manifests = append(manifests, &MirrorImage{Image: img, Tag: role.Name})
 	}
 	return manifests, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/mirror/metadata_test.go b/pkg/mirror/metadata_test.go
index 0aeb277..03b722c 100644
--- a/pkg/mirror/metadata_test.go
+++ b/pkg/mirror/metadata_test.go
@@ -46,8 +46,7 @@ func TestGetMetadataManifest(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.NotNil(t, img)
 
-	image := *img
-	mf, err := image.RawManifest()
+	mf, err := img.RawManifest()
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	type Annotations struct {
diff --git a/pkg/mirror/targets.go b/pkg/mirror/targets.go
index 78c86d0..89a4fd2 100644
--- a/pkg/mirror/targets.go
+++ b/pkg/mirror/targets.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (m *TufMirror) GetTufTargetMirrors() ([]*MirrorImage, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to append role layer to image: %w", err)
 		}
-		targetMirrors = append(targetMirrors, &MirrorImage{Image: &img, Tag: name})
+		targetMirrors = append(targetMirrors, &MirrorImage{Image: img, Tag: name})
 	}
 	return targetMirrors, nil
 }
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (m *TufMirror) GetDelegatedTargetMirrors() ([]*MirrorIndex, error) {
 				},
 			})
 		}
-		mirror = append(mirror, &MirrorIndex{Index: &index, Tag: role.Name})
+		mirror = append(mirror, &MirrorIndex{Index: index, Tag: role.Name})
 	}
 	return mirror, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/mirror/targets_test.go b/pkg/mirror/targets_test.go
index e81ddaf..2ff296b 100644
--- a/pkg/mirror/targets_test.go
+++ b/pkg/mirror/targets_test.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestGetTufTargetsMirror(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// check for image layer annotations
 	for _, target := range targets {
-		img := *target.Image
+		img := target.Image
 		mf, err := img.RawManifest()
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func TestGetDelegatedTargetMirrors(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// check for index image annotations
 	for _, mirror := range mirrors {
-		idx := *mirror.Index
+		idx := mirror.Index
 		mf, err := idx.RawManifest()
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 
diff --git a/pkg/mirror/types.go b/pkg/mirror/types.go
index c93cc5d..694217e 100644
--- a/pkg/mirror/types.go
+++ b/pkg/mirror/types.go
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ type DelegatedTargetMetadata struct {
 }
 
 type MirrorImage struct {
-	Image *v1.Image
+	Image v1.Image
 	Tag   string
 }
 
 type MirrorIndex struct {
-	Index *v1.ImageIndex
+	Index v1.ImageIndex
 	Tag   string
 }