diff --git a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/canvaskit_api.dart b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/canvaskit_api.dart
index 4ceb777104114..4da9ed1a5b8d1 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/canvaskit_api.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/canvaskit_api.dart
@@ -120,6 +120,11 @@ extension CanvasKitExtension on CanvasKit {
     int sampleCount,
     int stencil,
   );
+  external SkSurface? MakeRenderTarget(
+    SkGrContext grContext,
+    int width,
+    int height,
+  );
   external SkSurface MakeSWCanvasSurface(DomCanvasElement canvas);
 
   /// Creates an image from decoded pixels represented as a list of bytes.
diff --git a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/picture.dart b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/picture.dart
index d877fd1124bb9..bd147b59ec7f0 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/picture.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/picture.dart
@@ -101,7 +101,29 @@ class CkPicture extends ManagedSkiaObject<SkPicture> implements ui.Picture {
 
   @override
   ui.Image toImageSync(int width, int height) {
+    SurfaceFactory.instance.baseSurface.ensureSurface();
+    if (SurfaceFactory.instance.baseSurface.usingSoftwareBackend) {
+      return toImageSyncSoftware(width, height);
+    }
+    return toImageSyncGPU(width, height);
+  }
+
+  ui.Image toImageSyncGPU(int width, int height) {
+    assert(debugCheckNotDisposed('Cannot convert picture to image.'));
+
+    final CkSurface ckSurface = SurfaceFactory.instance.baseSurface
+      .createRenderTargetSurface(ui.Size(width.toDouble(), height.toDouble()));
+    final CkCanvas ckCanvas = ckSurface.getCanvas();
+    ckCanvas.clear(const ui.Color(0x00000000));
+    ckCanvas.drawPicture(this);
+    final SkImage skImage = ckSurface.surface.makeImageSnapshot();
+    ckSurface.dispose();
+    return CkImage(skImage);
+  }
+
+  ui.Image toImageSyncSoftware(int width, int height) {
     assert(debugCheckNotDisposed('Cannot convert picture to image.'));
+
     final Surface surface = SurfaceFactory.instance.pictureToImageSurface;
     final CkSurface ckSurface =
       surface.createOrUpdateSurface(ui.Size(width.toDouble(), height.toDouble()));
diff --git a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface.dart b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface.dart
index 37d02e8dac7dd..1d24687d118ef 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface.dart
@@ -141,6 +141,41 @@ class Surface {
   ui.Size? _currentSurfaceSize;
   double _currentDevicePixelRatio = -1;
 
+  /// This is only valid after the first frame or if [ensureSurface] has been
+  /// called
+  bool get usingSoftwareBackend => _glContext == null ||
+      _grContext == null || webGLVersion == -1 || configuration.canvasKitForceCpuOnly;
+
+  /// Ensure that the initial surface exists and has a size of at least [size].
+  ///
+  /// If not provided, [size] defaults to 1x1.
+  ///
+  /// This also ensures that the gl/grcontext have been populated so
+  /// that software rendering can be detected.
+  void ensureSurface([ui.Size size = const ui.Size(1, 1)]) {
+    // If the GrContext hasn't been setup yet then we need to force initialization
+    // of the canvas and initial surface.
+    if (_surface != null) {
+      return;
+    }
+    // TODO(jonahwilliams): this is somewhat wasteful. We should probably
+    // eagerly setup this surface instead of delaying until the first frame?
+    // Or at least cache the estimated window size.
+    createOrUpdateSurface(size);
+  }
+
+  /// This method is not supported if software rendering is used.
+  CkSurface createRenderTargetSurface(ui.Size size) {
+    assert(!usingSoftwareBackend);
+
+    final SkSurface skSurface = canvasKit.MakeRenderTarget(
+      _grContext!,
+      size.width.ceil(),
+      size.height.ceil(),
+    )!;
+    return CkSurface(skSurface, _glContext);
+  }
+
   /// Creates a <canvas> and SkSurface for the given [size].
   CkSurface createOrUpdateSurface(ui.Size size) {
     if (size.isEmpty) {
diff --git a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface_factory.dart b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface_factory.dart
index c0a1b4f3c5119..08e863074360a 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface_factory.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/lib/src/engine/canvaskit/surface_factory.dart
@@ -46,13 +46,13 @@ class SurfaceFactory {
   /// all painting commands.
   final Surface baseSurface = Surface();
 
-  /// A surface used specifically for `Picture.toImage` calls, which can be
-  /// reused in order to avoid creating too many WebGL contexts.
-  late final Surface pictureToImageSurface = Surface();
-
   /// The maximum number of surfaces which can be live at once.
   final int maximumSurfaces;
 
+  /// A surface used specifically for `Picture.toImage` when software rendering
+  /// is supported.
+  late final Surface pictureToImageSurface = Surface();
+
   /// The maximum number of assignable overlays.
   ///
   /// This is just `maximumSurfaces - 1` (the maximum number of surfaces minus
diff --git a/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/canvaskit_api_test.dart b/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/canvaskit_api_test.dart
index a0c00347a51a5..22ba3ca6d2c5e 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/canvaskit_api_test.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/canvaskit_api_test.dart
@@ -1807,4 +1807,23 @@ void _paragraphTests() {
 
     expect(skSurface, isNotNull);
   }, skip: isFirefox); // Intended: Headless firefox has no webgl support https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/109265
+
+  test('MakeRenderTarget test', () {
+    final DomCanvasElement canvas = createDomCanvasElement(
+      width: 100,
+      height: 100,
+    );
+
+    final int glContext = canvasKit.GetWebGLContext(
+      canvas,
+      SkWebGLContextOptions(
+        antialias: 0,
+        majorVersion: webGLVersion.toDouble(),
+      ),
+    ).toInt();
+    final SkGrContext grContext =  canvasKit.MakeGrContext(glContext.toDouble());
+    final SkSurface? surface = canvasKit.MakeRenderTarget(grContext, 1, 1);
+
+    expect(surface, isNotNull);
+  }, skip: isFirefox); // Intended: Headless firefox has no webgl support https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/109265
 }
diff --git a/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/surface_factory_test.dart b/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/surface_factory_test.dart
index d9da96d693ffe..05db21472386c 100644
--- a/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/surface_factory_test.dart
+++ b/lib/web_ui/test/canvaskit/surface_factory_test.dart
@@ -26,10 +26,6 @@ void testMain() {
       expect(SurfaceFactory(2).maximumSurfaces, 2);
     });
 
-    test('has a Surface dedicated to Picture.toImage', () {
-      expect(SurfaceFactory(1).pictureToImageSurface, isNotNull);
-    });
-
     test('getSurface', () {
       final SurfaceFactory factory = SurfaceFactory(3);
       expect(factory.baseSurface, isNotNull);