diff --git a/src/Buffer.h b/src/Buffer.h
index 5c787b7a7..5b0f5dd8a 100644
--- a/src/Buffer.h
+++ b/src/Buffer.h
@@ -636,7 +636,7 @@ class MAGNUM_EXPORT Buffer: public AbstractObject {
          * @requires_gl %Buffer data queries are not available in OpenGL ES.
          *      Use @ref Magnum::Buffer::map() "map()" instead.
          */
-        template<class T> Containers::Array<T> data();
+        template<class T = unsigned char> Containers::Array<T> data();
 
         /**
          * @brief %Buffer subdata
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ class MAGNUM_EXPORT Buffer: public AbstractObject {
          * @requires_gl %Buffer data queries are not available in OpenGL ES.
          *      Use @ref Magnum::Buffer::map() "map()" instead.
          */
-        template<class T> Containers::Array<T> subData(GLintptr offset, GLsizeiptr size);
+        template<class T = unsigned char> Containers::Array<T> subData(GLintptr offset, GLsizeiptr size);
         #endif
 
         /**
diff --git a/src/Image.h b/src/Image.h
index 9c9881e86..7af8728e0 100644
--- a/src/Image.h
+++ b/src/Image.h
@@ -101,8 +101,14 @@ template<UnsignedInt dimensions> class Image: public AbstractImage {
          *
          * @see @ref release()
          */
-        unsigned char* data() { return _data; }
-        const unsigned char* data() const { return _data; } /**< @overload */
+        template<class T = unsigned char> T* data() {
+            return reinterpret_cast<T*>(_data);
+        }
+
+        /** @overload */
+        template<class T = unsigned char> const T* data() const {
+            return reinterpret_cast<const T*>(_data);
+        }
 
         /**
          * @brief Set image data
diff --git a/src/ImageReference.h b/src/ImageReference.h
index d2f754e16..02bd8141f 100644
--- a/src/ImageReference.h
+++ b/src/ImageReference.h
@@ -79,6 +79,11 @@ template<UnsignedInt dimensions> class ImageReference: public AbstractImage {
         /** @brief Pointer to raw data */
         constexpr const unsigned char* data() const { return _data; }
 
+        /** @overload */
+        template<class T = unsigned char> const T* data() const {
+            return reinterpret_cast<const T*>(_data);
+        }
+
         /**
          * @brief Set image data
          * @param data              %Image data
diff --git a/src/Trade/ImageData.h b/src/Trade/ImageData.h
index 181b768bb..bc2f09dd4 100644
--- a/src/Trade/ImageData.h
+++ b/src/Trade/ImageData.h
@@ -91,8 +91,14 @@ template<UnsignedInt dimensions> class ImageData: public AbstractImage {
          *
          * @see @ref release()
          */
-        unsigned char* data() { return _data; }
-        const unsigned char* data() const { return _data; } /**< @overload */
+        template<class T = unsigned char> T* data() {
+            return reinterpret_cast<T*>(_data);
+        }
+
+        /** @overload */
+        template<class T = unsigned char> const T* data() const {
+            return reinterpret_cast<const T*>(_data);
+        }
 
         /**
          * @brief Release data storage