diff --git a/include/compiz.h b/include/compiz.h
index 496bfaf..62544fc 100644
--- a/include/compiz.h
+++ b/include/compiz.h
@@ -1154,6 +1154,12 @@ typedef void (*DonePaintScreenProc) (CompScreen *screen);
 #define PAINT_SCREEN_TRANSFORMED_MASK		   (1 << 2)
 #define PAINT_SCREEN_WITH_TRANSFORMED_WINDOWS_MASK (1 << 3)
 #define PAINT_SCREEN_CLEAR_MASK			   (1 << 4)
+#define PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK	   (1 << 5)
+#define PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK	   (1 << 6)
+/* A plugin that sets PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK will get reversed painting.
+   A plugin that sets  both PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK and PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK
+   will get both normal and reversed painting one after the other,
+   and will check paint window mask to avoid painting the window twice. This allows more complex drawing order.*/
 
 typedef Bool (*PaintScreenProc) (CompScreen		 *screen,
 				 const ScreenPaintAttrib *sAttrib,
@@ -1219,6 +1225,13 @@ typedef void (*ApplyScreenTransformProc) (CompScreen		  *screen,
 */
 #define PAINT_WINDOW_BLEND_MASK			(1 << 19)
 
+/*
+ flags that indicate the painting order which is used
+ in paintScreen when drawing the window.
+*/
+#define PAINT_WINDOW_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK		(1 << 20)
+#define PAINT_WINDOW_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK		(1 << 21)
+
 
 typedef Bool (*PaintWindowProc) (CompWindow		 *window,
 				 const WindowPaintAttrib *attrib,
diff --git a/src/paint.c b/src/paint.c
index a618328..c9e540d 100644
--- a/src/paint.c
+++ b/src/paint.c
@@ -157,7 +157,10 @@ paintScreenRegion (CompScreen	       *screen,
     static Region tmpRegion = NULL;
     CompWindow    *w;
     CompCursor	  *c;
-    int		  count, windowMask, backgroundMask;
+    int		  count, windowMask, backgroundMask, occlusionMask;
+    Bool ftb = (mask & PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK) && 
+               !(mask & PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK);	// Do FTB drawing only if FTB flag is set and BTF flag isn't
+ 
 
     if (!tmpRegion)
     {
@@ -178,11 +181,29 @@ paintScreenRegion (CompScreen	       *screen,
 	windowMask     = 0;
 	count	       = 0;
     }
+    
+    if (ftb)
+    {
+	windowMask |= PAINT_WINDOW_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK;
+	occlusionMask = PAINT_WINDOW_OCCLUSION_DETECTION_MASK | 
+	               PAINT_WINDOW_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+	windowMask |= PAINT_WINDOW_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK;
+	occlusionMask = PAINT_WINDOW_OCCLUSION_DETECTION_MASK | 
+	               PAINT_WINDOW_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK;
+    }
 
     XSubtractRegion (region, &emptyRegion, tmpRegion);
 
-    /* detect occlusions */
-    for (w = screen->reverseWindows; w; w = w->prev)
+    /* detect occlusions (order is reversed from true painting order). */
+    if (ftb)
+	w = screen->windows;
+    else
+	w = screen->reverseWindows;
+
+    for (; w; w = (ftb)? w->next: w->prev)
     {
 	if (w->destroyed)
 	    continue;
@@ -197,7 +218,7 @@ paintScreenRegion (CompScreen	       *screen,
 	XSubtractRegion (tmpRegion, &emptyRegion, w->clip);
 
 	if ((*screen->paintWindow) (w, &w->paint, transform, tmpRegion,
-				    PAINT_WINDOW_OCCLUSION_DETECTION_MASK))
+				    occlusionMask))
 	{
 	    /* unredirect top most fullscreen windows. */
 	    if (count == 0					      &&
@@ -216,8 +237,13 @@ paintScreenRegion (CompScreen	       *screen,
 
     (*screen->paintBackground) (screen, tmpRegion, backgroundMask);
 
-    /* paint all windows from bottom to top */
-    for (w = screen->windows; w; w = w->next)
+    /* paint all windows with the order specified by the masks. */
+    if (ftb)
+	w = screen->windows;
+    else
+	w = screen->reverseWindows;
+
+    for (; w; w = (ftb)? w->next: w->prev)
     {
 	if (w->destroyed)
 	    continue;
@@ -231,9 +257,22 @@ paintScreenRegion (CompScreen	       *screen,
 	(*screen->paintWindow) (w, &w->paint, transform, w->clip, windowMask);
     }
 
-    /* paint cursors */
-    for (c = screen->cursors; c; c = c->next)
-	(*screen->paintCursor) (c, transform, tmpRegion, 0);
+    if ((mask & PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_FRONT_TO_BACK_MASK) &&
+        (mask & PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK))
+    {
+	/* when both modes are set, we first paint in Back-To-Front mode (already done), 
+	   and after that we paint the screen in Front-To-Back mode, by removing the 
+	   Back-To-Front mask. 
+	   Painting the cursors will be done after the Front-To-Back drawing*/
+	paintScreenRegion (screen, transform, region, output, 
+	                   mask & (~PAINT_SCREEN_ORDER_BACK_TO_FRONT_MASK));	
+    }
+    else
+    {
+	/* paint cursors */
+	for (c = screen->cursors; c; c = c->next)
+	    (*screen->paintCursor) (c, transform, tmpRegion, 0);
+    }
 }