diff --git a/libsmartcols/docs/libsmartcols-sections.txt b/libsmartcols/docs/libsmartcols-sections.txt
index a8dc884ab..bdb35082f 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/docs/libsmartcols-sections.txt
+++ b/libsmartcols/docs/libsmartcols-sections.txt
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ scols_table_enable_maxout
 scols_table_enable_noheadings
 scols_table_enable_raw
 scols_table_get_column
+scols_table_get_column_separator
 scols_table_get_line
+scols_table_get_line_separator
 scols_table_get_ncols
 scols_table_get_nlines
 scols_table_get_stream
@@ -112,6 +114,8 @@ scols_table_remove_column
 scols_table_remove_columns
 scols_table_remove_line
 scols_table_remove_lines
+scols_table_set_column_separator
+scols_table_set_line_separator
 scols_table_set_stream
 scols_table_set_symbols
 scols_unref_table
diff --git a/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.h.in b/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.h.in
index b3ceeeab9..1307013a1 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.h.in
+++ b/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.h.in
@@ -174,6 +174,9 @@ extern int scols_table_enable_noheadings(struct libscols_table *tb, int enable);
 extern int scols_table_enable_export(struct libscols_table *tb, int enable);
 extern int scols_table_enable_maxout(struct libscols_table *tb, int enable);
 
+extern int scols_table_set_column_separator(struct libscols_table *tb, char *sep);
+extern int scols_table_set_line_separator(struct libscols_table *tb, char *sep);
+
 extern struct libscols_table *scols_new_table(void);
 extern void scols_ref_table(struct libscols_table *tb);
 extern void scols_unref_table(struct libscols_table *tb);
@@ -182,6 +185,8 @@ extern int scols_table_remove_column(struct libscols_table *tb, struct libscols_
 extern int scols_table_remove_columns(struct libscols_table *tb);
 extern struct libscols_column *scols_table_new_column(struct libscols_table *tb, const char *name, double whint, int flags);
 extern int scols_table_next_column(struct libscols_table *tb, struct libscols_iter *itr, struct libscols_column **cl);
+extern char *scols_table_get_column_separator(struct libscols_table *tb);
+extern char *scols_table_get_line_separator(struct libscols_table *tb);
 extern int scols_table_get_ncols(struct libscols_table *tb);
 extern int scols_table_get_nlines(struct libscols_table *tb);
 extern struct libscols_column *scols_table_get_column(struct libscols_table *tb, size_t n);
diff --git a/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.sym b/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.sym
index 3984751cf..4b64f280c 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.sym
+++ b/libsmartcols/src/libsmartcols.sym
@@ -71,7 +71,9 @@ global:
 	scols_table_enable_noheadings;
 	scols_table_enable_raw;
 	scols_table_get_column;
+	scols_table_get_column_separator;
 	scols_table_get_line;
+	scols_table_get_line_separator;
 	scols_table_get_ncols;
 	scols_table_get_nlines;
 	scols_table_get_stream;
@@ -91,6 +93,8 @@ global:
 	scols_table_remove_columns;
 	scols_table_remove_line;
 	scols_table_remove_lines;
+	scols_table_set_column_separator;
+	scols_table_set_line_separator;
 	scols_table_set_stream;
 	scols_table_set_symbols;
 	scols_unref_column;
diff --git a/libsmartcols/src/smartcolsP.h b/libsmartcols/src/smartcolsP.h
index b7f1f2b6d..ebdc9295f 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/src/smartcolsP.h
+++ b/libsmartcols/src/smartcolsP.h
@@ -125,6 +125,9 @@ struct libscols_table {
 	size_t  termreduce;	/* extra blank space */
 	FILE	*out;		/* output stream */
 
+	char	*colsep;	/* column separator */
+	char	*linesep;	/* line separator */
+
 	struct list_head	tb_columns;
 	struct list_head	tb_lines;
 	struct libscols_symbols	*symbols;
diff --git a/libsmartcols/src/table.c b/libsmartcols/src/table.c
index 914cc2ed9..34b43b508 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/src/table.c
+++ b/libsmartcols/src/table.c
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ void scols_unref_table(struct libscols_table *tb)
 		scols_table_remove_lines(tb);
 		scols_table_remove_columns(tb);
 		scols_unref_symbols(tb->symbols);
+		free(tb->linesep);
+		free(tb->colsep);
 		free(tb);
 	}
 }
@@ -609,6 +611,11 @@ struct libscols_table *scols_copy_table(struct libscols_table *tb)
 		scols_unref_line(newln);
 	}
 
+	/* separators */
+	if (scols_table_set_column_separator(ret, tb->colsep) ||
+	    scols_table_set_line_separator(ret, tb->linesep))
+		goto err;
+
 	return ret;
 err:
 	scols_unref_table(ret);
@@ -880,3 +887,87 @@ int scols_table_is_tree(struct libscols_table *tb)
 	assert(tb);
 	return tb && tb->ntreecols > 0;
 }
+
+/**
+ * scols_table_set_column_separator:
+ * @tb: table
+ * @sep: separator
+ *
+ * Sets the column separator of @tb to @sep.
+ * Please note that @sep should always take up a single cell in the output.
+ *
+ * Returns: 0, a negative value in case of an error.
+ */
+int scols_table_set_column_separator(struct libscols_table *tb, char *sep)
+{
+	assert (tb);
+
+	if (!tb)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	sep = strdup(sep);
+	if (!sep)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	free(tb->colsep);
+	tb->colsep = sep;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ * scols_table_set_line_separator:
+ * @tb: table
+ * @sep: separator
+ *
+ * Sets the line separator of @tb to @sep.
+ *
+ * Returns: 0, a negative value in case of an error.
+ */
+int scols_table_set_line_separator(struct libscols_table *tb, char *sep)
+{
+	assert (tb);
+
+	if (!tb)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	sep = strdup(sep);
+	if (!sep)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	free(tb->linesep);
+	tb->linesep = sep;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ * scols_table_get_column_separator:
+ * @tb: table
+ *
+ * Returns: @tb column separator, NULL in case of an error
+ */
+char *scols_table_get_column_separator(struct libscols_table *tb)
+{
+	assert (tb);
+
+	if (!tb)
+		return NULL;
+	return tb->colsep;
+}
+
+/**
+ * scols_table_get_line_separator:
+ * @tb: table
+ *
+ * Returns: @tb line separator, NULL in case of an error
+ */
+char *scols_table_get_line_separator(struct libscols_table *tb)
+{
+	assert (tb);
+
+	if (!tb)
+		return NULL;
+	return tb->linesep;
+
+}
diff --git a/libsmartcols/src/table_print.c b/libsmartcols/src/table_print.c
index d25bd252d..0a3a30760 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/src/table_print.c
+++ b/libsmartcols/src/table_print.c
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 #define is_last_column(_tb, _cl) \
 		list_entry_is_last(&(_cl)->cl_columns, &(_tb)->tb_columns)
 
+#define colsep(tb) ((tb)->colsep ? (tb)->colsep : " ")
+#define linesep(tb) ((tb)->linesep ? (tb)->linesep : "\n")
 static void print_data(struct libscols_table *tb,
 		       struct libscols_column *cl,
 		       struct libscols_line *ln,	/* optional */
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ static void print_data(struct libscols_table *tb,
 	if (scols_table_is_raw(tb)) {
 		fputs_nonblank(data, tb->out);
 		if (!is_last_column(tb, cl))
-			fputc(' ', tb->out);
+			fputs(colsep(tb), tb->out);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ static void print_data(struct libscols_table *tb,
 		fprintf(tb->out, "%s=", scols_cell_get_data(&cl->header));
 		fputs_quoted(data, tb->out);
 		if (!is_last_column(tb, cl))
-			fputc(' ', tb->out);
+			fputs(colsep(tb), tb->out);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -117,17 +119,17 @@ static void print_data(struct libscols_table *tb,
 		}
 	}
 	for (i = len; i < width; i++)
-		fputc(' ', tb->out);		/* padding */
+		fputs(colsep(tb), tb->out);		/* padding */
 
 	if (!is_last_column(tb, cl)) {
 		if (len > width && !scols_column_is_trunc(cl)) {
-			fputc('\n', tb->out);
+			fputs(linesep(tb), tb->out);
 			for (i = 0; i <= (size_t) cl->seqnum; i++) {
 				struct libscols_column *x = scols_table_get_column(tb, i);
 				fprintf(tb->out, "%*s ", -((int)x->width), " ");
 			}
 		} else
-			fputc(' ', tb->out);	/* columns separator */
+			fputs(colsep(tb), tb->out);	/* columns separator */
 	}
 
 	free(buf);
@@ -229,7 +231,7 @@ static void print_line(struct libscols_table *tb,
 		print_data(tb, cl, ln,
 				scols_line_get_cell(ln, cl->seqnum),
 				line_get_data(tb, ln, cl, buf, bufsz));
-	fputc('\n', tb->out);
+	fputs(linesep(tb), tb->out);
 }
 
 static void print_header(struct libscols_table *tb, char *buf, size_t bufsz)
@@ -252,7 +254,7 @@ static void print_header(struct libscols_table *tb, char *buf, size_t bufsz)
 		buf[bufsz - 1] = '\0';
 		print_data(tb, cl, NULL, &cl->header, buf);
 	}
-	fputc('\n', tb->out);
+	fputs(linesep(tb), tb->out);
 }
 
 static void print_table(struct libscols_table *tb, char *buf, size_t bufsz)
diff --git a/libsmartcols/src/test.c b/libsmartcols/src/test.c
index 90f9df443..eaff49e7e 100644
--- a/libsmartcols/src/test.c
+++ b/libsmartcols/src/test.c
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ static void __attribute__((__noreturn__)) usage(FILE *out)
 	fputs(_(" -n, --noheadings     don't print headings\n"), out);
 	fputs(_(" -p, --pairs          use key=\"value\" output format\n"), out);
 	fputs(_(" -r, --raw            use raw output format\n"), out);
+	fputs(_(" -c, --csv            display a csv-like output\n"), out);
 
 	fputs(USAGE_SEPARATOR, out);
 	fputs(USAGE_HELP, out);
@@ -175,9 +176,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{ "noheadings",	0, 0, 'n' },
 		{ "list",       0, 0, 'l' },
 		{ "ascii",	0, 0, 'i' },
-		{ "raw",        0, 0, 'r' },
 		{ "pairs",      0, 0, 'p' },
 		{ "clone",      0, 0, 'C' },
+		{ "csv",        0, 0, 'c' },
 		{ NULL, 0, 0, 0 },
 	};
 
@@ -191,7 +192,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (!tb)
 		err(EXIT_FAILURE, "faild to create output table");
 
-	while((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "nlirpC", longopts, NULL)) != -1) {
+	while((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "nlirpCc", longopts, NULL)) != -1) {
 		switch(c) {
 		case 'h':
 			usage(stdout);
@@ -213,6 +214,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			scols_table_enable_raw(tb, 1);
 			notree = 1;
 			break;
+		case 'c':
+			scols_table_set_line_separator(tb, ",");
+			/* a column separator should always take up one cell */
+			scols_table_set_column_separator(tb, ":");
+			scols_table_enable_raw(tb, 1);
+			break;
 		case 'C':
 			clonetb = 1;
 		default: