diff --git a/cmd/commands_test.go b/cmd/commands_test.go
index e21d8c22..1fe36924 100644
--- a/cmd/commands_test.go
+++ b/cmd/commands_test.go
@@ -439,6 +439,27 @@ b:
 	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
 }
 
+func TestReadPrettyPrintWithIndentCmd(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := getRootCommand()
+	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "read -P -I4 ../examples/sample.json")
+	if result.Error != nil {
+		t.Error(result.Error)
+	}
+	expectedOutput := `a: Easy! as one two three
+b:
+    c: 2
+    d:
+      - 3
+      - 4
+    e:
+      - name: fred
+        value: 3
+      - name: sam
+        value: 4
+`
+	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
+}
+
 func TestReadCmd_ArrayYaml_NoPath(t *testing.T) {
 	cmd := getRootCommand()
 	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "read ../examples/array.yaml")
@@ -645,22 +666,50 @@ func TestReadToJsonPrettyCmd(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error(result.Error)
 	}
 	expectedOutput := `{
- "c": 2,
- "d": [
-  3,
-  4,
-  5
- ],
- "e": [
-  {
-   "name": "fred",
-   "value": 3
-  },
-  {
-   "name": "sam",
-   "value": 4
-  }
- ]
+  "c": 2,
+  "d": [
+    3,
+    4,
+    5
+  ],
+  "e": [
+    {
+      "name": "fred",
+      "value": 3
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "sam",
+      "value": 4
+    }
+  ]
+}
+`
+	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
+}
+
+func TestReadToJsonPrettyIndentCmd(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := getRootCommand()
+	result := test.RunCmd(cmd, "read -j -I4 -P ../examples/sample.yaml b")
+	if result.Error != nil {
+		t.Error(result.Error)
+	}
+	expectedOutput := `{
+    "c": 2,
+    "d": [
+        3,
+        4,
+        5
+    ],
+    "e": [
+        {
+            "name": "fred",
+            "value": 3
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "sam",
+            "value": 4
+        }
+    ]
 }
 `
 	test.AssertResult(t, expectedOutput, result.Output)
diff --git a/cmd/constant.go b/cmd/constant.go
index 49043371..4c1c340e 100644
--- a/cmd/constant.go
+++ b/cmd/constant.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ var writeScript = ""
 var outputToJSON = false
 var prettyPrint = false
 var defaultValue = ""
+var indent = 2
 var overwriteFlag = false
 var autoCreateFlag = true
 var allowEmptyFlag = false
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 6c8c91f7..844fde10 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -39,8 +39,9 @@ func New() *cobra.Command {
 	}
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&verbose, "verbose", "v", false, "verbose mode")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&outputToJSON, "tojson", "j", false, "output as json")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&outputToJSON, "tojson", "j", false, "output as json. By default it prints a json document in one line, use the prettyPrint flag to print a formatted doc.")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&prettyPrint, "prettyPrint", "P", false, "pretty print")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(&indent, "indent", "I", 2, "sets indent level for output")
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&version, "version", "V", false, "Print version information and quit")
 
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(
diff --git a/cmd/utils.go b/cmd/utils.go
index a9c5ddea..d4e473c4 100644
--- a/cmd/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/utils.go
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ func printValue(node *yaml.Node, writer io.Writer) error {
 func printNode(node *yaml.Node, writer io.Writer) error {
 	var encoder yqlib.Encoder
 	if outputToJSON {
-		encoder = yqlib.NewJsonEncoder(writer, prettyPrint)
+		encoder = yqlib.NewJsonEncoder(writer, prettyPrint, indent)
 	} else {
-		encoder = yqlib.NewYamlEncoder(writer)
+		encoder = yqlib.NewYamlEncoder(writer, indent)
 	}
 	return encoder.Encode(node)
 }
@@ -289,9 +289,9 @@ func readAndUpdate(stdOut io.Writer, inputFile string, updateData updateDataFn)
 
 	var encoder yqlib.Encoder
 	if outputToJSON {
-		encoder = yqlib.NewJsonEncoder(bufferedWriter, prettyPrint)
+		encoder = yqlib.NewJsonEncoder(bufferedWriter, prettyPrint, indent)
 	} else {
-		encoder = yqlib.NewYamlEncoder(bufferedWriter)
+		encoder = yqlib.NewYamlEncoder(bufferedWriter, indent)
 	}
 	return readStream(inputFile, mapYamlDecoder(updateData, encoder))
 }
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/encoder.go b/pkg/yqlib/encoder.go
index afdadb24..5a4be048 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder.go
@@ -15,9 +15,12 @@ type yamlEncoder struct {
 	encoder *yaml.Encoder
 }
 
-func NewYamlEncoder(destination io.Writer) Encoder {
+func NewYamlEncoder(destination io.Writer, indent int) Encoder {
 	var encoder = yaml.NewEncoder(destination)
-	encoder.SetIndent(2)
+	if indent < 0 {
+		indent = 0
+	}
+	encoder.SetIndent(indent)
 	return &yamlEncoder{encoder}
 }
 
@@ -29,10 +32,15 @@ type jsonEncoder struct {
 	encoder *json.Encoder
 }
 
-func NewJsonEncoder(destination io.Writer, prettyPrint bool) Encoder {
+func NewJsonEncoder(destination io.Writer, prettyPrint bool, indent int) Encoder {
 	var encoder = json.NewEncoder(destination)
+	var indentString = ""
+
+	for index := 0; index < indent; index++ {
+		indentString = indentString + " "
+	}
 	if prettyPrint {
-		encoder.SetIndent("", " ")
+		encoder.SetIndent("", indentString)
 	}
 	return &jsonEncoder{encoder}
 }