diff --git a/sch2fig/file.c b/sch2fig/file.c
index c94536c..e322d91 100644
--- a/sch2fig/file.c
+++ b/sch2fig/file.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include "main.h"
 #include "file.h"
 
 
@@ -30,6 +31,8 @@ void file_read(const char *name, bool (*parse)(void *user, const char *line),
 		perror(name);
 		exit(1);
 	}
+	if (verbose)
+		fprintf(stderr, "reading %s\n", name);
 	while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), file)) {
 		nl = strchr(buf, '\n');
 		if (nl)
diff --git a/sch2fig/main.c b/sch2fig/main.c
index 42f6809..db59f96 100644
--- a/sch2fig/main.c
+++ b/sch2fig/main.c
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@
 #include "main.h"
 
 
+int verbose = 0;
+
+
 static struct gfx_ops const *ops_list[] = {
 	&fig_ops,
 	&cro_png_ops,
@@ -38,7 +41,7 @@ static struct gfx_ops const *ops_list[] = {
 void usage(const char *name)
 {
 	fprintf(stderr,
-"usage: %s [-r] [file.lib ...] file.sch -- driver_spec\n\n"
+"usage: %s [-r] [-v ...] [file.lib ...] file.sch -- driver_spec\n\n"
 "  FIG driver spec:\n"
 "    fig [-t template.fig] [var=value ...]\n"
 "  Cairo PNG driver spec:\n"
@@ -67,11 +70,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *const *argv)
 		if (!strcmp(argv[dashdash], "--"))
 			break;
 
-	while ((c = getopt(dashdash, argv, "r")) != EOF)
+	while ((c = getopt(dashdash, argv, "rv")) != EOF)
 		switch (c) {
 		case 'r':
 			recurse = 1;
 			break;
+		case 'v':
+			verbose++;
+			break;
 		default:
 			usage(*argv);
 		}
diff --git a/sch2fig/main.h b/sch2fig/main.h
index eb3587c..4a3bdc1 100644
--- a/sch2fig/main.h
+++ b/sch2fig/main.h
@@ -13,6 +13,19 @@
 #ifndef MAIN_H
 #define	MAIN_H
 
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
+
+/*
+ * 0: no progress indications
+ * 1: reasonable progress indications
+ * 2: verbose output
+ * > 2: go wild !
+ */
+
+extern int verbose;
+
+
 void usage(const char *name);
 
 #endif /* !MAIN_H */