diff --git a/backend/library.c b/backend/library.c
index 078faeb4..9eafc50e 100644
--- a/backend/library.c
+++ b/backend/library.c
@@ -714,3 +714,89 @@ int ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print_Rotated(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char
 	error_number = ZBarcode_Print_Rotated(symbol, rotate_angle);
 	return error_number;
 }
+
+int ZBarcode_Encode_from_File(struct zint_symbol *symbol, char *filename)
+{
+	int i;
+	FILE *file;
+	unsigned char *buffer;
+	unsigned long fileLen;
+	unsigned char used_characters[255];
+
+	file = fopen(filename, "rb");
+	if (!file) {
+		strcpy(symbol->errtxt, "Unable to read input file");
+		return ERROR_INVALID_DATA;
+	}
+	
+	/* Get file length */
+	fseek(file, 0, SEEK_END);
+	fileLen = ftell(file);
+	fseek(file, 0, SEEK_SET);
+	
+	if(fileLen > 7100) {
+		/* The largest amount of data that can be encoded is 7089 numeric digits in QR Code */
+		strcpy(symbol->errtxt, "Input file too long");
+		fclose(file);
+		return ERROR_INVALID_DATA;
+	}
+	
+	/* Allocate memory */
+	buffer = (unsigned char *)malloc((fileLen + 1)*sizeof(unsigned char));
+	if(!buffer) {
+		strcpy(symbol->errtxt, "Internal memory error");
+		fclose(file);
+		return ERROR_MEMORY;
+	}
+	
+	/* Read file contents into buffer */
+	fread(buffer, fileLen, 1, file);
+	fclose(file);
+
+	if(symbol->input_mode == DATA_MODE) {
+		/* Look for and correctly handle NULL characters */
+		
+		for (i = 0; i <= 255; i++) { used_characters[i] = 0;} 
+		for (i = 0; i < (int)fileLen; i++) { used_characters[(int)buffer[i]] = 1;}
+	
+		if (used_characters[0] == 1) { /* only if data contains a NULL */
+			
+			/* determine first unused character > 0 */
+			i = 1;
+			while (i < 255) {
+				if (used_characters[i] == 0) {
+					symbol->nullchar = (char)i;
+					break;
+				}
+				i++;
+			}
+			if(symbol->nullchar == 0x00) {
+				/* No candidate character could be found. Quit */
+				strcpy(symbol->errtxt, "Could not encode NULL character");
+				return ERROR_INVALID_OPTION;
+			}
+	
+			for(i = 0; i < fileLen; i++) {
+				if(buffer[i] == 0x00) {
+					buffer[i] = symbol->nullchar;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ZBarcode_Encode(symbol, buffer);
+}
+
+int ZBarcode_Encode_from_File_and_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol, char *filename, int rotate_angle)
+{
+	int error_number;
+	
+	error_number = 0;
+	
+	error_number = ZBarcode_Encode_from_File(symbol, filename);
+	if(error_number != 0) {
+		return error_number;
+	}
+	
+	return ZBarcode_Print_Rotated(symbol, rotate_angle);
+}
diff --git a/backend/zint.h b/backend/zint.h
index a0b02c8d..89f76d00 100644
--- a/backend/zint.h
+++ b/backend/zint.h
@@ -177,9 +177,11 @@ struct zint_symbol {
 ZINT_EXTERN struct zint_symbol *ZBarcode_Create(void);
 ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Delete(struct zint_symbol *symbol);
 ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Encode(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char *input);
+ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Encode_from_File(struct zint_symbol *symbol, char *filename);
 ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol);
 ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char *input);
 ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print_Rotated(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char *input, int rotate_angle);
+ZINT_EXTERN int ZBarcode_Encode_from_File_and_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol, char *filename, int rotate_angle);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/frontend/main.c b/frontend/main.c
index 72316da4..c4de2782 100644
--- a/frontend/main.c
+++ b/frontend/main.c
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ void usage(void)
 		"Encode input data in a barcode and save as a PNG, EPS or SVG file.\n\n"
 		"  -h, --help            Display this message.\n"
 		"  -t, --types           Display table of barcode types\n"
+		"  -i, --input=FILE      Read data from FILE.\n"
 		"  -o, --output=FILE     Write image to FILE. (default is out.png)\n"
 		"  -d, --data=DATA       Barcode content.\n"
 		"  -b, --barcode=NUMBER  Number of barcode type (default is 20 (=Code128)).\n"
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ void usage(void)
 		"  --gs1                 Treat input as GS1 data\n"
 		"  --kanji               Treat input as Kanji characters in Unicode\n"
 		"  --sjis                Treat input as Shift-JIS\n"
+		"  --binary              Treat input as Binary data\n"
 	, ZINT_VERSION);
 }
 
@@ -148,6 +150,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			{"border", 1, 0, 0},
 			{"data", 1, 0, 'd'},
 			{"output", 1, 0, 'o'},
+			{"input", 1, 0, 'i'},
 			{"fg", 1, 0, 0},
 			{"bg", 1, 0, 0},
 			{"cols", 1, 0, 0},
@@ -162,6 +165,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			{"gs1", 0, 0, 0},
 			{"kanji", 0, 0, 0},
 			{"sjis", 0, 0, 0},
+			{"binary", 0, 0, 0},
 			{0, 0, 0, 0}
 		};
 		c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "htb:w:d:o:i:rcmp", long_options, &option_index);
@@ -196,6 +200,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 				if(!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "sjis")) {
 					my_symbol->input_mode = SJIS_MODE;
 				}
+				if(!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "binary")) {
+					my_symbol->input_mode = DATA_MODE;
+				}
 				if(!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "fg")) {
 					strncpy(my_symbol->fgcolour, optarg, 7);
 				}
@@ -344,6 +351,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 				}
 				break;
 				
+			case 'i': /* Take data from file */
+				error_number = ZBarcode_Encode_from_File_and_Print(my_symbol, optarg, rotate_angle);
+				generated = 1;
+				if(error_number != 0) {
+					fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", my_symbol->errtxt);
+					ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
+					return 1;
+				}
+				break;
+
 			case 'o':
 				strncpy(my_symbol->outfile, optarg, 250);
 				break;