diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 441287b..32ce390 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ func Execute() {
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.Debug, "debug", "d", false, "Enable debugging")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.NoNumbering, "no-numbering", "n", false, "Disable header numbering")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.NoColor, "no-color", "N", false, "Disable pattern highlighting")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.ShowVersion, "version", "V", false, "Print program version")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.InvertMatch, "invert-match", "v", false, "select non-matching rows")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&ShowManual, "man", "m", false, "Display manual page")
diff --git a/cmd/tablizer.go b/cmd/tablizer.go
index 3e79bde..69c11d8 100644
--- a/cmd/tablizer.go
+++ b/cmd/tablizer.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
           -v, --invert-match       select non-matching rows
           -m, --man                Display manual page
           -n, --no-numbering       Disable header numbering
+          -N, --no-color           Disable pattern highlighting
           -o, --output string      Output mode - one of: orgtbl, markdown, extended, ascii(default)
           -X, --extended           Enable extended output
           -M, --markdown           Enable markdown table output
@@ -70,6 +71,9 @@ DESCRIPTION
 
     The numbering can be suppressed by using the -n option.
 
+    By default, if a pattern has been speficied, matches will be
+    highlighted. You can disable this behavior with the -N option.
+
     Finally the -d option enables debugging output which is mostly usefull
     for the developer.
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8b1c9ac..5568c4a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@ go 1.18
 
 require (
 	github.com/alecthomas/repr v0.0.0-20180818092828-117648cd9897
+	github.com/gookit/color v1.5.2
 	github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter v0.0.5
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.5.0
+	github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778
 )
 
 require (
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
-	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210330210617-4fbd30eecc44 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 6ec3e3c..58b6e4e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46t
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/gookit/color v1.5.2 h1:uLnfXcaFjlrDnQDT+NCBcfhrXqYTx/rcCa6xn01Y8yI=
+github.com/gookit/color v1.5.2/go.mod h1:w8h4bGiHeeBpvQVePTutdbERIUf3oJE5lZ8HM0UgXyg=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0 h1:Z8tu5sraLXCXIcARxBp/8cbvlwVa7Z1NHg9XEKhtSvM=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0/go.mod h1:PxqpIevigyE2G7u3NXJIT2ANytuPF1OarO4DADm73n8=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 h1:Lm995f3rfxdpd6TSmuVCHVb/QhupuXlYr8sCI/QdE+0=
@@ -22,6 +24,10 @@ github.com/stretchr/objx v0.4.0/go.mod h1:YvHI0jy2hoMjB+UWwv71VJQ9isScKT/TqJzVSS
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0 h1:pSgiaMZlXftHpm5L7V1+rVB+AZJydKsMxsQBIJw4PKk=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0/go.mod h1:yNjHg4UonilssWZ8iaSj1OCr/vHnekPRkoO+kdMU+MU=
+github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778 h1:QldyIu/L63oPpyvQmHgvgickp1Yw510KJOqX7H24mg8=
+github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778/go.mod h1:2MuV+tbUrU1zIOPMxZ5EncGwgmMJsa+9ucAQZXxsObs=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210330210617-4fbd30eecc44 h1:Bli41pIlzTzf3KEY06n+xnzK/BESIg2ze4Pgfh/aI8c=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210330210617-4fbd30eecc44/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0/go.mod h1:RDklbk79AGWmwhnvt/jBztapEOGDOx6ZbXqjP6csGnQ=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/lib/common.go b/lib/common.go
index 8ea392f..e7fcdec 100644
--- a/lib/common.go
+++ b/lib/common.go
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 package lib
 
+import (
+	"github.com/gookit/color"
+	//"github.com/xo/terminfo"
+)
+
 var (
 	// command line flags
 	Debug            bool
@@ -33,12 +38,37 @@ var (
 	OutflagShell     bool
 	OutputMode       string
 	InvertMatch      bool
+	Pattern          string
+
+	/*
+	 FIXME: make configurable somehow, config file or ENV
+	 see https://github.com/gookit/color will be set by
+	 io.ProcessFiles() according to currently supported
+	 color mode.
+	*/
+	MatchFG string
+	MatchBG string
+	NoColor bool
+
+	// colors to be used per supported color mode
+	Colors = map[color.Level]map[string]string{
+		color.Level16: map[string]string{
+			"bg": "green", "fg": "black",
+		},
+		color.Level256: map[string]string{
+			"bg": "lightGreen", "fg": "black",
+		},
+		color.LevelRgb: map[string]string{
+			// FIXME: maybe use something nicer
+			"bg": "lightGreen", "fg": "black",
+		},
+	}
 
 	// used for validation
 	validOutputmodes = "(orgtbl|markdown|extended|ascii)"
 
 	// main program version
-	Version = "v1.0.6"
+	Version = "v1.0.7"
 
 	// generated  version string, used  by -v contains  lib.Version on
 	//  main  branch,   and  lib.Version-$branch-$lastcommit-$date  on
diff --git a/lib/helpers.go b/lib/helpers.go
index f644da2..3c4c492 100644
--- a/lib/helpers.go
+++ b/lib/helpers.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ package lib
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/gookit/color"
+	"os"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -51,7 +53,10 @@ func PrepareColumns() error {
 func numberizeHeaders(data *Tabdata) {
 	// prepare headers: add numbers to headers
 	numberedHeaders := []string{}
+	maxwidth := 0 // start from scratch, so we only look at displayed column widths
+
 	for i, head := range data.headers {
+		headlen := 0
 		if len(Columns) > 0 {
 			// -c specified
 			if !contains(UseColumns, i+1) {
@@ -61,11 +66,21 @@ func numberizeHeaders(data *Tabdata) {
 		}
 		if NoNumbering {
 			numberedHeaders = append(numberedHeaders, head)
+			headlen = len(head)
 		} else {
-			numberedHeaders = append(numberedHeaders, fmt.Sprintf("%s(%d)", head, i+1))
+			numhead := fmt.Sprintf("%s(%d)", head, i+1)
+			headlen = len(numhead)
+			numberedHeaders = append(numberedHeaders, numhead)
+		}
+
+		if headlen > maxwidth {
+			maxwidth = headlen
 		}
 	}
 	data.headers = numberedHeaders
+	if data.maxwidthHeader != maxwidth && maxwidth > 0 {
+		data.maxwidthHeader = maxwidth
+	}
 }
 
 func reduceColumns(data *Tabdata) {
@@ -130,3 +145,21 @@ func trimRow(row []string) []string {
 
 	return fixedrow
 }
+
+func colorizeData(output string) string {
+	if len(Pattern) > 0 && !NoColor && color.IsConsole(os.Stdout) {
+		r := regexp.MustCompile("(" + Pattern + ")")
+		return r.ReplaceAllString(output, "<bg="+MatchBG+";fg="+MatchFG+">$1</>")
+	} else {
+		return output
+	}
+}
+
+func isTerminal(f *os.File) bool {
+	o, _ := f.Stat()
+	if (o.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) == os.ModeCharDevice {
+		return true
+	} else {
+		return false
+	}
+}
diff --git a/lib/io.go b/lib/io.go
index adab95b..913c9b2 100644
--- a/lib/io.go
+++ b/lib/io.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package lib
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"github.com/gookit/color"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 )
@@ -26,6 +27,14 @@ import (
 func ProcessFiles(args []string) error {
 	fds, pattern, err := determineIO(args)
 
+	if !isTerminal(os.Stdout) {
+		color.Disable()
+	} else {
+		level := color.TermColorLevel()
+		MatchFG = Colors[level]["fg"]
+		MatchBG = Colors[level]["bg"]
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -52,6 +61,7 @@ func determineIO(args []string) ([]io.Reader, string, error) {
 			// first  one is  not a  file, consider  it as  regexp and
 			// shift arg list
 			pattern = args[0]
+			Pattern = args[0] // FIXME
 			args = args[1:]
 		}
 
diff --git a/lib/printer.go b/lib/printer.go
index db0844d..6f3f76e 100644
--- a/lib/printer.go
+++ b/lib/printer.go
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ package lib
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/gookit/color"
 	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
-	"os"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -76,14 +76,18 @@ func printOrgmodeData(data *Tabdata) {
 	leftR := regexp.MustCompile("(?m)^\\+")
 	rightR := regexp.MustCompile("\\+(?m)$")
 
-	fmt.Print(rightR.ReplaceAllString(leftR.ReplaceAllString(tableString.String(), "|"), "|"))
+	color.Print(
+		colorizeData(
+			rightR.ReplaceAllString(
+				leftR.ReplaceAllString(tableString.String(), "|"), "|")))
 }
 
 /*
    Markdown table
 */
 func printMarkdownData(data *Tabdata) {
-	table := tablewriter.NewWriter(os.Stdout)
+	tableString := &strings.Builder{}
+	table := tablewriter.NewWriter(tableString)
 
 	table.SetHeader(data.headers)
 
@@ -95,13 +99,15 @@ func printMarkdownData(data *Tabdata) {
 	table.SetCenterSeparator("|")
 
 	table.Render()
+	color.Print(colorizeData(tableString.String()))
 }
 
 /*
    Simple ASCII table without any borders etc, just like the input we expect
 */
 func printAsciiData(data *Tabdata) {
-	table := tablewriter.NewWriter(os.Stdout)
+	tableString := &strings.Builder{}
+	table := tablewriter.NewWriter(tableString)
 
 	table.SetHeader(data.headers)
 	table.AppendBulk(data.entries)
@@ -123,6 +129,7 @@ func printAsciiData(data *Tabdata) {
 	table.SetNoWhiteSpace(true)
 
 	table.Render()
+	color.Print(colorizeData(tableString.String()))
 }
 
 /*
@@ -130,22 +137,14 @@ func printAsciiData(data *Tabdata) {
 */
 func printExtendedData(data *Tabdata) {
 	// needed for data output
-	format := fmt.Sprintf("%%%ds: %%s\n", data.maxwidthHeader) // FIXME: re-calculate if -c has been set
+	format := fmt.Sprintf("%%%ds: %%s\n", data.maxwidthHeader)
 
 	if len(data.entries) > 0 {
-		var idx int
 		for _, entry := range data.entries {
-			idx = 0
 			for i, value := range entry {
-				if len(Columns) > 0 {
-					if !contains(UseColumns, i+1) {
-						continue
-					}
-				}
-
-				fmt.Printf(format, data.headers[idx], value)
-				idx++
+				color.Printf(format, data.headers[i], value)
 			}
+
 			fmt.Println()
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/lib/printer_test.go b/lib/printer_test.go
index 5ced090..a0b132f 100644
--- a/lib/printer_test.go
+++ b/lib/printer_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package lib
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/gookit/color"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -62,8 +63,17 @@ asd   	igig  	cxxxncnc
 |  19191 | EDD 1  | X        |`,
 		"shell": `ONE="asd" TWO="igig" THREE="cxxxncnc"
 ONE="19191" TWO="EDD 1" THREE="X"`,
+		"extended": `ONE(1): asd
+  TWO(2): igig
+THREE(3): cxxxncnc
+
+  ONE(1): 19191
+  TWO(2): EDD 1
+THREE(3): X`,
 	}
 
+	NoColor = true
+
 	r, w, err := os.Pipe()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -71,6 +81,9 @@ ONE="19191" TWO="EDD 1" THREE="X"`,
 	origStdout := os.Stdout
 	os.Stdout = w
 
+	// we need to tell the color mode the io.Writer, even if we don't usw colorization
+	color.SetOutput(w)
+
 	for mode, expect := range expects {
 		testname := fmt.Sprintf("print-%s", mode)
 		t.Run(testname, func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/tablizer.1 b/tablizer.1
index c028cd4..05bf4d6 100644
--- a/tablizer.1
+++ b/tablizer.1
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
 .\" ========================================================================
 .\"
 .IX Title "TABLIZER 1"
-.TH TABLIZER 1 "2022-10-05" "1" "User Commands"
+.TH TABLIZER 1 "2022-10-10" "1" "User Commands"
 .\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
 .\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
 .if n .ad l
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ tablizer \- Manipulate tabular output of other programs
 \&      \-v, \-\-invert\-match       select non\-matching rows
 \&      \-m, \-\-man                Display manual page
 \&      \-n, \-\-no\-numbering       Disable header numbering
+\&      \-N, \-\-no\-color           Disable pattern highlighting
 \&      \-o, \-\-output string      Output mode \- one of: orgtbl, markdown, extended, ascii(default)
 \&      \-X, \-\-extended           Enable extended output
 \&      \-M, \-\-markdown           Enable markdown table output
@@ -218,6 +219,9 @@ the original order.
 .PP
 The numbering can be suppressed by using the \fB\-n\fR option.
 .PP
+By  default, if  a  \fBpattern\fR  has been  speficied,  matches will  be
+highlighted. You can disable this behavior with the \fB\-N\fR option.
+.PP
 Finally the  \fB\-d\fR option  enables debugging  output which  is mostly
 usefull for the developer.
 .SS "\s-1PATTERNS\s0"
diff --git a/tablizer.pod b/tablizer.pod
index 37c31ad..266b667 100644
--- a/tablizer.pod
+++ b/tablizer.pod
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ tablizer - Manipulate tabular output of other programs
       -v, --invert-match       select non-matching rows
       -m, --man                Display manual page
       -n, --no-numbering       Disable header numbering
+      -N, --no-color           Disable pattern highlighting
       -o, --output string      Output mode - one of: orgtbl, markdown, extended, ascii(default)
       -X, --extended           Enable extended output
       -M, --markdown           Enable markdown table output
@@ -74,6 +75,9 @@ the original order.
 
 The numbering can be suppressed by using the B<-n> option.
 
+By  default, if  a  B<pattern>  has been  speficied,  matches will  be
+highlighted. You can disable this behavior with the B<-N> option.
+
 Finally the  B<-d> option  enables debugging  output which  is mostly
 usefull for the developer.