diff --git a/pixelocr/formatting.py b/pixelocr/formatting.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9a5d4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pixelocr/formatting.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2014  Andrey Golovizin
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+import itertools
+
+from .utils import pipe
+from .glyphdb import WhitespaceData
+
+
+class OutputFormat(object):
+    last_tag = None
+
+    def __call__(self, glyph_data_stream):
+        return self.format(glyph_data_stream)
+
+    def format(self, glyph_data_seq):
+        last_tag = None
+        return pipe(glyph_data_seq, self.group_by_tag, self.fix_spaces, self.format_tags)
+
+    def group_by_tag(self, styled_glyphs):
+        for tag, group in itertools.groupby(styled_glyphs, key=self.assign_tag):
+            text = ''.join(glyph_data.text for glyph_data in group)
+            yield tag, text
+
+    def fix_spaces(self, tagged_text):
+        for tag, text in tagged_text:
+            stripped_text = text.rstrip()
+            if len(stripped_text) < len(text):
+                traling_whitespace = text[len(stripped_text):]
+                yield tag, stripped_text
+                yield None, traling_whitespace
+            else:
+                yield tag, text
+
+    def format_tags(self, tagged_text):
+        for tag, text in tagged_text:
+            yield self.format_tag(tag, text)
+
+    def assign_tag(self, glyph_data):
+        if isinstance(glyph_data, WhitespaceData):
+            return self.last_tag
+        else:
+            tag = self.assign_glyph_tag(glyph_data)
+            self.last_tag = tag
+            return tag
+
+    def assign_glyph_tag(self, glyph_data):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def format_tag(self, tag, text):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+
+class TextFormat(OutputFormat):
+    def assign_tag(self, glyph_data):
+        return None
+
+    def format_tag(self, tag, text):
+        return text
diff --git a/pixelocr/glyphdb.py b/pixelocr/glyphdb.py
index bb4853c..d918173 100644
--- a/pixelocr/glyphdb.py
+++ b/pixelocr/glyphdb.py
@@ -66,6 +66,17 @@ class GlyphData(object):
         return cls(*args)
 
 
+class WhitespaceData(GlyphData):
+    color = (255, 255, 255)  # FIXME support non-white background
+
+    def __init__(self, text):
+        super().__init__(None, None, text, bold=False, italic=False)
+
+
+SPACE = WhitespaceData(' ')
+NEWLINE = WhitespaceData('\n')
+
+
 class GlyphDB(object):
     def __init__(self, filename):
         self.filename = filename
diff --git a/pixelocr/gui/ocrengine.py b/pixelocr/gui/ocrengine.py
index e4d8b89..e946ca9 100644
--- a/pixelocr/gui/ocrengine.py
+++ b/pixelocr/gui/ocrengine.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 
+import itertools
 from glob import glob
 from os import path
 from queue import Queue
@@ -27,9 +28,10 @@ from PyQt4.QtGui import (
     qApp
 )
 
+from .. import formatting
 from ..image import Image
 from ..page import Page, Glyph, Space
-from ..glyphdb import GlyphDB
+from ..glyphdb import GlyphDB, SPACE, NEWLINE
 
 
 class OCREngine(QThread):
@@ -53,7 +55,6 @@ class OCREngine(QThread):
 
     def run(self):
         for page_text in self.recognize():
-            print()
             print(page_text)
         if self.quit:
             qApp.quit()
@@ -62,27 +63,30 @@ class OCREngine(QThread):
         for filename in self.filenames:
             page = self.load_page(filename)
             self.pageChanged.emit(page)
-            yield '\n'.join(self.recognize_page(page))
+            yield self.recognize_page(page)
 
     def recognize_page(self, page):
-        for line in page.lines:
-            yield ''.join(self.recognize_line(line))
+        glyph_data_seq = itertools.chain(*(self.recognize_line(line) for line in page.lines))
+        output_format = formatting.TextFormat()
+        return ''.join(output_format.format(glyph_data_seq))
 
     def recognize_line(self, line):
-        yield from ' ' * int(line.indent / self.SPACE_WIDTH)
+        yield from [SPACE] * int(line.indent / self.SPACE_WIDTH)
         for glyph in line.glyphs:
             yield self.recognize_glyph(glyph)
+        yield NEWLINE
 
     def recognize_glyph(self, glyph):
         qApp.processEvents()
+
         if isinstance(glyph, Space):
-            return ' '
+            return SPACE
         try:
-            return self.glyphdb[glyph].text
+            glyph_data = self.glyphdb[glyph]
         except KeyError:
             text, bold, italic = self.ask_for_help(glyph)
-            self.glyphdb.add_glyph(glyph, text, bold, italic)
-            return text
+            glyph_data = self.glyphdb.add_glyph(glyph, text, bold, italic)
+        return glyph_data
 
     def ask_for_help(self, unknown_glyph):
         self.unknownGlyph.emit(unknown_glyph)