diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index e681151..eea7135 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ GroupsCore = "d5909c97-4eac-4ecc-a3dc-fdd0858a4120"
 LinearAlgebra = "37e2e46d-f89d-539d-b4ee-838fcccc9c8e"
 PermutationGroups = "8bc5a954-2dfc-11e9-10e6-cd969bffa420"
 PrecompileTools = "aea7be01-6a6a-4083-8856-8a6e6704d82a"
+PrettyTables = "08abe8d2-0d0c-5749-adfa-8a2ac140af0d"
 Primes = "27ebfcd6-29c5-5fa9-bf4b-fb8fc14df3ae"
 SparseArrays = "2f01184e-e22b-5df5-ae63-d93ebab69eaf"
 StarAlgebras = "0c0c59c1-dc5f-42e9-9a8b-b5dc384a6cd1"
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ Cyclotomics = "0.3"
 GroupsCore = "0.4"
 PermutationGroups = "0.4.2"
 PrecompileTools = "1"
+PrettyTables = "2"
 Primes = "0.4, 0.5"
 StarAlgebras = "0.2"
 julia = "1.6"
diff --git a/src/Characters/Characters.jl b/src/Characters/Characters.jl
index 8caca5d..56f2137 100644
--- a/src/Characters/Characters.jl
+++ b/src/Characters/Characters.jl
@@ -26,5 +26,7 @@ include("cmmatrix.jl")
 include("powermap.jl")
 include("character_tables.jl")
 include("class_functions.jl")
+include("io.jl")
+
 include("dixon.jl")
 end
diff --git a/src/Characters/character_tables.jl b/src/Characters/character_tables.jl
index fb3a437..f84e894 100644
--- a/src/Characters/character_tables.jl
+++ b/src/Characters/character_tables.jl
@@ -162,86 +162,3 @@ function normalize!(chtbl::CharacterTable{<:Group,<:FiniteFields.GF})
     end
     return chtbl
 end
-
-## "fancy" io
-
-function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", chtbl::CharacterTable)
-    println(io, "Character table of ", parent(chtbl), " over $(eltype(chtbl))")
-
-    if !(get(io, :limit, false)::Bool)
-        screenheight = screenwidth = typemax(Int)
-    else
-        sz = displaysize(io)::Tuple{Int,Int}
-        screenheight, screenwidth = sz[1] - 4, sz[2]
-    end
-
-    nirr = nirreps(chtbl)
-    nccl = nconjugacy_classes(chtbl)
-    pre_width = 1 + length(string(nirr))
-    sep = " │ "
-
-    if nirr > screenheight - 1
-        rows_to_print = [1:screenheight-2; nirr]
-    else
-        rows_to_print = [1:nirr;]
-    end
-
-    maxpossiblecols = div(screenwidth - pre_width - 3, 3)
-    if nccl > maxpossiblecols
-        cols_to_print = [1:maxpossiblecols-1; nccl]
-    else
-        cols_to_print = [1:nccl;]
-    end
-
-    A = Base.alignment(
-        io,
-        chtbl.values,
-        rows_to_print,
-        cols_to_print,
-        screenwidth,
-        screenwidth,
-        2,
-    )
-
-    hellipsis = nccl > length(A) ? " …" : ""
-
-    print(io, " "^(pre_width), "   ")
-    Base.print_matrix_row(
-        io,
-        reshape(cols_to_print, (1, length(cols_to_print))),
-        A,
-        1,
-        cols_to_print,
-        " ",
-    )
-
-    println(io, hellipsis)
-    println(
-        io,
-        "─"^pre_width,
-        "─┬─",
-        "─"^(sum(sum, A) + length(A) - 1),
-        hellipsis,
-    )
-
-    if nirr > screenheight - 1
-        for i in 1:screenheight-2
-            print(io, rpad("χ$(FiniteFields.subscriptify(i))", pre_width), sep)
-            Base.print_matrix_row(io, chtbl.values, A, i, cols_to_print, " ")
-            println(io, hellipsis)
-        end
-        print(io, " ⋮", " "^(pre_width - 2), sep)
-        Base.print_matrix_vdots(io, "⋮", A, "  ", 2, 1, false)
-        println(io)
-
-        print(io, rpad("χ$(FiniteFields.subscriptify(nirr))", pre_width), sep)
-        Base.print_matrix_row(io, chtbl.values, A, nirr, cols_to_print, " ")
-        print(io, hellipsis)
-    else
-        for i in 1:nirr
-            print(io, rpad("χ$(FiniteFields.subscriptify(i))", pre_width), sep)
-            Base.print_matrix_row(io, chtbl.values, A, i, cols_to_print, " ")
-            i != nirr && println(io, hellipsis)
-        end
-    end
-end
diff --git a/src/Characters/class_functions.jl b/src/Characters/class_functions.jl
index 307d8db..14d7b24 100644
--- a/src/Characters/class_functions.jl
+++ b/src/Characters/class_functions.jl
@@ -272,21 +272,3 @@ end
 
 Base.isreal(χ::Character) = frobenius_schur(χ) > 0
 
-function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", χ::Character)
-    println(io, "Character over ", eltype(χ))
-    return _print_char(io, χ)
-end
-
-Base.show(io::IO, χ::Character) = _print_char(io, χ)
-
-function _print_char(io::IO, χ::Character)
-    first = true
-    for (i, c) in enumerate(multiplicities(χ))
-        iszero(c) && continue
-        first || print(io, " ")
-        print(io, ((c < 0 || first) ? "" : '+'))
-        !isone(c) && print(io, c, '·')
-        print(io, 'χ', FiniteFields.subscriptify(i))
-        first = false
-    end
-end
diff --git a/src/Characters/io.jl b/src/Characters/io.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29f9abe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Characters/io.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import PrettyTables
+import PrettyTables.Tables
+
+Tables.istable(::Type{<:CharacterTable}) = true
+Tables.rowaccess(::Type{<:CharacterTable}) = true
+Tables.rows(chtbl::CharacterTable) = irreducible_characters(chtbl)
+Tables.getcolumn(row::Character, i::Int) = row[i]
+
+# ugly hack to get this going
+function Tables.columnnames(char::Character)
+    return [Symbol(i) for i in axes(conjugacy_classes(char), 1)]
+end
+function Tables.getcolumn(row::Character, nm::Symbol)
+    i = parse(Int, string(nm))
+    return Tables.getcolumn(row, i)
+end
+
+__coefs_desc(T::Type) = T
+__coefs_desc(::Type{<:Rational{T}}) where {T} = "rationals ($T)"
+__coefs_desc(::Type{<:Cyclotomics.Cyclotomic{T}}) where {T} = "cyclotomics ($T)"
+
+function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", chtbl::CharacterTable)
+    hl_odd = PrettyTables.Highlighter(;
+        f = (rule, i, j) -> i % 2 == 0,
+        crayon = PrettyTables.Crayon(;
+            foreground = :dark_gray,
+            negative = true,
+        ),
+    )
+
+    fmt = (v, args...) -> sprint(show, MIME"text/plain"(), v)
+
+    return PrettyTables.pretty_table(
+        io,
+        chtbl;
+        title = "Character table of $(parent(chtbl)) over $(__coefs_desc(eltype(chtbl)))",
+        header = ["$(first(cc))^G" for cc in conjugacy_classes(chtbl)],
+        row_labels = [
+            Symbol('χ', FiniteFields.subscriptify(i)) for i in axes(chtbl, 1)
+        ],
+        row_label_column_title = "",
+        # hlines = [:header, :end],
+        # vlines = [1],
+        formatters = fmt,
+        autowrap = true,
+        linebreaks = true,
+        columns_width = displaysize(io)[2] ÷ size(chtbl, 2) - 8,
+        reserved_display_lines = 3[],
+        # vcrop_mode = :middle,
+        # equal_columns_width = true,
+        # crop = :vertical,
+        ellipsis_line_skip = 1,
+        # alignment = [:r, :l],
+        highlighters = hl_odd,
+    )
+end
+
+function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", χ::Character)
+    println(io, "Character over ", __coefs_desc(eltype(χ)))
+    return _print_char(io, χ)
+end
+
+Base.show(io::IO, χ::Character) = _print_char(io, χ)
+
+function _print_char(io::IO, χ::Character)
+    first = true
+    for (i, c) in enumerate(multiplicities(χ))
+        iszero(c) && continue
+        first || print(io, " ")
+        print(io, ((c < 0 || first) ? "" : '+'))
+        !isone(c) && print(io, c, '·')
+        print(io, 'χ', FiniteFields.subscriptify(i))
+        first = false
+    end
+end