diff --git a/include/jsoncons/json_encoder.hpp b/include/jsoncons/json_encoder.hpp
index 6a1daba63..d20673171 100644
--- a/include/jsoncons/json_encoder.hpp
+++ b/include/jsoncons/json_encoder.hpp
@@ -355,6 +355,7 @@ namespace detail {
                     colon_str_.push_back(':');
                     break;
             }
+            colon_str_.append(options.after_key_chars());
             switch (options.spaces_around_comma())
             {
                 case spaces_option::space_after:
@@ -1021,9 +1022,9 @@ namespace detail {
             sink_.append(options_.new_line_chars().data(),options_.new_line_chars().length());
             for (int i = 0; i < indent_amount_; ++i)
             {
-                sink_.push_back(' ');
+                sink_.append(options_.indent_chars().data(), options_.indent_chars().length());
             }
-            column_ = indent_amount_;
+            column_ = indent_amount_ * options_.new_line_chars().length();
         }
 
         void new_line(std::size_t len)
@@ -1031,7 +1032,7 @@ namespace detail {
             sink_.append(options_.new_line_chars().data(),options_.new_line_chars().length());
             for (std::size_t i = 0; i < len; ++i)
             {
-                sink_.push_back(' ');
+                sink_.append(options_.indent_chars().data(), options_.indent_chars().length());
             }
             column_ = len;
         }
diff --git a/include/jsoncons/json_options.hpp b/include/jsoncons/json_options.hpp
index 58dcf3ba3..74d5ab217 100644
--- a/include/jsoncons/json_options.hpp
+++ b/include/jsoncons/json_options.hpp
@@ -425,6 +425,8 @@ private:
     uint8_t indent_size_;
     std::size_t line_length_limit_;
     string_type new_line_chars_;
+    string_type after_key_chars_;
+    string_type indent_chars_;
 public:
     basic_json_encode_options()
         : escape_all_non_ascii_(false),
@@ -445,6 +447,7 @@ public:
           line_length_limit_(line_length_limit_default)
     {
         new_line_chars_.push_back('\n');
+        indent_chars_.push_back('\t');
     }
 
     basic_json_encode_options(const basic_json_encode_options&) = default;
@@ -467,7 +470,9 @@ public:
           precision_(other.precision_),
           indent_size_(other.indent_size_),
           line_length_limit_(other.line_length_limit_),
-          new_line_chars_(std::move(other.new_line_chars_))
+          new_line_chars_(std::move(other.new_line_chars_)),
+          after_key_chars_(std::move(other.after_key_chars_)),
+          indent_chars_(std::move(other.indent_chars))
     {
     }
 
@@ -515,6 +520,16 @@ public:
         return new_line_chars_;
     }
 
+    string_type after_key_chars() const
+    {
+        return after_key_chars_;
+    }
+
+    string_type indent_chars() const
+    {
+        return indent_chars_;
+    }
+
     std::size_t line_length_limit() const 
     {
         return line_length_limit_;
@@ -599,6 +614,8 @@ public:
     using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::pad_inside_object_braces;
     using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::pad_inside_array_brackets;
     using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::new_line_chars;
+    using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::after_key_chars;
+    using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::indent_chars;
     using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::line_length_limit;
     using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::float_format;
     using basic_json_encode_options<CharT>::precision;
@@ -761,6 +778,18 @@ public:
         return *this;
     }
 
+    basic_json_options& after_key_chars(const string_type& value)
+    {
+        this->after_key_chars_ = value;
+        return *this;
+    }
+
+    basic_json_options& indent_chars(const string_type& value)
+    {
+        this->indent_chars_ = value;
+        return *this;
+    }
+
     basic_json_options& lossless_number(bool value) 
     {
         this->lossless_number_ = value;