diff --git a/collects/scribble/doc.txt b/collects/scribble/doc.txt
index f35ed7c470..37d0eadd65 100644
--- a/collects/scribble/doc.txt
+++ b/collects/scribble/doc.txt
@@ -7,14 +7,35 @@ example, the reader can be used in any situation that requires lots of
 free-form text, or you can use the rendering portion directly to
 generate documents.
 
+
+Running Scribble
+----------------
+
+To process a Scribble document, use the `scribble' command-line utility
+(use `scribble -h' to see usage information).  This is implemented by
+the "run-scribble.ss" module, which can be used directly:
+
+> (render-file input output format)
+
+Renders the given `input' file to the `output' file using the given
+format specification.  The input and output files are used as is (no
+suffixes are added).  The `output' argument can be #f, which will render
+the input to the current output port.  `format' is a symbol that
+specifies the kind of output rendering (use the `scribble' commad to
+find the list of available formatters).
+
+A Scribble document is a MzScheme module file, which provides a `content'
+binding.
+
+
 The Scribble Reader
-------------------
+-------------------
 
 *** Introduction
 
 The @-reader is designed to be a convenient facility for using free-form
 text in Scheme code.  "@" is chosen as one of the least-used characters
-in Scheme code (the options are: "&" (969 uses in the collects
+in Scheme code (reasonable options are: "&" (969 uses in the collects
 hierarchy), "|" (1676), "@" (2105) "^" (2257) "$" (2259)).
 
 To use this file, you can use MzScheme's #reader form:
diff --git a/collects/scribble/run-scribble.ss b/collects/scribble/run-scribble.ss
index 5ad7ae98cd..4f107e81a2 100644
--- a/collects/scribble/run-scribble.ss
+++ b/collects/scribble/run-scribble.ss
@@ -22,15 +22,14 @@
           [else (error* "unknown format ~e (use -L for a list of formats)"
                         format)]))
 
+  (provide render-file)
   (define (render-file input output format)
     (unless (file-exists? input)
       (error* "cannot find input file: ~e" input))
     (let* ([contents (dynamic-require `(file ,input) 'contents)]
            [renderer (format->renderer format)]
            [render   (lambda () (renderer contents))])
-      (if (equal? output "-")
-        (render)
-        (with-output-to-file output render 'truncate))))
+      (if output (with-output-to-file output render 'truncate) (render))))
 
   (provide main)
   (define (main args)
@@ -55,7 +54,8 @@
                            => (lambda (m) (string->symbol (cadr m)))]
                           [else default-format])]
                [output (or *output-name (path-replace-suffix
-                                         input-file (symbol->string fmt)))])
+                                         input-file (symbol->string fmt)))]
+               [output (and (not (equal? "-" output)) output)])
           (render-file input-file output fmt))]))
 
   (main (cons (symbol->string exe-name)