diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 07f6ccfc5..acb426635 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -165,6 +165,8 @@ src/gen/db/Makefile
 src/gen/lib/Makefile
 src/gen/utils/Makefile
 src/gen/plug/Makefile
+src/gen/plug/docbackend/Makefile
+src/gen/plug/docgen/Makefile
 src/gen/plug/menu/Makefile
 src/data/Makefile
 src/data/templates/Makefile
diff --git a/po/POTFILES.in b/po/POTFILES.in
index 031bac253..7d7b5fa82 100644
--- a/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ src/ansel_utf8.py
 src/ArgHandler.py
 src/Assistant.py
 src/AutoComp.py
-src/BaseDoc.py
 src/Bookmarks.py
 src/ColumnOrder.py
 src/const.py
@@ -394,7 +393,7 @@ src/PluginUtils/_Tool.py
 src/gen/utils/dbutils.py
 src/gen/utils/progressmon.py
 src/gen/plug/__init__.py
-src/gen/plug/_docgen.py
+src/gen/plug/_docgenplugin.py
 src/gen/plug/_export.py
 src/gen/plug/_import.py
 src/gen/plug/_manager.py
@@ -418,6 +417,11 @@ src/gen/plug/menu/_string.py
 src/gen/plug/menu/_style.py
 src/gen/plug/menu/_surnamecolor.py
 src/gen/plug/menu/_text.py
+src/gen/plug/docgen/basedoc.py
+src/gen/plug/docbackend/__init__.py
+src/gen/plug/docbackend/cairobackend.py
+src/gen/plug/docbackend/docbackend.py
+src/gen/plug/docbackend/latexbackend.py
 
 
 # ReportBase package
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 0a5e8da3d..acaa50dd9 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ gdir_PYTHON = \
 	ArgHandler.py\
 	Assistant.py\
 	AutoComp.py\
-	BaseDoc.py\
 	Bookmarks.py\
 	ColumnOrder.py\
 	const.py\
diff --git a/src/gen/plug/Makefile.am b/src/gen/plug/Makefile.am
index 3f9f29fd1..d512a0f09 100644
--- a/src/gen/plug/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/gen/plug/Makefile.am
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@
 # If not using GNU make, then list all .py files individually
 
 SUBDIRS = \
+	docbackend\
+	docgen\
 	menu
 
 pkgdatadir = $(datadir)/@PACKAGE@/gen/plug
 
 pkgdata_PYTHON = \
 	__init__.py \
-	_docgen.py \
+	_docgenplugin.py \
 	_export.py \
 	_import.py \
 	_manager.py \
diff --git a/src/gen/plug/docbackend/Makefile.am b/src/gen/plug/docbackend/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c972a622a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gen/plug/docbackend/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# This is the src/gen/plug/menu level Makefile for Gramps
+# We could use GNU make's ':=' syntax for nice wildcard use,
+# but that is not necessarily portable.
+# If not using GNU make, then list all .py files individually
+
+pkgdatadir = $(datadir)/@PACKAGE@/gen/plug/docbackend
+
+pkgdata_PYTHON = \
+	__init__.py \
+	cairobackend.py \
+	docbackend.py \
+	latexbackend.py 
+
+pkgpyexecdir = @pkgpyexecdir@/gen/plug/docbackend
+pkgpythondir = @pkgpythondir@/gen/plug/docbackend
+
+
+# Clean up all the byte-compiled files
+MOSTLYCLEANFILES = *pyc *pyo
+
+GRAMPS_PY_MODPATH = "../../../"
+
+pycheck: 
+	(export PYTHONPATH=$(GRAMPS_PY_MODPATH); \
+	pychecker $(pkgdata_PYTHON));
diff --git a/src/gen/plug/docgen/Makefile.am b/src/gen/plug/docgen/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2c5898f47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gen/plug/docgen/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# This is the src/gen/plug/menu level Makefile for Gramps
+# We could use GNU make's ':=' syntax for nice wildcard use,
+# but that is not necessarily portable.
+# If not using GNU make, then list all .py files individually
+
+pkgdatadir = $(datadir)/@PACKAGE@/gen/plug/docgen
+
+pkgdata_PYTHON = \
+	__init__.py \
+	basedoc.py  
+
+pkgpyexecdir = @pkgpyexecdir@/gen/plug/docgen
+pkgpythondir = @pkgpythondir@/gen/plug/docgen
+
+
+# Clean up all the byte-compiled files
+MOSTLYCLEANFILES = *pyc *pyo
+
+GRAMPS_PY_MODPATH = "../../../"
+
+pycheck: 
+	(export PYTHONPATH=$(GRAMPS_PY_MODPATH); \
+	pychecker $(pkgdata_PYTHON));
diff --git a/src/gen/plug/docgen/__init__.py b/src/gen/plug/docgen/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f665376a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gen/plug/docgen/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#
+# Gramps - a GTK+/GNOME based genealogy program
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2009 B. Malengier
+#
+# 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 2 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, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+#
+
+# $Id: __init__.py 10055 2008-02-18 20:07:09Z acraphae $
+
+"""
+The docgen package providing the API the document generating plugins can use.
+A docgen plugin should fully implement this api for TextDoc or DrawDoc
+"""
+
+from basedoc import BaseDoc, PaperSize, PaperStyle, FontStyle, ParagraphStyle,\
+                TableStyle, TableCellStyle, StyleSheetList, StyleSheet,\
+                SheetParser, GraphicsStyle, TextDoc, IndexMark, DrawDoc, GVDoc