diff --git a/tools/gen_mo.lua b/tools/gen_mo.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c69848a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/gen_mo.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+--[[
+    gen_mo.lua - generate .mo files from .po files and put them in the correct place
+
+    Copyright (C) 2016,2018 Bill Ferguson <wpferguson@gmail.com>
+
+    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/>.
+]]
+--[[
+    gen_mo - generate translation files from the source and place them in the appropriate locale directory
+    
+    gen_mo finds all the .po files scattered throughout the script tree, compiles them into
+    .mo files and places them in the correct locale directory for use by the gettext tools.
+
+]]
+
+local dt = require "darktable"
+local du = require "lib/dtutils"
+local df = require "lib/dtutils.file"
+local log = require "lib/dtutils.log"
+local dtsys = require "lib/dtutils.system"
+
+-- figure out the path separator
+
+local PS = dt.configuration.running_os == "windows" and "\\" or "/"
+
+local LUA_DIR = dt.configuration.config_dir .. PS .. "lua" .. PS
+local LOCALE_DIR = dt.configuration.config_dir .. PS .. "lua" .. PS .. "locale" .. PS
+
+-- check if we have msgfmt
+
+local msgfmt_executable = df.check_if_bin_exists("msgfmt")
+
+if msgfmt_executable then
+
+  -- find the .po files
+
+  local find_cmd = "find -L " .. LUA_DIR .. " -name \\*.po -print"
+  if dt.configuration.running_os == "windows" then
+    find_cmd = "dir /b/s " .. LUA_DIR .. "\\*.po"
+  end
+
+  -- local output = io.popen("cd "..LUA_DIR..";find . -name \\*.po -print")
+
+  local output = io.popen(find_cmd)
+
+  -- for each .po file....
+
+  for line in output:lines() do
+    local fname = df.get_filename(line)
+
+    -- get the language used...  this depends on the file being named using
+    -- the convention /..../lang/LC_MESSAGES/file.po where lang is de_DE, fr_FR, etc.
+
+    local path_parts = du.split(line, PS)
+    local lang  = path_parts[#path_parts - 2]
+
+    -- ensure there is a destination directory for them
+
+    local mkdir_cmd = "mkdir -p "
+    if dt.configuration.running_os == "windows" then
+      mkdir_cmd = "mkdir "
+    end
+
+    if not df.check_if_file_exists(LOCALE_DIR .. lang .. PS .. "LC_MESSAGES") then
+      log.msg(log.info, "Creating locale", lang)
+      os.execute(mkdir_cmd .. LOCALE_DIR .. lang .. PS .. "LC_MESSAGES")
+    end
+
+    -- generate the mo file
+
+    fname = string.gsub(fname, ".po$", ".mo")
+    log.msg(log.info, "Compiling translation to", fname)
+    local result = os.execute(msgfmt_executable .. " -o " .. LOCALE_DIR .. lang .. PS .. "LC_MESSAGES" .. PS .. fname .. " " .. line)
+  end
+else
+  log.msg(log.screen, "ERROR: msgfmt executable not found.  Please install or specifiy location in preferences.")
+end
+dt.preferences.register("executable_paths", "msgfmt",  -- name
+  "file", -- type
+  'gen_mo: msgfmt location', -- label
+  'Install location of msgfmt. Requires restart to take effect.',  -- tooltip
+  "msgfmt",  -- default
+  dt.new_widget("file_chooser_button"){
+    title = "Select msgfmt[.exe] file",
+    value = "",
+    is_directory = false,
+  }
+)