diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 894cd90..170cfb9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 	<groupId>ch.psi</groupId>
 	<artifactId>imagej.hdf5</artifactId>
-	<version>0.11.0</version>
+	<version>0.12.0</version>
 
 	<dependencies>
 		<dependency>
diff --git a/src/main/java/ch/psi/imagej/hdf5/HDF5Reader.java b/src/main/java/ch/psi/imagej/hdf5/HDF5Reader.java
index 85cefd2..0f90ae4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ch/psi/imagej/hdf5/HDF5Reader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ch/psi/imagej/hdf5/HDF5Reader.java
@@ -46,7 +46,12 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 	 * dataset=/your/path/to/dataset
 	 *
 	 */
+
 	public ImageStack open(String arg, boolean interactive, String filename, String nameOfDataset, boolean virtualstack) {
+		return open(arg, interactive, filename, nameOfDataset, virtualstack, true);
+	}
+
+	public ImageStack open(String arg, boolean interactive, String filename, String nameOfDataset, boolean virtualstack, boolean showImage) {
 
 //		Map arguments = HDF5Reader.parseArguments(arg);
 
@@ -118,7 +123,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 				
 				ImagePlus imp = new ImagePlus(filename, stack);
 				imp.resetDisplayRange();
-				imp.show();
+				if(showImage) {
+					imp.show();
+				}
 
 				stacks.add(stack);
 				return stack; // TODO should return stacks instead of stack
@@ -166,7 +173,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 					imp = new CompositeImage(imp, CompositeImage.COMPOSITE);
 					imp.setOpenAsHyperStack(true);
 					imp.resetDisplayRange();
-					imp.show();
+					if(showImage) {
+						imp.show();
+					}
 					
 				} else if (numberOfDimensions == 4 && dimensions[3] == 3) {
 					logger.info("3D RGB Image");
@@ -194,7 +203,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 					imp = new CompositeImage(imp, CompositeImage.COMPOSITE);
 					imp.setOpenAsHyperStack(true);
 					imp.resetDisplayRange();
-					imp.show();
+					if(showImage) {
+						imp.show();
+					}
 					
 				} else if (numberOfDimensions == 4) {
 					logger.info("4D Image (HyperVolume)");
@@ -224,7 +235,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 					imp.setDimensions(1, (int) dimensions[1], (int) dimensions[0]);
 					imp.setOpenAsHyperStack(true);
 					imp.resetDisplayRange();
-					imp.show();
+					if(showImage) {
+						imp.show();
+					}
 					
 				} else if (numberOfDimensions == 3 && dimensions[2] == 3) {
 					logger.info("2D RGB Image");
@@ -247,7 +260,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 					imp = new CompositeImage(imp, CompositeImage.COMPOSITE);
 					imp.setOpenAsHyperStack(true);
 					imp.resetDisplayRange();
-					imp.show();
+					if(showImage) {
+						imp.show();
+					}
 					
 				} else if (numberOfDimensions == 3) {
 					logger.info("3D Image");
@@ -322,7 +337,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 					stacks.add(stack);
 					ImagePlus imp = new ImagePlusHDF5(filename + " " + datasetName, stack);
 					imp.resetDisplayRange();
-					imp.show();
+					if(showImage) {
+						imp.show();
+					}
 					
 				} else if (numberOfDimensions == 2) {
 					logger.info("2D Image");
@@ -335,7 +352,9 @@ public class HDF5Reader implements PlugIn {
 					
 					ImagePlus imp = new ImagePlus(filename + " " + datasetName, stack);
 					imp.resetDisplayRange();
-					imp.show();
+					if(showImage) {
+						imp.show();
+					}
 					
 				} else {
 					IJ.showStatus("Variable Dimension " + numberOfDimensions + " not supported");