diff --git a/beetsplug/chroma.py b/beetsplug/chroma.py
index 2e2ce52b5..e8df67497 100644
--- a/beetsplug/chroma.py
+++ b/beetsplug/chroma.py
@@ -157,7 +157,14 @@ class AcoustidPlugin(plugins.BeetsPlugin):
                 raise ui.UserError('no Acoustid user API key provided')
             submit_items(apikey, lib.items(ui.decargs(args)))
         submit_cmd.func = submit_cmd_func
-        return [submit_cmd]
+
+        fingerprint_cmd = ui.Subcommand('fingerprint',
+            help='fingerprints files with no fingerprint stored')
+        def fingerprint_cmd_func(lib, opts, args):
+            for item in lib.items(ui.decargs(args)):
+                fingerprint_item(item, lib=lib, write=True)
+        fingerprint_cmd.func = fingerprint_cmd_func
+        return [submit_cmd, fingerprint_cmd]
 
 
 # Hooks into import process.
@@ -195,28 +202,7 @@ def submit_items(userkey, items, chunksize=64):
         del data[:]
 
     for item in items:
-        # Get a fingerprint and length for this track.
-        if not item.length:
-            log.info(u'{0}: no duration available'.format(
-                util.displayable_path(item.path)
-            ))
-            continue
-        elif item.acoustid_fingerprint:
-            log.info(u'{0}: using existing fingerprint'.format(
-                util.displayable_path(item.path)
-            ))
-            fp = item.acoustid_fingerprint
-        else:
-            log.info(u'{0}: fingerprinting'.format(
-                util.displayable_path(item.path)
-            ))
-            try:
-                _, fp = acoustid.fingerprint_file(item.path)
-            except acoustid.FingerprintGenerationError as exc:
-                log.info(
-                    'fingerprint generation failed: {0}'.format(exc)
-                )
-                continue
+        fp = fingerprint_item(item)
 
         # Construct a submission dictionary for this item.
         item_data = {
@@ -246,3 +232,43 @@ def submit_items(userkey, items, chunksize=64):
     # Submit remaining data in a final chunk.
     if data:
         submit_chunk()
+
+
+def fingerprint_item(item, lib=None, write=False):
+    """Fingerprints files that don't already have prints stored
+    """
+    # Get a fingerprint and length for this track.
+    if not item.length:
+        log.info(u'{0}: no duration available'.format(
+            util.displayable_path(item.path)
+        ))
+        return
+    elif item.acoustid_fingerprint:
+        if not write:
+            log.info(u'{0}: using existing fingerprint'.format(
+                util.displayable_path(item.path)
+            ))
+            return item.acoustid_fingerprint
+        log.info(u'{0}: skipping. fingerprint exists'.format(
+                util.displayable_path(item.path)
+        ))
+    else:
+        log.info(u'{0}: fingerprinting'.format(
+            util.displayable_path(item.path)
+        ))
+        try:
+            _, fp = acoustid.fingerprint_file(item.path)
+            item.acoustid_fingerprint = fp
+            if write and lib is not None:
+                log.info(u'{0}: writing fingerprint'.format(
+                    util.displayable_path(item.path)
+                ))
+                item.write()
+                lib.store(item)
+            return item.acoustid_fingerprint
+        except acoustid.FingerprintGenerationError as exc:
+            log.info(
+                'fingerprint generation failed: {0}'.format(exc)
+            )
+    return
+
diff --git a/docs/plugins/chroma.rst b/docs/plugins/chroma.rst
index b24a4816a..0677ca957 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/chroma.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/chroma.rst
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Next, you will need a mechanism for decoding audio files supported by the
 * On Linux, you can install `GStreamer for Python`_, `FFmpeg`_, or `MAD`_ and
   `pymad`_. How you install these will depend on your distribution. For example,
   on Ubuntu, run ``apt-get install python-gst0.10-dev``. On Arch Linux, you want
-  ``pacman -S gstreamer0.10-python``. 
+  ``pacman -S gstreamer0.10-python``.
 
 * On Windows, try the Gstreamer "WinBuilds" from the `OSSBuild`_ project.
 
@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ editing your :doc:`configuration file </reference/config>`. Put ``chroma`` on
 your ``plugins:`` line. With that, beets will use fingerprinting the next time
 you run ``beet import``.
 
+You can also use ``beet fingerprint`` to fingerprint the tracks already imported
+without fingerprints. (You can provide a query to fingerprint a subset of your
+library).
+
 .. _submitfp:
 
 Submitting Fingerprints