diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e19ba93a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+aclocal.m4
+autoconf.mk
+autom4te.cache/
+config.log
+config.status
+configure
+doc/fix-qdf.1
+doc/qpdf.1
+doc/zlib-flate.1
+examples/build/
+libqpdf/build/
+libqpdf/qpdf/qpdf-config.h
+libqpdf/qpdf/qpdf-config.h.in
+libtests/build/
+libtool
+manual/html.xsl
+manual/print.xsl
+qpdf/build/
+zlib-flate/build/