diff --git a/pyglance/glance/compare.py b/pyglance/glance/compare.py
index db4400a35868f6e71a93e4a88e72c9867f0c9eee..3fbdeb0ea098245b2485a77af73360b5b50ec98c 100644
--- a/pyglance/glance/compare.py
+++ b/pyglance/glance/compare.py
@@ -907,7 +907,7 @@ def reportGen_library_call (a_path, b_path, var_list=None,
             attributeInfo[B_FILE_TITLE_KEY] = bFile.file_object.get_variable_attributes(b_variable_technical_name)
 
             # pre-check if this data should be plotted and if it should be compared to the longitude and latitude
-            include_images_for_this_variable = ((not(DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY in runInfo)) or (runInfo[DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY]))
+            include_images_for_this_variable = ((DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY not in runInfo) or (runInfo[DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY]))
             if DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY in varRunInfo :
                 include_images_for_this_variable = varRunInfo[DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY]
             do_not_test_with_lon_lat = (not include_images_for_this_variable) or (len(lon_lat_data) <= 0)
@@ -965,11 +965,13 @@ def reportGen_library_call (a_path, b_path, var_list=None,
                 varRunInfo[DID_VARIABLE_PASS_KEY] = didPass
                 # update the overall pass status
                 if didPass is not None :
-                    didPassAll = didPassAll & didPass
+                    didPassAll = didPassAll and didPass
                 
                 # based on the settings and whether the variable passed or failed,
                 # should we include images for this variable?
-                if (DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY in varRunInfo) and varRunInfo[DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY] :
+                temp_images_only_on_fail = runInfo[DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY] if DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY in runInfo else False
+                temp_images_only_on_fail = varRunInfo[DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY] if DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY in varRunInfo else temp_images_only_on_fail
+                if temp_images_only_on_fail :
                     include_images_for_this_variable = include_images_for_this_variable and (not didPass)
                     varRunInfo[DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY] = include_images_for_this_variable
                 
diff --git a/pyglance/glance/config_organizer.py b/pyglance/glance/config_organizer.py
index 8847504efb45eb6e2ebb990e41638aedc19d0777..0eb529de8db4fdb55ab9d30a6af53298d7bd57ab 100644
--- a/pyglance/glance/config_organizer.py
+++ b/pyglance/glance/config_organizer.py
@@ -415,6 +415,7 @@ def load_config_or_options(aPath, bPath, optionsSet, requestedVars = [ ]) :
         # so get everything from the options directly
         runInfo[DO_MAKE_REPORT_KEY] = not optionsSet[OPTIONS_NO_REPORT_KEY]
         runInfo[DO_MAKE_IMAGES_KEY] = not optionsSet[OPTIONS_NO_IMAGES_KEY]
+        runInfo[DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY] = optionsSet[OPTIONS_IMAGES_ON_FAIL_KEY]
         runInfo[DO_MAKE_FORKS_KEY]  =     optionsSet[DO_MAKE_FORKS_KEY]
         
         # only record these if we are using lon/lat
@@ -430,6 +431,7 @@ def load_config_or_options(aPath, bPath, optionsSet, requestedVars = [ ]) :
         # user selected defaults
         defaultsToUse[EPSILON_KEY]    = optionsSet[EPSILON_KEY] if EPSILON_KEY in optionsSet else None
         defaultsToUse[FILL_VALUE_KEY] = optionsSet[OPTIONS_FILL_VALUE_KEY]
+        defaultsToUse[DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY] = optionsSet[DO_IMAGES_ONLY_ON_FAIL_KEY]
         
         # note: there is no way to set the tolerances from the command line
     
@@ -530,12 +532,15 @@ def parse_arguments (version_string, commands_list, commands_help_text, ) :
     # output generation related options
     parser.add_argument('-p', '--outputpath', dest=OPTIONS_OUTPUT_PATH_KEY, type=str, default='./',
                         help="set path to the output directory (default: %(default)s)")
-    parser.add_argument('-i', '--imagesonly', dest=OPTIONS_NO_REPORT_KEY, 
-                        action="store_true", default=False,
-                        help="generate only the images (no html report)")
     parser.add_argument('-r', '--reportonly', dest=OPTIONS_NO_IMAGES_KEY, 
                         action="store_true", default=False,
                         help="generate only the html report (no images)")
+    parser.add_argument('-i', '--imagesonly', dest=OPTIONS_NO_REPORT_KEY,
+                        action="store_true", default=False,
+                        help="generate only the images (no html report)")
+    parser.add_argument('-u', '--imagesonlyonfailure', dest=OPTIONS_IMAGES_ON_FAIL_KEY,
+                        action="store_true", default=False,
+                        help="generate images only when a variable fails comparison (no images for passing variables)")
     parser.add_argument('-c', '--configfile', dest=OPTIONS_CONFIG_FILE_KEY, type=str, default=None,
                         help="set a configuration file to load (default: %(default)s)")
     parser.add_argument('--stripfromname', default=[], dest=OPTIONS_RE_TO_STRIP_KEY, action='append',
@@ -605,6 +610,7 @@ def convert_options_to_dict (options) :
     tempOptions[OPTIONS_CONFIG_FILE_KEY]    = clean_path(options.configFile)
     tempOptions[OPTIONS_NO_REPORT_KEY]      = options.imagesOnly
     tempOptions[OPTIONS_NO_IMAGES_KEY]      = options.htmlOnly
+    tempOptions[OPTIONS_IMAGES_ON_FAIL_KEY] = options.only_plot_on_fail
     tempOptions[OPTIONS_RE_TO_STRIP_KEY]    = options.regularExpressionsToStrip
     
     # whether or not to do pass fail testing
diff --git a/pyglance/glance/constants.py b/pyglance/glance/constants.py
index 0cbb45126eded5bd412862e63ede085713a83141..57285bb7590edf4682f9d1d8fd58805ef55dbd51 100644
--- a/pyglance/glance/constants.py
+++ b/pyglance/glance/constants.py
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ OPTIONS_OUTPUT_PATH_KEY    = 'outputpath'
 OPTIONS_CONFIG_FILE_KEY    = 'configFile'
 OPTIONS_NO_REPORT_KEY      = 'imagesOnly'
 OPTIONS_NO_IMAGES_KEY      = 'htmlOnly'
+OPTIONS_IMAGES_ON_FAIL_KEY = 'only_plot_on_fail'
 OPTIONS_LAT_VAR_NAME_KEY   = 'latitudeVar'
 OPTIONS_LON_VAR_NAME_KEY   = 'longitudeVar'
 OPTIONS_LONLAT_EPSILON_KEY = 'lonlatepsilon'