diff --git a/R/ctModel.R b/R/ctModel.R
index eb911cd..c201790 100644
--- a/R/ctModel.R
+++ b/R/ctModel.R
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@
 #' covariances are generated by ctFit.  
 #' Better starting values may improve model fit speed and the chance of an appropriate model fit. 
 #' 
+#' @param silent Suppress all output to console. 
+#' 
 #' @examples 
 #'  ### Frequentist example:
 #'  ### impulse and level change time dependent predictor 
@@ -176,7 +178,7 @@
 #' @export
 
 ctModel<-function(LAMBDA, type='omx',n.manifest = 'auto', n.latent='auto', Tpoints=NULL, 
-  manifestNames='auto', latentNames='auto', id='id',time='time',
+  manifestNames='auto', latentNames='auto', id='id',time='time', silent=FALSE,
   T0VAR="auto", T0MEANS="auto", MANIFESTMEANS="auto", MANIFESTVAR="auto", 
   DRIFT="auto", CINT="auto", DIFFUSION="auto",
   n.TDpred='auto', TDpredNames='auto', 
@@ -194,12 +196,12 @@ ctModel<-function(LAMBDA, type='omx',n.manifest = 'auto', n.latent='auto', Tpoin
   #get dimensions
   if(is.null(n.manifest) || is.null(n.latent) || all(n.manifest %in% 'auto') || all(n.latent %in% 'auto')){
     if(is.matrix(LAMBDA)){
-      message('System dimensions inferred from LAMBDA')
+      if(!silent) message('System dimensions inferred from LAMBDA')
       n.manifest <- nrow(LAMBDA)
       n.latent <- ncol(LAMBDA)
     } else {
       if(!all(manifestNames %in% 'auto') && !all(latentNames %in% 'auto')){
-        message('System dimensions inferred from manifestNames and latentNames')
+        if(!silent) message('System dimensions inferred from manifestNames and latentNames')
         n.manifest <- length(manifestNames)
         n.latent <- length(latentNames)
       } else stop('LAMBDA must either a matrix, n.manifest and n.latent must be specified, or manifestNames and latentNames must be specified!')
@@ -208,11 +210,11 @@ ctModel<-function(LAMBDA, type='omx',n.manifest = 'auto', n.latent='auto', Tpoin
 
   if(is.null(n.TDpred) || all(n.TDpred %in% 'auto')){
     if(is.matrix(TDPREDEFFECT)){
-      message('n.TDpred inferred from TDPREDEFFECT')
+      if(!silent) message('n.TDpred inferred from TDPREDEFFECT')
       n.TDpred <- ncol(TDPREDEFFECT)
     } else {
       if(!all(TDpredNames %in% 'auto')){
-        message('n.TDpred inferred  inferred from TDpredNames')
+        if(!silent) message('n.TDpred inferred  inferred from TDpredNames')
         n.TDpred <- length(TDpredNames)
       } else n.TDpred <- 0
     } 
@@ -220,7 +222,7 @@ ctModel<-function(LAMBDA, type='omx',n.manifest = 'auto', n.latent='auto', Tpoin
   
   if(is.null(n.TIpred) || all(n.TIpred %in% 'auto')){
     if(!all(TIpredNames %in% 'auto')){
-      message('n.TIpred inferred  inferred from TIpredNames')
+      if(!silent) message('n.TIpred inferred  inferred from TIpredNames')
       n.TIpred <- length(TIpredNames)
     } else n.TIpred <- 0
   } 
@@ -288,9 +290,9 @@ ctModel<-function(LAMBDA, type='omx',n.manifest = 'auto', n.latent='auto', Tpoin
         counter <- 0 #then start filling with vector
         if(length(val) != length(mat) && length(val) !=1) stop(paste0(m,' needs ',length(mat),' values for ',nrow(mat),' * ',ncol(mat),' matrix, but has ',length(val)))
         if(length(val)==1 && length(mat) > 1) {
-          message(m,' specified via single value -- filling ',nrow(mat),' * ',ncol(mat),' matrix:')
+          if(!silent) message(m,' specified via single value -- filling ',nrow(mat),' * ',ncol(mat),' matrix:')
           val <- rep(val,length(mat))
-        } else message(paste0(m,' vector spec input rowwise into ',nrow(mat),' * ',ncol(mat),' matrix:'))
+        } else if(!silent) message(paste0(m,' vector spec input rowwise into ',nrow(mat),' * ',ncol(mat),' matrix:'))
         for(ri in 1:nrow(mat)){
           for(ci in 1:ncol(mat)){
             counter <- counter + 1
@@ -298,7 +300,7 @@ ctModel<-function(LAMBDA, type='omx',n.manifest = 'auto', n.latent='auto', Tpoin
           }
         }
         
-        print(mat,right=TRUE)
+        if(!silent) print(mat,right=TRUE)
         assign(m, mat)
       }
     }
diff --git a/man/ctModel.Rd b/man/ctModel.Rd
index 01c5e7f..330079f 100644
--- a/man/ctModel.Rd
+++ b/man/ctModel.Rd
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ ctModel(
   latentNames = "auto",
   id = "id",
   time = "time",
+  silent = FALSE,
   T0VAR = "auto",
   T0MEANS = "auto",
   MANIFESTMEANS = "auto",
@@ -73,6 +74,8 @@ id data may be of any form, though will be coerced internally to an integer sequ
 
 \item{time}{character string denoting column name containing timing data. Timing data must be numeric.}
 
+\item{silent}{Suppress all output to console.}
+
 \item{T0VAR}{lower triangular n.latent*n.latent cholesky matrix of latent process initial variance / covariance. 
 "auto" freely estimates all parameters.}
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-tdeffectvariation_covtest.R b/tests/testthat/test-tdeffectvariation_covtest.R
index 4b33873..5df3afb 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-tdeffectvariation_covtest.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-tdeffectvariation_covtest.R
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
   effect <- rnorm(nsubjects, 5-baseline/3, 0.5)
   
   for(i in 1:nsubjects){
-    gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(Tpoints=ntimes,
+    gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(silent=TRUE,Tpoints=ntimes,
       LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,0),1,2), 
       DRIFT= c(-1,1,
         0,-.5),
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
   }
   
   #regular bw effect approach
-  m <- ctModel(type='stanct',
+  m <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='stanct',
     LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,0),1,2), 
     DRIFT= c('drift',1,
       0,-0.5),
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     TDPREDEFFECT = matrix(c(0,'tdpredeffect|param|TRUE')))
   
   #manual bw effects
-  m2 <- ctModel(type='omx',Tpoints=3,
+  m2 <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='omx',Tpoints=3,
     LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,0,0,0),1,4), 
     DRIFT= c('drift',1,0,0,
       0,-0.5,0,0,
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     effect <- rnorm(nsubjects, 5-baseline/3, 0.5)
     
     for(i in 1:nsubjects){
-      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(Tpoints=ntimes,
+      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(silent=TRUE,Tpoints=ntimes,
         LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,effect[i]),1,2), 
         DRIFT= c(-1,0,
           0,-.5),
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     }
     
     #regular bw effect approach
-    m <- ctModel(type='stanct',
+    m <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='stanct',
       LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,'tdpredeffect|param|TRUE'),1,2), 
       DRIFT= c('drift',0,
         0,-0.5),
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
       TDPREDEFFECT = matrix(c(0,1)))
     
     #manual bw effects
-    m2 <- ctModel(type='omx',Tpoints=3,
+    m2 <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='omx',Tpoints=3,
       LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,'state[4]',0,0),1,4), 
       DRIFT= c('drift',0,0,0,
         0,-0.5,0,0,
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     effect <- -log1p(exp(-raweffect))
     
     for(i in 1:nsubjects){
-      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(Tpoints=ntimes,
+      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(silent=TRUE,Tpoints=ntimes,
         LAMBDA=matrix(1), 
         DRIFT= c(effect[i]),
         T0MEANS = c(t0m[i]),
@@ -283,12 +283,12 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     }
     
     #regular bw effect approach
-    m <- ctModel(type='stanct',
+    m <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='stanct',
       CINT='cint',MANIFESTMEANS=0,
       LAMBDA=matrix(1),DRIFT='drift|-log1p_exp(-param)|TRUE')
     
     #manual bw effects
-    m2 <- ctModel(type='omx',Tpoints=3,
+    m2 <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='omx',Tpoints=3,
       LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,0,0),ncol=3), 
       DRIFT= c('-log1p_exp(-state[2])',0,0,
         0,-1e-6,0,
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     effect <- log1p(exp(raweffect))
     
     for(i in 1:nsubjects){
-      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(Tpoints=ntimes,
+      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(silent=TRUE,Tpoints=ntimes,
         LAMBDA=matrix(1), 
         DRIFT= -1,
         T0MEANS = c(t0m[i]),
@@ -404,14 +404,14 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     }
     
     #regular bw effect approach
-    m <- ctModel(type='stanct',
+    m <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='stanct',
       T0MEANS='t0m|param',
       MANIFESTVAR=.5,
       MANIFESTMEANS=0,CINT='cint|param',
       LAMBDA=matrix(1),DIFFUSION='diffusion|log1p_exp(param)|TRUE')
     
     #manual bw effects
-    m2 <- ctModel(type='omx',Tpoints=3,
+    m2 <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='omx',Tpoints=3,
       LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,0,0),ncol=3), 
       DRIFT= c('drift',0,0,
         0,-1e-12,0,
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     effect <- log1p(exp(raweffect))
     
     for(i in 1:nsubjects){
-      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(Tpoints=ntimes,
+      gm <- suppressMessages(ctModel(silent=TRUE,Tpoints=ntimes,
         LAMBDA=matrix(1), 
         DRIFT= -1,
         T0MEANS = c(t0m[i]),
@@ -537,14 +537,14 @@ if(identical(Sys.getenv("NOT_CRAN"), "true")& .Machine$sizeof.pointer != 4){
     }
     
     #regular bw effect approach
-    m <- ctModel(type='stanct',
+    m <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='stanct',
       T0MEANS='t0m|param',
       DIFFUSION=.5,
       MANIFESTMEANS=0,CINT='cint|param',
       LAMBDA=matrix(1),MANIFESTVAR='errsd|log1p_exp(param)|TRUE')
     
     #manual bw effects
-    m2 <- ctModel(type='omx',Tpoints=3,
+    m2 <- ctModel(silent=TRUE,type='omx',Tpoints=3,
       LAMBDA=matrix(c(1,0,0),ncol=3), 
       DRIFT= c('drift',0,0,
         0,-1e-12,0,