diff --git a/CaGe.ini b/CaGe.ini
index e4251ef..c5924a8 100644
--- a/CaGe.ini
+++ b/CaGe.ini
@@ -239,4 +239,14 @@ RasmolViewer.Title:	Rasmol
 # is to be checked for questions requiring a user response
 RasmolViewer.WatchInterval:	500
 
-
+# Spinput writer configuration
+# if the following property is set to true, then all vertices
+# are of the same element type
+Spinput.UseSingleElement:   false
+# if the property above is true, then the following two properties
+# specify the specific element to use for each vertex
+Spinput.ElementNumber:      6
+Spinput.ElementName:        C
+# the next property specify the scaling that needs to be done.
+# Each coordinate will be multiplied with this factor.
+Spinput.scaling:            1.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cage/CaGe.java b/cage/CaGe.java
index 8ba12a5..4247b62 100644
--- a/cage/CaGe.java
+++ b/cage/CaGe.java
@@ -225,6 +225,10 @@ public static String getCaGeProperty(String name) {
         return config.getProperty(name);
     }
 
+    public static String getCaGeProperty(String name, String defaultValue) {
+        return config.getProperty(name, defaultValue);
+    }
+
     public static int getCaGePropertyAsInt(String name, int defaultValue) {
         int intValue = defaultValue;
         try {
@@ -238,6 +242,19 @@ public static int getCaGePropertyAsInt(String name, int defaultValue) {
         return intValue;
     }
 
+    public static float getCaGePropertyAsFloat(String name, float defaultValue) {
+        float floatValue = defaultValue;
+        try {
+            String stringValue = config.getProperty(name);
+            floatValue = Float.parseFloat(stringValue);
+        } catch (NullPointerException e) {
+            System.err.println("Property '" + name + "' not present in .ini file");
+        } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+            System.err.println("Property '" + name + "' in .ini file is not a number");
+        }
+        return floatValue;
+    }
+
     public static boolean getCaGePropertyAsBoolean(String name,
             boolean defaultValue) {
         boolean booleanValue = defaultValue;
diff --git a/cage/writer/SpinputWriterConfigurationHandler.java b/cage/writer/SpinputWriterConfigurationHandler.java
index b99aeac..25dc8e3 100644
--- a/cage/writer/SpinputWriterConfigurationHandler.java
+++ b/cage/writer/SpinputWriterConfigurationHandler.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package cage.writer;
 
+import cage.CaGe;
 import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
 import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
 import java.awt.Insets;
@@ -54,11 +55,18 @@ public void configureWriter(CaGeWriter writer) {
     }
     
     private static class SpinputWriterConfigurationModel {
-        private boolean useSingleElementRule = false;
-        private int singleElementNumber = 6;
-        private String singleElementName = "C";
+        private boolean useSingleElementRule;
+        private int singleElementNumber;
+        private String singleElementName;
 
-        private float scalingFactor = 1.0f;
+        private float scalingFactor;
+
+        public SpinputWriterConfigurationModel() {
+            useSingleElementRule = CaGe.getCaGePropertyAsBoolean("Spinput.UseSingleElement", false);
+            singleElementNumber = CaGe.getCaGePropertyAsInt("Spinput.ElementNumber", 6);
+            singleElementName = CaGe.getCaGeProperty("Spinput.ElementName", "C");
+            scalingFactor = CaGe.getCaGePropertyAsFloat("Spinput.scaling", 1.0f);
+        }
         
         private final List<SpinputWriterConfigurationModelListener> listeners =
                 new ArrayList<>();