diff --git a/plugin/rtf_highlight.vim b/plugin/rtf_highlight.vim
index 0470665..253f479 100644
--- a/plugin/rtf_highlight.vim
+++ b/plugin/rtf_highlight.vim
@@ -23,22 +23,48 @@ if !exists('g:rtfh_size')
   let g:rtfh_size = '24'
 end
 
+if !exists('g:rtfh_clipboard')
+    let g:rtfh_clipboard = 'pbcopy'
+endif
+
+let s:alias_dict = {
+            \ 'javascript' : 'js',
+            \}
+
 " the awesomeness
 function! RTFHighlight(line1,line2,...)
   if !executable('highlight')
     echoerr "Bummer! highlight not found."
     return
   endif
-  
+
+  " default to use the filetype as the syntax
+  let filetype_aliased = &filetype
+
+  if exists("a:1")
+      " if the user explicitly set a syntax with the argument, use that.
+      let filetype_aliased = a:1
+  elseif has_key(s:alias_dict, &filetype)
+      " if there's a known alias for the filetype, use that.
+      let filetype_aliased = s:alias_dict[&filetype]
+  endif
+
+  let command = "highlight --syntax=" . filetype_aliased 
+              \. " -s " . g:rtfh_theme 
+              \. " -k " . g:rtfh_font 
+              \. " -K " . g:rtfh_size 
+              \. " -O rtf "
+              \. "| " . g:rtfh_clipboard
+
   let content = join(getline(a:line1,a:line2),"\n")
-  let command = "highlight --syntax " . a:1 . " -s " . g:rtfh_theme . " -R -k " . g:rtfh_font . " -K " . g:rtfh_size . " 2> /dev/null"
+
   let output = system(command,content)
   " let @* = output
   " for some reason text copied this way
   " gets pasted as escaped plain text in keynote
   " but this works well with pbcopy
-  let retval = system("pbcopy",output)
+  " let retval = system("pbcopy",output)
 endfunction
 
 " map it to a command
-command! -nargs=1 -range=% RTFHighlight :call RTFHighlight(<line1>,<line2>,<f-args>)
+command! -nargs=? -range=% RTFHighlight :call RTFHighlight(<line1>,<line2>,<f-args>)