diff --git a/src/cli.py b/src/cli.py
--- a/src/cli.py
+++ b/src/cli.py
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ def build_split_parser(parser):
 	encoding.add_argument("--b32", action="store_true", help="encode shares' bytes as a base32 string")
 	encoding.add_argument("--b64", action="store_true", help="encode shares' bytes as a base64 string")
 
+	parser.add_argument("--label", help="any label to prefix the shares with")
+	parser.add_argument("--omit_k_n", action="store_true", help="suppress the default shares prefix")
+
 	parser.add_argument("secret", nargs="?", help="a secret to be split. Can be provided on the command line,"
 		" redirected through stdin, or will be asked for interactively.")
 	parser.set_defaults(func=_generate)
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ def _generate(args):
 		secret = sys.stdin.read()
 
 	try:
-		shares = generate(secret, args.k, args.n, encoding)
+		shares = generate(secret, args.k, args.n, encoding, label=args.label, omit_k_n=args.omit_k_n)
 		for s in shares:
 			print(s)
 	except SException as e:
diff --git a/src/condensed.py b/src/condensed.py
--- a/src/condensed.py
+++ b/src/condensed.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class SException(Exception): pass
 def reconstruct_raw(*shares):
 	"""Tries to recover the secret from its shares.
 
-	:param shares: ((i, (bytes) share), ...)
+	:param shares: (((int) i, (bytes) share), ...)
 	:return: (bytes) reconstructed secret. Too few shares returns garbage."""
 	secret_len = len(shares[0][1])
 	res = [None]*secret_len
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def reconstruct(*shares):
 
 def decode(share):
 	try:
-		(i, _, share_str) = share.partition(".")
+		(*_, i, share_str) = share.split(".")
 		i = int(i)
 		if not 1<=i<=255:
 			raise SException("Malformed share: Failed 1<=k<=255, k={0}".format(i))
diff --git a/src/shamira.py b/src/shamira.py
--- a/src/shamira.py
+++ b/src/shamira.py
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ def generate_raw(secret, k, n):
 def reconstruct_raw(*shares):
 	"""Tries to recover the secret from its shares.
 
-	:param shares: ((i, (bytes) share), ...)
-	:return: (bytes) reconstructed secret. Too few shares returns garbage."""
+	:param shares: (((int) i, (bytes) share), ...)
+	:return: (bytes) reconstructed secret. Too few shares return garbage."""
 	secret_len = len(shares[0][1])
 	res = [None]*secret_len
 	for i in range(secret_len):
@@ -48,18 +48,27 @@ def reconstruct_raw(*shares):
 	return bytes(res)
 
 
-def generate(secret, k, n, encoding="b32"):
+def generate(secret, k, n, encoding="b32", label="", omit_k_n=False):
 	"""Wraps generate_raw().
 
 	:param secret: (str or bytes)
 	:param k: number of shares necessary for secret recovery
 	:param n: number of shares generated
 	:param encoding: {hex, b32, b64} desired output encoding. Hexadecimal, Base32 or Base64.
+	:param label: (str) any label to prefix the shares with
+	:param omit_k_n: (boolean) suppress the default shares prefix
 	:return: [(str) share, ...]"""
 	if isinstance(secret,str):
 		secret = secret.encode("utf-8")
 	shares = generate_raw(secret, k, n)
-	return [encode(s, encoding) for s in shares]
+
+	prefix = ""
+	if label:
+		prefix = label + "."
+	if not omit_k_n:
+		prefix += "{0}.{1}.".format(k, n)
+
+	return [prefix + encode(s, encoding) for s in shares]
 
 
 def reconstruct(*shares, encoding="", raw=False):
@@ -89,7 +98,7 @@ def encode(share, encoding="b32"):
 
 def decode(share, encoding="b32"):
 	try:
-		(i, _, share_str) = share.partition(".")
+		(*_, i, share_str) = share.split(".")
 		i = int(i)
 		if not 1<=i<=255:
 			raise MalformedShare("Malformed share: Failed 1<=k<=255, k={0}".format(i))
@@ -104,9 +113,9 @@ def decode(share, encoding="b32"):
 
 def detect_encoding(shares):
 	classes = [
-		(re.compile(r"\d+\.([0-9A-F]{2})+"), "hex"),
-		(re.compile(r"\d+\.([A-Z2-7]{8})*([A-Z2-7]{8}|[A-Z2-7]{2}={6}|[A-Z2-7]{4}={4}|[A-Z2-7]{5}={3}|[A-Z2-7]{7}={1})"), "b32"),
-		(re.compile(r"\d+\.([A-Za-z0-9+/]{4})*([A-Za-z0-9+/]{4}|[A-Za-z0-9+/]{2}={2}|[A-Za-z0-9+/]{3}={1})"), "b64")
+		(re.compile(r"(.*\.)?\d+\.([0-9A-F]{2})+"), "hex"),
+		(re.compile(r"(.*\.)?\d+\.([A-Z2-7]{8})*([A-Z2-7]{8}|[A-Z2-7]{2}={6}|[A-Z2-7]{4}={4}|[A-Z2-7]{5}={3}|[A-Z2-7]{7}={1})"), "b32"),
+		(re.compile(r"(.*\.)?\d+\.([A-Za-z0-9+/]{4})*([A-Za-z0-9+/]{4}|[A-Za-z0-9+/]{2}={2}|[A-Za-z0-9+/]{3}={1})"), "b64")
 	]
 	for (regexp, res) in classes:
 		if all(regexp.fullmatch(share) for share in shares):