diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ecee05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Specify filepatterns you want git to ignore.
+debian/tmp/
+debian/build/
+debian/.debhelper/
+debian/xed/
+debian/xed-common/
+debian/xed-dbg/
+debian/xed-dev/
+debian/xed-doc/
+debian/files
+debian/*.log
+debian/*.substvars