diff --git a/processing/build/shared/lib/pde.properties b/processing/build/shared/lib/pde.properties
index 8a0686d7c..e3893f4e4 100644
--- a/processing/build/shared/lib/pde.properties
+++ b/processing/build/shared/lib/pde.properties
@@ -122,3 +122,20 @@ editor.status.font           = SansSerif,plain,12
 # a 'default' directory will be created inside it, 
 # which is where any new sketches will be thrown
 #sketchbook.path=sketchbook
+
+# may be useful when attempting to debug the preprocessor
+#editor.save_build_files=false
+
+# allows various preprocessor features to be toggled in case they are 
+# causing problems
+#compiler.color_datatype = true
+#compiler.substitute_floats = true
+#compiler.web_colors = true
+#compiler.enhanced_casting = true
+#compiler.substitute_image = true
+#compiler.substitute_font = true
+
+# writes out the parse tree as parseTree.xml, which can be usefully
+# viewed in (at least) Mozilla or IE.  useful when debugging the preprocessor.
+#compiler.output_parse_tree = false
+