diff --git a/src/utils/ansi.py b/src/utils/ansi.py
index 0ebdf6a9ff..43d930c0e1 100644
--- a/src/utils/ansi.py
+++ b/src/utils/ansi.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ user.
 """
 import re
 from src.utils import utils
-from src.utils.utils import to_str
+from src.utils.utils import to_str, to_unicode
 
 # ANSI definitions
 
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ class ANSIString(unicode):
         decoded = kwargs.get('decoded', False) or hasattr(string, '_raw_string')
         if not decoded:
             # Completely new ANSI String
-            clean_string = unicode(parser.parse_ansi(string, strip_ansi=True))
+            clean_string = to_unicode(parser.parse_ansi(string, strip_ansi=True))
             string = parser.parse_ansi(string)
         elif hasattr(string, '_clean_string'):
             # It's already an ANSIString
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ class ANSIString(unicode):
         else:
             # Do this to prevent recursive ANSIStrings.
             string = unicode(string)
-        ansi_string = super(ANSIString, cls).__new__(ANSIString, clean_string)
+        ansi_string = super(ANSIString, cls).__new__(ANSIString, to_str(clean_string), "utf-8")
         ansi_string._raw_string = string
         ansi_string._clean_string = clean_string
         return ansi_string
diff --git a/src/utils/evform.py b/src/utils/evform.py
index 7a7ec457f3..465cbd1633 100644
--- a/src/utils/evform.py
+++ b/src/utils/evform.py
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ has markers in it to denounce fields to fill. The markers map the
 absolute size of the field and will be filled with an evtable.Cell
 object when displaying the form.
 
+Note, when printing examples with ANSI color, you need to wrap
+the output in unicode(), such as print unicode(form). This is
+due to a bug in the Python parser and the print statement.
+
+
 Example of input file testform.py:
 
 FORMCHAR = "x"
@@ -87,7 +92,9 @@ Use as follows:
     # add the tables to the proper ids in the form
     form.map(tables={"A": tableA,
                      "B": tableB}
-    print form
+
+    # unicode is required since the example contains non-ascii characters
+    print unicode(form)
 
 This produces the following result:
 
@@ -155,7 +162,6 @@ class EvForm(object):
     mapping so as to populate the fields with fixed-width
     Cell or Tablets.
 
-
     """
     def __init__(self, filename=None, cells=None, tables=None, form=None, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -401,6 +407,9 @@ class EvForm(object):
 
     def __str__(self):
         "Prints the form"
-        return "\n".join([to_str(line) for line in self.form])
+        return ANSIString("\n").join([line for line in self.form])
 
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        "prints the form"
+        return unicode(ANSIString("\n").join([line for line in self.form]))
 
diff --git a/src/utils/evtable.py b/src/utils/evtable.py
index 8f24011ca6..45cb709233 100644
--- a/src/utils/evtable.py
+++ b/src/utils/evtable.py
@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@ EvTable
 This is an advanced ASCII table creator. It was inspired
 by prettytable but shares no code.
 
-WARNING: UNDER DEVELOPMENT. Evtable does currently NOT support
-colour ANSI markers in the table. Non-colour tables should
-work fully (so make issues if they don't).
-
+Note: to test ANSI colors on the command line you need to
+call the printed table in a unicode() call, like print unicode(table).
+This is due to a bug in the python interpreter and print.
 
 Example usage:
 
@@ -75,7 +74,7 @@ ANSI-coloured string types.
 #from textwrap import wrap
 from textwrap import TextWrapper
 from copy import deepcopy, copy
-from src.utils.utils import to_unicode, to_str
+from src.utils.utils import to_unicode
 from src.utils.ansi import ANSIString
 
 def make_iter(obj):
@@ -408,7 +407,7 @@ class Cell(object):
             if 0 < width < len(line):
                 # replace_whitespace=False, expand_tabs=False is a
                 # fix for ANSIString not supporting expand_tabs/translate
-                adjusted_data.extend([ANSIString(part + "{n")
+                adjusted_data.extend([ANSIString(part )
                     for part in wrap(line, width=width, drop_whitespace=False)])
             else:
                 adjusted_data.append(line)
@@ -619,7 +618,11 @@ class Cell(object):
 
     def __str__(self):
         "returns cell contents on string form"
-        return "\n".join(self.formatted)
+        return ANSIString("\n").join(self.formatted)
+
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        "returns cell contents"
+        return unicode(ANSIString("\n").join(self.formatted))
 
 
 # Main Evtable class