diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index d98e277..a2e6532 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export(project_data_path)
 export(project_extdata_path)
 export(project_path)
 export(use_data_object)
+export(use_ignore)
 export(use_processing_script)
 export(use_raw_dataset)
 export(yml_add_files)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 31bb34e..a5f62dc 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 * Fix the documentation for datapackager_object_read() and "Migrating old packages".
 * code argument no longer required for construct_yml_config
 * Add option to overwrite (or not) via use_processing_script. Provide warning.
+* Add use_ignore() to ignore files and data sets in .Rbuildignore and .gitignore and added ignore argument to use_raw_dataset().
 
 # DataPackageR 0.15.3
 * conditional tests when pandoc is missing (ropensci/DataPackager/issues/46)
diff --git a/R/ignore.R b/R/ignore.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2887cec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/ignore.R
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#' Ignore specific files by git and R build.
+#'
+#' @param file \code{character} File to ignore.
+#' @param path \code{character} Path to the file.
+#'
+#' @return invisibly returns 0.
+#' @export
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' use_ignore("foo", ".")
+use_ignore <- function(file = NULL, path = NULL){
+  if (is.null(file)) {
+    message("No file name provided to ignore.")
+    invisible(0)
+  }
+  proj_path <- usethis::proj_get()
+  usethis::use_build_ignore(files = file.path(path,file), escape = TRUE)
+  usethis::use_git_ignore(ignores = file, directory = path)
+  invisible(0)
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/R/use.R b/R/use.R
index 8ad0154..1f515d1 100644
--- a/R/use.R
+++ b/R/use.R
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 #' the inst/extdata directory.
 #'
 #' @param path \code{character} path to file or directory.
-#'
+#' @param ignore \code{logical} whether to ignore the path or file in git and R build. 
+#' 
 #' @return invisibly returns TRUE for success. Stops on failure.
 #' @importFrom usethis proj_get proj_set create_package use_data_raw
 #' @importFrom utils file_test
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@
 #'   r_object_names = "data")
 #' use_raw_dataset(raw_data)
 #' }
-use_raw_dataset <- function(path = NULL) {
+use_raw_dataset <- function(path = NULL, ignore = FALSE) {
   if (is.null(path)) {
     stop("You must provide a full path to a file or directory.")
   }
@@ -40,6 +41,11 @@ use_raw_dataset <- function(path = NULL) {
       to = file.path(proj_path, "inst", "extdata"),
       overwrite = TRUE
     )
+    if (ignore) {
+      # inst/extdata is a path relative to the project root 
+      # as needed by git_ignore
+      use_ignore(basename(raw_file), path = file.path("inst", "extdata"))
+    }
     return(invisible(TRUE))
   } else if (utils::file_test("-d", raw_file)) {
     file.copy(
@@ -47,6 +53,10 @@ use_raw_dataset <- function(path = NULL) {
       to = file.path(proj_path, "inst", "extdata"),
       recursive = TRUE, overwrite = TRUE
     )
+    if (ignore) {
+      #should work and the directory should be ignored
+      use_ignore(basename(raw_file), path = file.path("inst", "extdata"))
+    }
     return(invisible(TRUE))
   } else {
     stop("path must be a path to an existing file or directory.")
diff --git a/man/use_ignore.Rd b/man/use_ignore.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d49f0d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/use_ignore.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/ignore.R
+\name{use_ignore}
+\alias{use_ignore}
+\title{Ignore specific files by git and R build.}
+\usage{
+use_ignore(file = NULL, path = NULL)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{file}{\code{character} File to ignore.}
+
+\item{path}{\code{character} Path to the file.}
+}
+\value{
+invisibly returns 0.
+}
+\description{
+Ignore specific files by git and R build.
+}
+\examples{
+use_ignore("foo", ".")
+}
diff --git a/man/use_raw_dataset.Rd b/man/use_raw_dataset.Rd
index 91ae411..76b291b 100644
--- a/man/use_raw_dataset.Rd
+++ b/man/use_raw_dataset.Rd
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@
 \alias{use_raw_dataset}
 \title{Add a raw data set to inst/extdata}
 \usage{
-use_raw_dataset(path = NULL)
+use_raw_dataset(path = NULL, ignore = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{path}{\code{character} path to file or directory.}
+
+\item{ignore}{\code{logical} whether to ignore the path or file in git and R build.}
 }
 \value{
 invisibly returns TRUE for success. Stops on failure.
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-ignore.R b/tests/testthat/test-ignore.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..791f04b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-ignore.R
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+context("ignore")
+
+test_that("use_ignore works", {
+  file <- system.file("extdata", "tests", "subsetCars.Rmd",
+                      package = "DataPackageR"
+  )
+  expect_null(
+    datapackage_skeleton(
+      name = "subsetCars",
+      path = tempdir(),
+      code_files = c(file),
+      force = TRUE,
+      r_object_names = c("cars_over_20")
+    )
+  )
+  expect_output(use_ignore(file = "mydata.csv",path = "inst/extdata"),"Adding 'mydata.csv' to 'inst/extdata/\\.gitignore'|Adding '\\^inst/extdata/mydata\\\\.csv\\$' to '\\.Rbuildignore'")
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-use_raw_data.R b/tests/testthat/test-use_raw_data.R
index 5fbed2a..25ef664 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-use_raw_data.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-use_raw_data.R
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ test_that("use_raw_data works as expected", {
   recursive = TRUE
   )
   expect_true(use_raw_dataset(myfile))
+  expect_true(use_raw_dataset(myfile, ignore = TRUE))
   expect_true(file_test(
     "-f",
     file.path(