diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/core.py b/ibis/expr/types/core.py
index 043f8385474df..7e37f2b6113e1 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/core.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/core.py
@@ -77,20 +77,9 @@ def __repr__(self) -> str:
         if not opts.interactive:
             return self._repr()
 
-        from ibis.expr.types.pretty import simple_console
-
-        with simple_console.capture() as capture:
-            try:
-                simple_console.print(self)
-            except TranslationError as e:
-                lines = [
-                    "Translation to backend failed",
-                    f"Error message: {e.args[0]}",
-                    "Expression repr follows:",
-                    self._repr(),
-                ]
-                return "\n".join(lines)
-        return capture.get().rstrip()
+        from ibis.expr.types.pretty import pretty_repr
+
+        return pretty_repr(self)
 
     def __reduce__(self):
         return (self.__class__, (self._arg,))
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/generic.py b/ibis/expr/types/generic.py
index 03af02ef5ff42..18f36950eed46 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/generic.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/generic.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Literal
 
 from public import public
+from rich.table import Table as RichTable
 
 import ibis
 import ibis.common.exceptions as com
@@ -1293,9 +1294,69 @@ def __array__(self, dtype=None):
         return self.execute().__array__(dtype)
 
     def __interactive_rich_console__(self, console, options):
+        return console.render(self.preview(), options=options)
+
+    def preview(
+        self,
+        *,
+        max_rows: int | None = None,
+        show_types: bool | None = None,
+        max_length: int | None = None,
+        max_string: int | None = None,
+        max_depth: int | None = None,
+        console_width: int | float | None = None,
+    ) -> RichTable:
+        """Pretty-print a preview using rich.
+
+        This is an explicit version of what you get when you inspect
+        this object in interactive mode, except with this version you
+        can pass formatting options. The options are the same as those exposed
+        in `ibis.options.interactive`.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        max_rows
+            Maximum number of rows to display
+        show_types
+            Whether to show column types in the 2nd row, under the column name
+        max_length
+           Maximum length for pretty-printed arrays and maps.
+        max_string
+            Maximum length for pretty-printed strings.
+        max_depth
+            Maximum depth for nested data types.
+        console_width
+            Width of the console in characters. If not specified, the width
+            will be inferred from the console.
+
+        Examples
+        --------
+        >>> import ibis
+        >>> ibis.options.interactive = False
+        >>> t = ibis.examples.penguins.fetch()
+        >>> t.island.preview(max_rows=3, show_types=False, max_string=5)
+        ┏━━━━━━━━┓
+        ┃ island ┃
+        ┡━━━━━━━━┩
+        │ Torg…  │
+        │ Torg…  │
+        │ Torg…  │
+        │ …      │
+        └────────┘
+        """
+        from ibis.expr.types.pretty import to_rich_table
+
         named = self.name(self.op().name)
         projection = named.as_table()
-        return console.render(projection, options=options)
+        return to_rich_table(
+            projection,
+            max_rows=max_rows,
+            show_types=show_types,
+            max_length=max_length,
+            max_string=max_string,
+            max_depth=max_depth,
+            console_width=console_width,
+        )
 
     def __pyarrow_result__(
         self, table: pa.Table, data_mapper: type[PyArrowData] | None = None
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/pretty.py b/ibis/expr/types/pretty.py
index 31354895a0be2..32b547b7cf7ed 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/pretty.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/pretty.py
@@ -10,35 +10,65 @@
 from rich.align import Align
 from rich.console import Console
 from rich.text import Text
+from rich.table import Table as RichTable
 
 import ibis
 import ibis.expr.datatypes as dt
+from ibis.expr.types import Table
+from ibis.common.exceptions import TranslationError
 
-# A console with all color/markup disabled, used for `__repr__`
-simple_console = Console(force_terminal=False)
 
-
-def _format_nested(values):
-    interactive = ibis.options.repr.interactive
+def pretty_repr(expr: ibis.Expr) -> str:
+    # All color/markup disabled, used for `__repr__`
+    console = Console(force_terminal=False)
+    with console.capture() as capture:
+        try:
+            console.print(expr)
+        except TranslationError as e:
+            lines = [
+                "Translation to backend failed",
+                f"Error message: {e.args[0]}",
+                "Expression repr follows:",
+                expr._repr(),
+            ]
+            return "\n".join(lines)
+    return capture.get().rstrip()
+
+
+def _format_nested(
+    values,
+    *,
+    max_length: int | None = None,
+    max_string: int | None = None,
+    max_depth: int | None = None,
+):
+    if max_length is None:
+        max_length = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_length
+    if max_string is None:
+        max_string = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_string
+    if max_depth is None:
+        max_depth = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_depth
     return [
         rich.pretty.Pretty(
             v,
-            max_length=interactive.max_length,
-            max_string=interactive.max_string,
-            max_depth=interactive.max_depth,
+            max_length=max_length,
+            max_string=max_string,
+            max_depth=max_depth,
         )
         for v in values
     ]
 
 
 @singledispatch
-def format_values(dtype, values):
-    return _format_nested(values)
+def format_values(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
+    return _format_nested(values, **fmt_kwargs)
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Map)
-def _(dtype, values):
-    return _format_nested([None if v is None else dict(v) for v in values])
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
+    return _format_nested(
+        [None if v is None else dict(v) for v in values], **fmt_kwargs
+    )
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.GeoSpatial)
@@ -49,7 +79,7 @@ def _(dtype, values):
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.JSON)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     def try_json(v):
         if v is None:
             return None
@@ -58,17 +88,17 @@ def try_json(v):
         except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
             return v
 
-    return _format_nested([try_json(v) for v in values])
+    return _format_nested([try_json(v) for v in values], **fmt_kwargs)
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Boolean)
 @format_values.register(dt.UUID)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     return [Text(str(v)) for v in values]
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Decimal)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     if dtype.scale is not None:
         fmt = f"{{:.{dtype.scale}f}}"
         return [Text.styled(fmt.format(v), "bold cyan") for v in values]
@@ -78,12 +108,12 @@ def _(dtype, values):
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Integer)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     return [Text.styled(str(int(v)), "bold cyan") for v in values]
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Floating)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     floats = [float(v) for v in values]
     # Extract and format all finite floats
     finites = [f for f in floats if isfinite(f)]
@@ -102,7 +132,7 @@ def _(dtype, values):
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Timestamp)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     if all(v.microsecond == 0 for v in values):
         timespec = "seconds"
     elif all(v.microsecond % 1000 == 0 for v in values):
@@ -115,13 +145,13 @@ def _(dtype, values):
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Date)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     dates = [v.date() if isinstance(v, datetime.datetime) else v for v in values]
     return [Text.styled(d.isoformat(), "magenta") for d in dates]
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Time)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     times = [v.time() if isinstance(v, datetime.datetime) else v for v in values]
     if all(t.microsecond == 0 for t in times):
         timespec = "seconds"
@@ -133,7 +163,7 @@ def _(dtype, values):
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.Interval)
-def _(dtype, values):
+def _(dtype, values, **fmt_kwargs):
     return [Text.styled(str(v), "magenta") for v in values]
 
 
@@ -149,8 +179,9 @@ def _(dtype, values):
 
 
 @format_values.register(dt.String)
-def _(dtype, values):
-    max_string = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_string
+def _(dtype, values, *, max_string: int | None = None, **fmt_kwargs):
+    if max_string is None:
+        max_string = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_string
     out = []
     for v in values:
         v = str(v)
@@ -181,7 +212,14 @@ def _(dtype, values):
     return out
 
 
-def format_column(dtype, values):
+def format_column(
+    dtype,
+    values,
+    *,
+    max_length: int | None = None,
+    max_string: int | None = None,
+    max_depth: int | None = None,
+):
     import pandas as pd
 
     null_str = Text.styled("NULL", style="dim")
@@ -199,7 +237,13 @@ def isnull(x):
 
     nonnull = [v for v in values if not isnull(v)]
     if nonnull:
-        formatted = format_values(dtype, nonnull)
+        formatted = format_values(
+            dtype,
+            nonnull,
+            max_length=max_length,
+            max_string=max_string,
+            max_depth=max_depth,
+        )
         next_f = iter(formatted).__next__
         out = [null_str if isnull(v) else next_f() for v in values]
     else:
@@ -227,13 +271,28 @@ def format_dtype(dtype):
     return Text.styled(strtyp, "dim")
 
 
-def to_rich_table(table, console_width=None):
+def to_rich_table(
+    table: Table,
+    *,
+    max_rows: int | None = None,
+    max_columns: int | None = None,
+    show_types: bool | None = None,
+    max_length: int | None = None,
+    max_string: int | None = None,
+    max_depth: int | None = None,
+    console_width: int | float | None = None,
+) -> RichTable:
+    if max_rows is None:
+        max_rows = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_rows
+    if max_columns is None:
+        max_columns = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_columns
+    if show_types is None:
+        show_types = ibis.options.repr.interactive.show_types
     if console_width is None:
         console_width = float("inf")
 
     orig_ncols = len(table.columns)
 
-    max_columns = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_columns
     if console_width == float("inf"):
         # When there's infinite display space, only subset columns
         # if an explicit limit has been set.
@@ -260,10 +319,7 @@ def to_rich_table(table, console_width=None):
         if orig_ncols > len(computed_cols):
             table = table.select(*computed_cols)
 
-    # Compute the data and return a pandas dataframe
-    nrows = ibis.options.repr.interactive.max_rows
-    result = table.limit(nrows + 1).to_pyarrow()
-
+    result = table.limit(max_rows + 1).to_pyarrow()
     # Now format the columns in order, stopping if the console width would
     # be exceeded.
     col_info = []
@@ -272,12 +328,14 @@ def to_rich_table(table, console_width=None):
     remaining = console_width - 1  # 1 char for left boundary
     for name, dtype in table.schema().items():
         formatted, min_width, max_width = format_column(
-            dtype, result[name].to_pylist()[:nrows]
+            dtype,
+            result[name].to_pylist()[:max_rows],
+            max_length=max_length,
+            max_string=max_string,
+            max_depth=max_depth,
         )
         dtype_str = format_dtype(dtype)
-        if ibis.options.repr.interactive.show_types and not isinstance(
-            dtype, (dt.Struct, dt.Map, dt.Array)
-        ):
+        if show_types and not isinstance(dtype, (dt.Struct, dt.Map, dt.Array)):
             # Don't truncate non-nested dtypes
             min_width = max(min_width, len(dtype_str))
 
@@ -375,7 +433,7 @@ def add_row(*args, **kwargs):
     else:
         add_row = rich_table.add_row
 
-    if ibis.options.repr.interactive.show_types:
+    if show_types:
         add_row(
             *(Align(s, align="left") for s in formatted_dtypes),
             end_section=True,
@@ -385,7 +443,7 @@ def add_row(*args, **kwargs):
         add_row(*row)
 
     # If the rows are truncated, add a trailing ellipsis row
-    if len(result) > nrows:
+    if len(result) > max_rows:
         rich_table.add_row(
             *(Align("[dim]…[/]", align=c.justify) for c in rich_table.columns)
         )
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/relations.py b/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
index c7d2b47bed656..265d2b34f9e52 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 import toolz
 from public import public
+from rich.table import Table as RichTable
 
 import ibis
 import ibis.common.exceptions as com
@@ -352,8 +353,6 @@ def _cast(self, schema: SupportsSchema, cast_method: str = "cast") -> Table:
         return self.select(*cols)
 
     def __interactive_rich_console__(self, console, options):
-        from ibis.expr.types.pretty import to_rich_table
-
         if console.is_jupyter:
             # Rich infers a console width in jupyter notebooks, but since
             # notebooks can use horizontal scroll bars we don't want to apply a
@@ -367,7 +366,7 @@ def __interactive_rich_console__(self, console, options):
             width = options.max_width
 
         try:
-            table = to_rich_table(self, width)
+            table = self.preview(console_width=width)
         except Exception as e:
             # In IPython exceptions inside of _repr_mimebundle_ are swallowed to
             # allow calling several display functions and choosing to display