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Types of Barcodes: Choosing the Right Barcode

Barcode stickers are generally a method of representing data in a visual–Machine-Readable Form.  They’re commonly classified into two:  Linear or one-dimensional (1D) and other one is Two-Dimensional (2D).

1-D specifically represents the data in vertical lines with parallel spacing. Holds less than 85 characters and creates a wide barcode. It is sometimes difficult to scan from phone and tablet cameras.

2-D has patterns of squares, dots, hexagons, and other geometric patterns. Though small by size, holds hundreds of characters – provides ease in scanning via phone and tablet camera.

With a plethora of barcodes available on your table, it seems quite perplexing to understand which one is best for your industry. Here we’ll solve your query by bifurcating the barcodes into 1-D and 2-D to aid you in selecting the best for your application.

One-Dimensional (1D) Barcodes

Code 39

Code 39 barcodes are one of the most popular and useful barcodes. It is used to label the goods or products in any industry specifically in Defense Department and Automobile Industry. It can encode the data up to 43 characters from its latest versions. It permits uppercase alphanumeric characters. Other names are Code 3 of 9, Code 9/3, Type 39, USS Code 39, and USD-3.

Code 128

Code 128 is quite powerful in comparison to Code 39. It is highly used in the logistics Department, Industrial Applications, and Property ID tags. It supports any character in ASCII 128. All in all, it is geared towards non-POS products. It supports Upper and lowercase alphanumeric characters. Other names are Code 128A, B, or C.

UPC

UPC (Universal Product Code) barcodes are found easily on every near and dear retail product. It is popularly used in United Stated. It is created for grocery stores to provide rapid receipt printing and inventory tracking services.  Once a UPC number is secured, the manufacturer will manually receive a unique company code to be commensurate with their product numbers. Takes into account only Numeric characters. Other names: UPC-A, UPC-E.

EAN

EAN is similar to UPC codes. The main difference is its Geographical Popularity. EAN-13 encodes 13 numeric digits, while UPC encodes 12 numeric digits.  One of its variants, EAN-8 (covering eight digits) is applicable where space is very limited for product labeling. Other names are EAN-13, EAN-8, and ISBN.

Interleaved 2 of 5

Interleaved 2 of 5, or ITF, barcodes are widely used for the labeling and packaging of materials. It can handle only high-printing tolerances which are essential for corrugated cardboard. This barcode is often printed with a black border for scanner readability. Takes into account only numeric characters. Other names: Code 2 of 5, ITF, ITF-14.

Code bar

Code bars are commonly used in Logistics Department, Healthcare, and Educational sector including U.S. blood banks, libraries, photo labs, and FedEx. It enables a self-checking mode that encodes up to 16 characters. All Alphanumeric characters are taken into consideration. Other names are Code 2 of 7, USD-4, Ames Code.

Two-Dimensional (2D) Barcodes

QR barcode

QR barcodes are the most common type of 2D matrix. It provides quick access to any information via smartphone. Often used in tracking marketing activities, product labels, business cards, and advertising efforts.  It is high fault tolerance and considers all characters.

Data Matrix

Data Matrix codes are more of black and white modules – arranged in either a square or rectangle pattern. They are used in Electronics, Government Departments, and Product Labelling. With a high-tolerance capacity, it can read quickly.  Supports alphanumeric characters.  Other names are Micro-Data matrix.

PDF417

PDF417 codes are majorly used in Government Departments and Logistic Management. It has utmost importance where applications require large amounts of data – Transportation and Inventory Management. PDF (Portable Data File) consists of four bars and 17 units long space. It can hold over a kilobyte of data. Other names are Truncated PDF417.

AZTEC

Aztec codes are commonly used in the transportation industry, mainly in tickets booking. The specialty is that it can be decoded though have a bad resolution. Since it doesn’t require any blank surroundings, it consumes less space.

Over to You

The more information you know about barcodes, the quicker you can match them with your product. Select precisely what suits your application and proceed further to get it printed on labels.

Written By

We, Raj Barcode Systems Private Limited, are known Wholesale Trader, Manufacturer and Importer of Barcode Labels, Desktop Printer, Mid Range Industrial Printers, Industrial Printers, Mobile Printers, Barcode Scanners, etc.

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