Bar Code Specifications

Bar Code 2 of 5 was developed in the late 1960s. It encodes only numeric data (the numbers from 0 - 9) and has a low print density. It is used in airline tickets, photo finishing, and warehouses. Bar codes can be of variable length and don't use a checksum. Bar code 2 of 5 is no longer widely used.

Bar Code 2 of 5 Interleaved is a high density numeric bar code. It can encode only pairs of numbers (the bar code must have an even number of digits). Each bar code pattern encodes the odd digit in the pattern of bars and the even digit in the pattern of spaces between bars. To encode an odd number of digits you must pad the left most digit with a zero. Bar codes can be of variable length and don't normally use a checksum, although a modulo 10 check character is used in some special situations. Partial scans are possible since bar code 2 of 5 interleaved is not self checking. Fixed length data fields are often used to circumvent this problem. We offer both standard and human readable versions of this font.

Bar Code 3 of 9 is a self checking, medium density, alpha-numeric bar code. It was the first alpha-numeric bar code developed and is the most widely used (non-retail) bar code. To make a bar code you simply surround your data with the Start/Stop character (the *). The standard version encodes 43 characters: A-Z, 0-9, space, and -.$/+%. A Full ASCII version is available (provided your bar code reader supports it) that can encode the entire ASCII character set, but at the cost of print density. Bar codes can be of variable length and don't normally use a checksum (a few industries use an optional modulo 43 checksum). We offer both standard and human readable versions of this font.

Bar Code 93 was introduced in 1982 and was designed to complement bar code 3 of 9. Generally, bar codes 3 of 9 and 93 can be mixed together and automatically read. Bar code 93 is a high density alpha-numeric bar code that also supports a Full ASCII version without the ambiguity of the 3 of 9 bar code. The standard version can encode 47 characters: A-Z, 0-9, plus "-", ".", " ", "$", "/", "+", "%", and 4 special characters for Full ASCII mode. Bar codes can be of variable length and require a checksum. We offer both standard and human readable versions of this font.

Bar Code 128 is a high density alpha-numeric bar code. It has 106 different characters and three subsets, A, B, & C, which are just different ways of interpreting the data encoded by the bar code. UCC / EAN 128 is another variation of subset C. Using the subset A or B Start code you can encode the entire ASCII character set, including control codes. With a subset C Start code you encode high density numeric data. Bar code 128 requires a checksum. Bar codes can be of variable length, although subset C requires an even number of digits. Bar Code 128 also is used to make SCC-14 and SSCC-18 bar codes. We offer both standard and human readable versions of this font.

The Bookland bar code is a special version of the EAN 13 bar code. Your ISBN number is translated into an EAN13 bar code. A five digit supplemental code may also be added to encode the book price.

Codabar was developed in 1972 and is used by libraries, blood banks, and air parcel services. Codabar is a low density numeric bar code. It covers 16 characters: 0-9, plus "-", ".", ":", "$", "/", and "+". The use of four separate Start and Stop characters allows useful information to be encoded by characters normally considered as overhead. Bar codes can be of variable length and do not require a checksum. We offer the Rationalized Codabar with a wide to narrow ratio of 3, allowing the most widely readable bar codes. Our set includes both standard and human readable versions of this font.

The European Article Numbering system, EAN, was introduced in 1978. The two different versions of EAN bar codes, EAN 8 and EAN 13, encode 8 and 13 digit numbers respectively. A special version of the EAN 13 bar code with a 5 digit supplemental code is used to encode ISBN numbers on all books. This bar code is called Bookland.

The PostNet bar code was developed by the U.S. Post Office to encode Zip Code information. It differs from other bar codes in that information is conveyed by the height of each bar code character. Postnet is a numeric bar code with a fixed length and a checksum. Note that standard bar code readers can not read the PostNet bar code. Also note that while we supply a scalable TrueType PostNet font, it must be used at a fixed size to be readable by the Post Office.

The UPC bar code is used in North America to identify products in a retail environment. UPC-A is a fixed length bar code that always contains 12 digits. The first 6 or more digits are assigned by the Uniform Code Council. The remaining digits are used to identify a product. The final digit is a checksum. The UPC-E bar code is a shortened version of UPC-A for use when space is not available for the standard UPC-A code. UPC bar codes may be read from either right to left or left to right. While our UPC bar codes come in a scalable TrueType font format, certain size restrictions apply to its use.