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Zint Barcode Generator and Zint Barcode Studio User Manual
Version 2.11.0.9
June 2022
*******************************************************************************
* For reference the following is a text-only version of the Zint manual, *
* generated from "docs/manual.pmd" by pandoc. *
* A HTML version can be accessed at http://zint.org.uk/Manual.aspx *
* however this text file is more likely to be up-to-date. *
*******************************************************************************
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Glossary
- 2. Installing Zint
- 2.1 Linux
- 2.2 Microsoft Windows
- 2.3 Apple macOS
- 2.4 Zint Tcl Backend
- 3. Using Zint Barcode Studio
- 3.1 Main Window and Data Tab
- 3.2 GS1 Composite Groupbox
- 3.3 Additional ECI/Data Segments Groupbox
- 3.4 Symbology-specific Tab
- 3.5 Appearance Tab
- 3.6 Colour Dialog
- 3.7 Data Dialog
- 3.8 Sequence Dialog
- 3.9 Export Dialog
- 3.10 CLI Equivalent Dialog
- 4. Using the Command Line
- 4.1 Inputting Data
- 4.2 Directing Output
- 4.3 Selecting Barcode Type
- 4.4 Adjusting Height
- 4.5 Adjusting Whitespace
- 4.6 Adding Boundary Bars and Boxes
- 4.7 Using Colour
- 4.8 Rotating the Symbol
- 4.9 Adjusting Image Size
- 4.9.1 Scaling Example
- 4.9.2 MaxiCode Raster Scaling
- 4.10 Input Modes
- 4.10.1 Unicode, Data, and GS1 Modes
- 4.10.2 Input Modes and ECI
- 4.10.2.1 Input Modes and ECI Example 1
- 4.10.2.2 Input Modes and ECI Example 2
- 4.10.2.3 Input Modes and ECI Example 3
- 4.11 Batch Processing
- 4.12 Direct Output
- 4.13 Automatic Filenames
- 4.14 Working with Dots
- 4.15 Multiple Segments
- 4.16 Structured Append
- 4.17 Help Options
- 4.18 Other Output Options
- 5. Using the API
- 5.1 Creating and Deleting Symbols
- 5.2 Encoding and Saving to File
- 5.3 Encoding and Printing Functions in Depth
- 5.4 Buffering Symbols in Memory (raster)
- 5.5 Buffering Symbols in Memory (vector)
- 5.6 Setting Options
- 5.7 Handling Errors
- 5.8 Specifying a Symbology
- 5.9 Adjusting Other Output Options
- 5.10 Setting the Input Mode
- 5.11 Multiple Segments
- 5.12 Verifying Symbology Availability
- 5.13 Checking Symbology Capabilities
- 5.14 Zint Version
- 6. Types of Symbology
- 6.1 One-Dimensional Symbols
- 6.1.1 Code 11
- 6.1.2 Code 2 of 5
- 6.1.2.1 Standard Code 2 of 5
- 6.1.2.2 IATA Code 2 of 5
- 6.1.2.3 Industrial Code 2 of 5
- 6.1.2.4 Interleaved Code 2 of 5 (ISO 16390)
- 6.1.2.5 Code 2 of 5 Data Logic
- 6.1.2.6 ITF-14
- 6.1.2.7 Deutsche Post Leitcode
- 6.1.2.8 Deutsche Post Identcode
- 6.1.3 UPC (Universal Product Code) (ISO 15420)
- 6.1.3.1 UPC Version A
- 6.1.3.2 UPC Version E
- 6.1.4 EAN (European Article Number) (ISO 15420)
- 6.1.4.1 EAN-2, EAN-5, EAN-8 and EAN-13
- 6.1.4.2 SBN, ISBN and ISBN-13
- 6.1.5 Plessey
- 6.1.5.1 UK Plessey
- 6.1.5.2 MSI Plessey
- 6.1.6 Telepen
- 6.1.6.1 Telepen Alpha
- 6.1.6.2 Telepen Numeric
- 6.1.7 Code 39
- 6.1.7.1 Standard Code 39 (ISO 16388)
- 6.1.7.2 Extended Code 39
- 6.1.7.3 Code 93
- 6.1.7.4 PZN (Pharmazentralnummer)
- 6.1.7.5 LOGMARS
- 6.1.7.6 Code 32
- 6.1.7.7 HIBC Code 39
- 6.1.7.8 Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
- 6.1.8 Codabar (EN 798)
- 6.1.9 Pharmacode
- 6.1.10 Code 128
- 6.1.10.1 Standard Code 128 (ISO 15417)
- 6.1.10.2 Code 128 Subset B
- 6.1.10.3 GS1-128
- 6.1.10.4 EAN-14
- 6.1.10.5 NVE-18 (SSCC-18)
- 6.1.10.6 HIBC Code 128
- 6.1.10.7 DPD Code
- 6.1.11 GS1 DataBar (ISO 24724)
- 6.1.11.1 GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional and GS1 DataBar Truncated
- 6.1.11.2 GS1 DataBar Limited
- 6.1.11.3 GS1 DataBar Expanded
- 6.1.12 Korea Post Barcode
- 6.1.13 Channel Code
- 6.2 Stacked Symbologies
- 6.2.1 Basic Symbol Stacking
- 6.2.2 Codablock-F
- 6.2.3 Code 16K (EN 12323)
- 6.2.4 PDF417 (ISO 15438)
- 6.2.5 Compact PDF417 (ISO 15438)
- 6.2.6 MicroPDF417 (ISO 24728)
- 6.2.7 GS1 DataBar Stacked (ISO 24724)
- 6.2.7.1 GS1 DataBar Stacked
- 6.2.7.2 GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional
- 6.2.7.3 GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked
- 6.2.8 Code 49
- 6.3 GS1 Composite Symbols (ISO 24723)
- 6.3.1 CC-A
- 6.3.2 CC-B
- 6.3.3 CC-C
- 6.4 Two-Track Symbols
- 6.4.1 Two-Track Pharmacode
- 6.4.2 POSTNET
- 6.4.3 PLANET
- 6.5 4-State Postal Codes
- 6.5.1 Australia Post 4-State Symbols
- 6.5.1.1 Customer Barcodes
- 6.5.1.2 Reply Paid Barcode
- 6.5.1.3 Routing Barcode
- 6.5.1.4 Redirect Barcode
- 6.5.2 Dutch Post KIX Code
- 6.5.3 Royal Mail 4-State Customer Code (RM4SCC)
- 6.5.4 Royal Mail 4-State Mailmark
- 6.5.5 USPS Intelligent Mail
- 6.5.6 Japanese Postal Code
- 6.5.7 DAFT Code
- 6.6 Matrix Symbols
- 6.6.1 Data Matrix (ISO 16022)
- 6.6.2 QR Code (ISO 18004)
- 6.6.3 Micro QR Code (ISO 18004)
- 6.6.4 Rectangular Micro QR Code (rMQR) (ISO 23941)
- 6.6.5 UPNQR (Univerzalnega Plačilnega Naloga QR)
- 6.6.6 MaxiCode (ISO 16023)
- 6.6.7 Aztec Code (ISO 24778)
- 6.6.8 Aztec Runes (ISO 24778)
- 6.6.9 Code One
- 6.6.10 Grid Matrix
- 6.6.11 DotCode
- 6.6.12 Han Xin Code (ISO 20830)
- 6.6.13 Ultracode
- 6.7 Other Barcode-Like Markings
- 6.7.1 Facing Identification Mark (FIM)
- 6.7.2 Flattermarken
- 7. Legal and Version Information
- 7.1 License
- 7.2 Patent Issues
- 7.3 Version Information
- 7.4 Sources of Information
- 7.5 Standards Compliance
- 7.5.1 Symbology Standards
- 7.5.2 General Standards
- Annex A. Character Encoding
- A.1 ASCII Standard
- A.2 Latin Alphabet No. 1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1)
- Annex B. Man Page ZINT(1)
- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- OPTIONS
- EXIT STATUS
- EXAMPLES
- BUGS
- SEE ALSO
- CONFORMING TO
- COPYRIGHT
- AUTHOR
1. Introduction
The Zint project aims to provide a complete cross-platform open source barcode
generating solution. The package currently consists of a Qt based GUI, a CLI
command line executable and a library with an API to allow developers access to
the capabilities of Zint. It is hoped that Zint provides a solution which is
flexible enough for professional users while at the same time takes care of as
much of the processing as possible to allow easy translation from input data to
barcode image.
The library which forms the main component of the Zint project is currently able
to encode data in over 50 barcode symbologies (types of barcode), for each of
which it is possible to translate that data from either UTF-8 (Unicode) or a raw
8-bit data stream. The image can be rendered as either a Portable Network
Graphic (PNG) image, Windows Bitmap (BMP), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF),
ZSoft Paintbrush image (PCX), Tagged Image File Format (TIF), Enhanced Metafile
Format (EMF), as Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), or as a Scalable Vector Graphic
(SVG). Many options are available for setting the characteristics of the output
image including the size and colour of the image, the amount of error correction
used in the symbol and the orientation of the image.
1.1 Glossary
Some of the words and phrases used in this document are specific to barcoding,
and so a brief explanation is given to help understanding:
symbol
A symbol is an image which encodes data according to one of the standards.
This encompasses barcodes (linear symbols) as well as any of the other
methods of representing data used in this program.
symbology
A method of encoding data to create a certain type of symbol.
linear
A linear or one-dimensional symbol is one which consists of bars and spaces,
and is what most people associate with the term ‘barcode’. Examples include
Code 128.
stacked
A stacked symbol consists of multiple linear symbols placed one above
another and which together hold the message, usually alongside some error
correction data. Examples include PDF417.
matrix
A matrix symbol is one based on a (usually square) grid of elements called
modules. Examples include Data Matrix, but MaxiCode and DotCode are also
considered matrix symbologies.
composite
A composite symbology is one which is made up of elements which are both
linear and stacked. Those currently supported are made up of a linear
‘primary’ message above which is printed a stacked component based on the
PDF417 symbology. These symbols also have a separator which separates the
linear and the stacked components.
X-dimension
The X-dimension of a symbol is the size (usually the width) of the smallest
element. For a linear symbology this is the width of the smallest bar. For
matrix symbologies it is the width of the smallest module (usually a
square). Barcode widths and heights are expressed in multiples of the
X-dimension. Most linear symbologies can have their height varied whereas
most matrix symbologies have a fixed width-to-height ratio where the height
is determined by the width.
GS1 data
This is a structured way of representing information which consists of
‘chunks’ of data, each of which starts with an Application Identifier (AI).
The AI identifies what type of information is being encoded.
Reader Initialisation (Programming)
Some symbologies allow a special character to be included which can be
detected by the scanning equipment as signifying that the data is used to
program or change settings in that equipment. This data is usually not
passed on to the software which handles normal input data. This feature
should only be used if you are familiar with the programming codes relevant
to your scanner.
ECI
The Extended Channel Interpretations (ECI) mechanism allows for
multi-language data to be encoded in symbols which would usually support
only Latin-1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1 plus ASCII) characters. This can be useful, for
example, if you need to encode Cyrillic characters, but should be used with
caution as not all scanners support this method.
Two other concepts that are important are raster and vector.
raster
A low level bitmap representation of an image. BMP, GIF, PCX, PNG and TIF
are raster file formats.
vector
A high level command- or data-based representation of an image. EMF, EPS and
SVG are vector file formats. They require renderers to turn them into
bitmaps.
2. Installing Zint
2.1 Linux
The easiest way to configure compilation is to take advantage of the CMake
utilities. You will need to install CMake and libpng-dev first. For instance on
apt systems:
sudo apt install git cmake build-essential libpng-dev
If you want to take advantage of Zint Barcode Studio you will also need to have
Qt and its component "Desktop gcc 64-bit" installed, as well as mesa. For
details see "README.linux" in the project root directory.
Once you have fulfilled these requirements unzip the source code tarball or
clone the latest source
git clone https://git.code.sf.net/p/zint/code zint
and follow these steps in the top directory:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install
The CLI command line program can be accessed by typing
zint [options]
The GUI can be accessed by typing
zint-qt
To test that the installation has been successful a shell script is included in
the "frontend" sub-directory. To run the test type
./test.sh
This should create numerous files in the sub-directory "frontend/test_sh_out"
showing the many modes of operation which are available from Zint.
2.2 Microsoft Windows
For Microsoft Windows, Zint is distributed as a binary executable. Simply
download the ZIP file, then right-click on the ZIP file and "Extract All". A new
folder will be created within which are two binary files:
- qtZint.exe - Zint Barcode Studio
- zint.exe - Command Line Interface
For fresh releases you will get a warning message from Microsoft Defender
SmartScreen that this is an ‘unrecognised app’. This happens because Zint is a
free and open-source software project with no advertising and hence no income,
meaning we are not able to afford the $664 per year to have the application
digitally signed by Microsoft.
To build Zint on Windows from source, see "win32/README".
2.3 Apple macOS
The latest Zint CLI and libzint can be installed using Homebrew.[1] To install
Homebrew input the following line into the macOS terminal
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Once Homebrew is installed use the following command to install the Zint.
brew install zint
To build from source see "README.macos" in the project root directory.
2.4 Zint Tcl Backend
The Tcl backend in the "backend_tcl" sub-directory may be built using the
provided TEA (Tcl Extension Architecture) build on Linux, Windows, macOS and
Android. For Windows, an MSVC6 makefile is also available.
3. Using Zint Barcode Studio
Zint Barcode Studio is the graphical user interface for Zint. If you are
starting from a command line interface you can start the GUI by typing
zint-qt
or on Windows
qtZint.exe
See the note in section 2.2 Microsoft Windows about Microsoft Defender
SmartScreen.
Below is a brief guide to Zint Barcode Studio.
3.1 Main Window and Data Tab
[Zint Barcode Studio on startup - main window with Data tab]
This is the main window of Zint Barcode Studio. The top of the window shows a
preview of the barcode which the current settings would create. These settings
can be changed using the controls below. The text box in the "Data to Encode"
groupbox on this first Data tab allows you to enter the data to be encoded. When
you are happy with your settings you can use the "Save As" button to save the
resulting image to a file.
The "Symbology" drop-down box gives access to all of the symbologies supported
by Zint shown in alphabetical order. The text box to its right can filter the
drop-down to only show matching symbologies. For instance typing "mail" will
only show barcodes in the drop-down whose names contain the word "mail". Each
word entered will match. So typing "mail post" will show barcodes whose names
contain "mail" or "post" (or both).
The "BMP" and "SVG" buttons at the bottom will copy the image to the clipboard
in BMP format and SVG format respectively. Further copy-to-clipboard formats are
available by clicking the "Menu" button, along with "CLI Equivalent", "Save As",
"Factory Reset", "Help", "About" and "Quit" options. Most of the options are
also available in a context menu by right-clicking the preview.
[Zint Barcode Studio main menu (left) and context menu (right)]
3.2 GS1 Composite Groupbox
[Zint Barcode Studio encoding GS1 Composite data]
In the middle of the Data tab is an area for creating composite symbologies
which appears when the currently selected symbology is supported by the GS1
Composite symbology standard. GS1 data can then be entered with square brackets
used to separate Application Identifier (AI) information from data as shown
here. For details, see 6.3 GS1 Composite Symbols (ISO 24723).
3.3 Additional ECI/Data Segments Groupbox
[Zint Barcode Studio encoding multiple segments]
For symbologies that support ECIs (Extended Channel Interpretations) the middle
of the Data tab is an area for entering additional data segments with their own
ECIs. Up to 4 segments (including the main "Data to Encode" as segment 0) may be
specified. See 4.15 Multiple Segments for details.
3.4 Symbology-specific Tab
[Zint Barcode Studio showing Aztec Code options]
For a number of symbologies extra options are available to fine-tune the format,
appearance and content of the symbol generated. These are given in a second tab.
Here the method is shown for adjusting the size or error correction level of an
Aztec Code symbol, selecting how its data is to be treated, and setting it as
part of a Structured Append sequence of symbols.
3.5 Appearance Tab
[Zint Barcode Studio showing Appearance tab options]
The Appearance tab can be used to adjust the dimensions and other properties of
the symbol. The "Height" value affects the height of symbologies which do not
have a fixed width-to-height ratio, i.e. those other than matrix symbologies.
Boundary bars ("Border Type") can be added and adjusted ("Border Width") and the
size of the saved image ("Printing Scale") can be specified.
3.6 Colour Dialog
[The colour picker tool]
A colour dialog is used to adjust the colour of the foreground and background of
the generated image. In the Appearance tab click on the foreground eye [eye] or
background eye [eye] button respectively. The colours can be reset to
black-on-white using the "Reset" button, and exchanged one for the other using
the swap [swap] button next to it.
3.7 Data Dialog
[Entering longer text input]
Clicking on the ellipsis "..." button next to the "Data to Encode" text box in
the Data tab opens a larger window which can be used to enter longer strings of
text. You can also use this window to load data from a file.
The dialog is also available for additional ECI/Data segments by clicking the
ellipsis button to the right of their data text boxes.
Note that if your data contains line feeds (LF) then the data will be split into
separate lines in the dialog box. On saving the data back to the main text box
any separate lines in the data will be escaped as '\n' and the "Parse Escapes"
checkbox will be set. This only affects line feeds, not carriage returns (CR) or
CR+LF pairs, and behaves the same on both Windows and Unix. (For details on
escape sequences, see 4.1 Inputting Data.)
3.8 Sequence Dialog
[Creating a sequence of barcode symbols]
Clicking on the sequence button (labelled "1234..") in the Data tab opens the
Sequence Dialog. This allows you to create multiple barcode images by entering a
sequence of data inputs in the right hand panel. Sequences can also be
automatically generated by entering parameters on the left hand side or by
importing the data from a file. Zint will generate a separate barcode image for
each line of text in the right hand panel. The format field determines the
format of the automatically generated sequence where characters have the
meanings as given below:
Character Effect
--------------------- --------------------------
$ Insert leading zeroes
# Insert leading spaces
* Insert leading asterisks
Any other character Interpreted literally
: Table : Sequence Format Characters:
3.9 Export Dialog
[Setting filenames for an exported sequence of barcode symbols]
The Export Dialog invoked by pressing the "Export" button in the Sequence Dialog
sets the parameters for exporting a sequence of barcode images. Here you can set
the filename and the output image format. Note that the symbology, colour and
other formatting information are taken from the main window.
3.10 CLI Equivalent Dialog
[CLI Equivalent Dialog]
The "CLI Equivalent" dialog can be invoked from the main menu or the context
menu and displays the CLI command that will reproduce the barcode as currently
configured in the GUI. Press the "Copy" button to copy the command to the
clipboard, which can then be pasted into the command line.
4. Using the Command Line
This section describes how to encode data using the command line frontend
program. The examples given are for the Unix platform, but the same options are
available for Windows - just remember to include the executable file extension
if ".EXE" is not in your PATHEXT environment variable, i.e.:
zint.exe -d "This Text"
For compatibility with Windows the examples use double quotes to delimit data,
though on Unix single quotes are generally preferable as they stop the shell
from processing any characters such as backslash or dollar. A single quote
itself is dealt with by terminating the single-quoted text, backslashing the
single quote, and then continuing:
zint -d 'Text containing a single quote '\'' in the middle'
Some examples use backslash (\) to continue commands onto the next line. For
Windows, use caret (^) instead.
Certain options that take values have short names as well as long ones, namely
-b (--barcode), -d (--data), -i (--input), -o (--output) and -w (--whitesp). For
these a space should be used to separate the short name from its value, to avoid
ambiguity. For long names a space or an equals sign may be used. For instance:
zint -d "This Text"
zint --data="This Text"
zint --data "This Text"
The examples use a space separator for short option names, and an equals sign
for long option names.
4.1 Inputting Data
The data to encode can be entered at the command line using the -d or --data
option, for example
zint -d "This Text"
This will encode the text "This Text". Zint will use the default symbology, Code
128, and output to the default file "out.png" in the current directory.
Alternatively, if libpng was not present when Zint was built, the default output
file will be "out.gif".
The data input to the Zint CLI is assumed to be encoded in UTF-8 (Unicode)
format (Zint will correctly handle UTF-8 data on Windows). If you are encoding
characters beyond the 7-bit ASCII set using a scheme other than UTF-8 then you
will need to set the appropriate input options as shown in 4.10 Input Modes
below.
Non-printing characters can be entered on the command line using backslash (\)
as an escape character in combination with the --esc switch. Permissible
sequences are shown in the table below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Escape ASCII Name Interpretation
Sequence Equivalent
----------- ------------ ------- -------------------------------------------
\0 0x00 NUL Null character
\E 0x04 EOT End of Transmission
\a 0x07 BEL Bell
\b 0x08 BS Backspace
\t 0x09 HT Horizontal Tab
\n 0x0A LF Line Feed
\v 0x0B VT Vertical Tab
\f 0x0C FF Form Feed
\r 0x0D CR Carriage Return
\e 0x1B ESC Escape
\G 0x1D GS Group Separator
\R 0x1E RS Record Separator
\\ 0x5C \ Backslash
\dNNN NNN Any 8-bit character where NNN is decimal
(0-255)
\xNN 0xNN Any 8-bit character where NN is hexadecimal
\uNNNN Any 16-bit Unicode BMP[2] character where
NNNN is hexadecimal
\UNNNNNN Any 21-bit Unicode character where NNNNNN
is hexadecimal (maximum 0x10FFFF)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : Escape Sequences:
Input data can be read directly from file using the -i or --input switch as
shown below. The input file is assumed to be UTF-8 formatted unless an
alternative mode is selected. This command replaces the use of the -d switch.
zint -i somefile.txt
Note that except when batch processing (see 4.11 Batch Processing below), the
file should not end with a newline (LF on Unix, CR+LF on Windows) unless you
want the newline to be encoded in the symbol.
4.2 Directing Output
Output can be directed to a file other than the default using the -o or --output
switch. For example:
zint -o here.png -d "This Text"
This draws a Code 128 barcode in the file "here.png". If an Encapsulated
PostScript file is needed simply append the filename with ".eps", and so on for
the other supported file types:
zint -o there.eps -d "This Text"
4.3 Selecting Barcode Type
Selecting which type of barcode you wish to produce (i.e. which symbology to
use) can be done at the command line using the -b or --barcode switch followed
by the appropriate integer value or name in the following table. For example to
create a Data Matrix symbol you could use:
zint -b 71 -o datamatrix.png -d "Data to encode"
or
zint -b DATAMATRIX -o datamatrix.png -d "Data to encode"
Names are treated case-insensitively by the CLI, and the BARCODE_ prefix and any
underscores are optional.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numeric Name[3] Barcode Name
Value
--------- ------------------------- --------------------------------------------
1 BARCODE_CODE11 Code 11
2* BARCODE_C25STANDARD Standard Code 2 of 5
3 BARCODE_C25INTER Interleaved 2 of 5
4 BARCODE_C25IATA Code 2 of 5 IATA
6 BARCODE_C25LOGIC Code 2 of 5 Data Logic
7 BARCODE_C25IND Code 2 of 5 Industrial
8 BARCODE_CODE39 Code 3 of 9 (Code 39)
9 BARCODE_EXCODE39 Extended Code 3 of 9 (Code 39+)
13 BARCODE_EANX EAN (EAN-2, EAN-5, EAN-8 and EAN-13)
14 BARCODE_EANX_CHK EAN + Check Digit
16* BARCODE_GS1_128 GS1-128 (UCC.EAN-128)
18 BARCODE_CODABAR Codabar
20 BARCODE_CODE128 Code 128 (automatic subset switching)
21 BARCODE_DPLEIT Deutshe Post Leitcode
22 BARCODE_DPIDENT Deutshe Post Identcode
23 BARCODE_CODE16K Code 16K
24 BARCODE_CODE49 Code 49
25 BARCODE_CODE93 Code 93
28 BARCODE_FLAT Flattermarken
29* BARCODE_DBAR_OMN GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional (including GS1
DataBar Truncated)
30* BARCODE_DBAR_LTD GS1 DataBar Limited
31* BARCODE_DBAR_EXP GS1 DataBar Expanded
32 BARCODE_TELEPEN Telepen Alpha
34 BARCODE_UPCA UPC-A
35 BARCODE_UPCA_CHK UPC-A + Check Digit
37 BARCODE_UPCE UPC-E
38 BARCODE_UPCE_CHK UPC-E + Check Digit
40 BARCODE_POSTNET POSTNET
47 BARCODE_MSI_PLESSEY MSI Plessey
49 BARCODE_FIM FIM
50 BARCODE_LOGMARS LOGMARS
51 BARCODE_PHARMA Pharmacode One-Track
52 BARCODE_PZN PZN
53 BARCODE_PHARMA_TWO Pharmacode Two-Track
55 BARCODE_PDF417 PDF417
56* BARCODE_PDF417COMP Compact PDF417 (Truncated PDF417)
57 BARCODE_MAXICODE MaxiCode
58 BARCODE_QRCODE QR Code
60 BARCODE_CODE128B Code 128 (Subset B)
63 BARCODE_AUSPOST Australia Post Standard Customer
66 BARCODE_AUSREPLY Australia Post Reply Paid
67 BARCODE_AUSROUTE Australia Post Routing
68 BARCODE_AUSDIRECT Australia Post Redirection
69 BARCODE_ISBNX ISBN (EAN-13 with verification stage)
70 BARCODE_RM4SCC Royal Mail 4-State (RM4SCC)
71 BARCODE_DATAMATRIX Data Matrix (ECC200)
72 BARCODE_EAN14 EAN-14
73 BARCODE_VIN Vehicle Identification Number
74 BARCODE_CODABLOCKF Codablock-F
75 BARCODE_NVE18 NVE-18 (SSCC-18)
76 BARCODE_JAPANPOST Japanese Postal Code
77 BARCODE_KOREAPOST Korea Post
79* BARCODE_DBAR_STK GS1 DataBar Stacked
80* BARCODE_DBAR_OMNSTK GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional
81* BARCODE_DBAR_EXPSTK GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked
82 BARCODE_PLANET PLANET
84 BARCODE_MICROPDF417 MicroPDF417
85* BARCODE_USPS_IMAIL USPS Intelligent Mail (OneCode)
86 BARCODE_PLESSEY UK Plessey
87 BARCODE_TELEPEN_NUM Telepen Numeric
89 BARCODE_ITF14 ITF-14
90 BARCODE_KIX Dutch Post KIX Code
92 BARCODE_AZTEC Aztec Code
93 BARCODE_DAFT DAFT Code
96 BARCODE_DPD DPD Code
97 BARCODE_MICROQR Micro QR Code
98 BARCODE_HIBC_128 HIBC Code 128
99 BARCODE_HIBC_39 HIBC Code 39
102 BARCODE_HIBC_DM HIBC Data Matrix ECC200
104 BARCODE_HIBC_QR HIBC QR Code
106 BARCODE_HIBC_PDF HIBC PDF417
108 BARCODE_HIBC_MICPDF HIBC MicroPDF417
110 BARCODE_HIBC_BLOCKF HIBC Codablock-F
112 BARCODE_HIBC_AZTEC HIBC Aztec Code
115 BARCODE_DOTCODE DotCode
116 BARCODE_HANXIN Han Xin (Chinese Sensible) Code
121 BARCODE_MAILMARK Royal Mail 4-state Mailmark
128 BARCODE_AZRUNE Aztec Runes
129 BARCODE_CODE32 Code 32
130 BARCODE_EANX_CC Composite Symbol with EAN linear component
131* BARCODE_GS1_128_CC Composite Symbol with GS1-128 linear
component
132* BARCODE_DBAR_OMN_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar
Omnidirectional linear component
133* BARCODE_DBAR_LTD_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Limited
linear component
134* BARCODE_DBAR_EXP_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Expanded
linear component
135 BARCODE_UPCA_CC Composite Symbol with UPC-A linear component
136 BARCODE_UPCE_CC Composite Symbol with UPC-E linear component
137* BARCODE_DBAR_STK_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Stacked
component
138* BARCODE_DBAR_OMNSTK_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Stacked
Omnidirectional component
139* BARCODE_DBAR_EXPSTK_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Expanded
Stacked component
140 BARCODE_CHANNEL Channel Code
141 BARCODE_CODEONE Code One
142 BARCODE_GRIDMATRIX Grid Matrix
143 BARCODE_UPNQR UPNQR (Univerzalnega Plačilnega Naloga QR)
144 BARCODE_ULTRA Ultracode
145 BARCODE_RMQR Rectangular Micro QR Code (rMQR)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : Barcode Types (Symbologies):
4.4 Adjusting Height
The height of a symbol (except those with a fixed width-to-height ratio) can be
adjusted using the --height switch. For example:
zint --height=100 -d "This Text"
This specifies a symbol height of 100 times the X-dimension of the symbol.
The default height of most linear barcodes is 50X, but this can be changed for
barcodes whose specifications give a standard height by using the switch
--compliantheight. For instance
zint -b LOGMARS -d "This Text" --compliantheight
will produce a barcode of height 45.455X instead of the normal default of 50X.
The flag also causes Zint to return a warning if a non-compliant height is
given:
zint -b LOGMARS -d "This Text" --compliantheight --height=6.2
Warning 247: Height not compliant with standards
Another switch is --heightperrow, which can be useful for symbologies that have
a variable number of linear rows, namely Codablock-F, Code 16K, Code 49, GS1
DataBar Expanded Stacked, MicroPDF417 and PDF417, as it changes the treatment of
the height value from overall height to per-row height, allowing you to specify
a consistent height for each linear row without having to know how many there
are. For instance
zint -b PDF417 -d "This Text" --height=4 --heightperrow
[zint -b PDF417 -d "This Text" --height=4 --heightperrow]
will produce a barcode of height 32X, with each of the 8 rows 4X high.
4.5 Adjusting Whitespace
The amount of horizontal whitespace to the left and right of the generated
barcode can be altered using the -w or --whitesp switch. For example:
zint -w 10 -d "This Text"
This specifies a whitespace width of 10 times the X-dimension of the symbol both
to the left and to the right of the barcode.
The amount of vertical whitespace above and below the barcode can be altered
using the --vwhitesp switch. For example for 3 times the X-dimension:
zint --vwhitesp=3 -d "This Text"
Note that the whitespace at the bottom appears below the text, if any.
Horizontal and vertical whitespace can of course be used together:
zint -b DATAMATRIX --whitesp=1 --vwhitesp=1 -d "This Text"
A --quietzones option is also available which adds quiet zones compliant with
the symbology’s specification. This is in addition to any whitespace specified
with the --whitesp or --vwhitesp switches.
Note that Codablock-F, Code 16K, Code 49, ITF-14, EAN-2 to EAN-13, ISBN, UPC-A
and UPC-E have compliant quiet zones added by default. This can be disabled with
the option --noquietzones.
4.6 Adding Boundary Bars and Boxes
Zint allows the symbol to be bound with ‘boundary bars’ (also known as ‘bearer
bars’) using the option --bind. These bars help to prevent misreading of the
symbol by corrupting a scan if the scanning beam strays off the top or bottom of
the symbol. Zint can also put a border right around the symbol and its
horizontal whitespace with the --box option.
The width of the boundary bars or box borders must be specified using the
--border switch. For example:
zint --box --border=10 -w 10 -d "This Text"
[zint --border=10 --box -d "This Text" -w 10]
gives a box with a width 10 times the X-dimension of the symbol. Note that when
specifying a box, horizontal whitespace is usually required in order to create a
quiet zone between the barcode and the sides of the box.
For linear symbols, horizontal boundary bars appear tight against the barcode,
inside any vertical whitespace (or text). For matrix symbols, however, where
they are decorative rather than functional, boundary bars appear outside any
whitespace.
[zint -b QRCODE --border=1 --box -d "This Text" --quietzones]
Codablock-F, Code 16K and Code 49 always have boundary bars, and default to
particular horizontal whitespace values. Special considerations apply to
ITF-14 - see 6.1.2.6 ITF-14 for that symbology.
4.7 Using Colour
The default colours of a symbol are a black symbol on a white background. Zint
allows you to change this. The -r or --reverse switch allows the default colours
to be inverted so that a white symbol is shown on a black background (known as
“reflectance reversal” or “reversed reflectance”). For example the command
zint -r -d "This Text"
gives an inverted Code 128 symbol. This is not practical for most symbologies
but white-on-black is allowed by the Aztec Code, Data Matrix, Han Xin Code, Grid
Matrix and QR Code symbology specifications.
For more specific needs the foreground (ink) and background (paper) colours can
be specified using the --fg and --bg options followed by a number in RRGGBB
hexadecimal notation (the same system used in HTML). For example the command
zint --fg=00FF00 -d "This Text"
alters the symbol to a bright green.
[zint -d "This Text" --fg=00FF00]
Zint also supports RGBA colour information for some output file formats which
support alpha channels (currently only PNG, SVG and TIF) in a RRGGBBAA format.
For example:
zint --fg=00ff0055 -d "This Text"
[zint -d "This Text" --fg=00FF0055]
will produce a semi-transparent green foreground with standard (white)
background. Note that transparency is handled differently for raster and vector
files so that…
zint --bg=ff0000 --fg=ffffff00 ...
will give different results for PNG and SVG. Experimentation is advised!
In addition the --nobackground option will simply remove the background from
EMF, EPS, GIF, PNG, SVG and TIF files.
4.8 Rotating the Symbol
The symbol can be rotated through four orientations using the --rotate option
followed by the angle of rotation as shown below.
--rotate=0 (default)
--rotate=90
--rotate=180
--rotate=270
[zint -d "This Text" --rotate=90]
4.9 Adjusting Image Size
The scale of the image can be altered using the --scale option followed by a
multiple of the default X-dimension. The scale is multiplied by 2 (with the
exception of MaxiCode) before being applied. The default scale is 1.
For MaxiCode, the scale is multiplied by 10 for raster output, by 20 for EMF
vector output, and by 2 otherwise (non-EMF vector output).
For raster output, the default X-dimension is 2 pixels (except for MaxiCode, see
4.9.2 MaxiCode Raster Scaling below). For example for PNG images a scale of 5
will increase the X-dimension to 10 pixels. Scales for raster output should be
given in increments of 0.5, i.e. 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, etc., to avoid the
X-dimension varying across the symbol due to interpolation. 0.5 increments are
also faster to render.
The minimum scale for non-dotty raster output is 0.5, giving a minimum
X-dimension of 1 pixel, and text will not be printed for scales less than 1. The
minimum scale for raster output in dotty mode is 1 (see 4.14 Working with Dots).
The minimum scale for vector output is 0.1, giving a minimum X-dimension of 0.2.
The maximum scale for both raster and vector is 100.
4.9.1 Scaling Example
The GS1 General Specifications Section 5.2.6.6 ‘Symbol dimensions at nominal
size’ gives an example of an EAN-13 barcode using the X-dimension of 0.33mm. To
print that example as a PNG at 12 dots per mm (dpmm), the equivalent of 300 dots
per inch (dpi = dpmm * 25.4), specify a scale of 2, since 0.33 * 12 = 3.96
pixels, or 4 pixels rounding to the nearest pixel:
zint -b EANX -d "501234567890" --compliantheight --scale=2
This will result in output of 38.27mm x 26.08mm (WxH) at 300 dpi. The following
table shows the scale to use (in 0.5 increments) depending on the dpmm desired,
for a target X-dimension of 0.33mm:
dpmm dpi scale
------ ------ -------
6 150 1
8 200 1.5
12 300 2
16 400 3
24 600 4
47 1200 8
95 2400 15.5
189 4800 31
: Table : Scaling for X-dimension 0.33mm:
4.9.2 MaxiCode Raster Scaling
For MaxiCode symbols, which use hexagons, the scale for raster output is
multiplied by 10 before being applied. The minimum scale is 0.2, so the minimum
X-dimension is 2 pixels.
MaxiCode symbols have fixed size ranges of 24.82mm to 27.93mm in width, and
23.71mm to 26.69mm in height, excluding quiet zones. The following table shows
the scale to use depending on the dpmm desired, with dpi equivalents:
dpmm dpi scale
------ ------ -------
6 150 0.5
8 200 0.7
12 300 1
16 400 1.4
24 600 2.1
47 1200 4.1
95 2400 8.2
189 4800 16.4
: Table : MaxiCode Raster Scaling:
Note that the 0.5 increment recommended for normal raster output does not apply.
Scales below 0.5 are not recommended and may produce symbols that are not within
the minimum/maximum size ranges.
4.10 Input Modes
4.10.1 Unicode, Data, and GS1 Modes
By default all CLI input data is assumed to be encoded in UTF-8 format. Many
barcode symbologies encode data using the Latin-1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1 plus ASCII)
character set, so input is converted from UTF-8 to Latin-1 before being put in
the symbol. In addition QR Code and its variants and Han Xin Code can by default
encode Japanese (Kanji) or Chinese (Hanzi) characters which are also converted
from UTF-8.
There are two exceptions to the Latin-1 default: Grid Matrix, whose default
character set is GB 2312 (Chinese); and UPNQR, whose default character set is
Latin-2 (ISO/IEC 8859-2 plus ASCII).
Symbology Default character sets Alternate if input not Latin-1
--------------- -------------------------- --------------------------------
Aztec Code Latin-1 None
Codablock-F Latin-1 None
Code 128 Latin-1 None
Code 16k Latin-1 None
Code One Latin-1 None
Data Matrix Latin-1 None
DotCode Latin-1 None
Grid Matrix GB 2312 (includes ASCII) N/A
Han Xin Latin-1 GB 18030 (includes ASCII)
MaxiCode Latin-1 None
MicroPDF417 Latin-1 None
Micro QR Code Latin-1 Shift JIS (includes ASCII[4])
PDF417 Latin-1 None
QR Code Latin-1 Shift JIS (see above)
rMQR Latin-1 Shift JIS (see above)
Ultracode Latin-1 None
UPNQR Latin-2 N/A
All others ASCII N/A
: Table : Default Character Sets:
If Zint encounters characters which can not be encoded using the default
character encoding then it will take advantage of the ECI (Extended Channel
Interpretations) mechanism to encode the data if the symbology supports it - see
4.10.2 Input Modes and ECI below.
GS1 data can be encoded in a number of symbologies. Application Identifiers
(AIs) should be enclosed in [square brackets] followed by the data to be encoded
(see 6.1.10.3 GS1-128). To encode GS1 data use the --gs1 option. GS1 mode is
assumed (and doesn’t need to be set) for GS1-128, EAN-14, GS1 DataBar and
Composite symbologies but is also available for Aztec Code, Code 16K, Code 49,
Code One, Data Matrix, DotCode, QR Code and Ultracode.
Health Industry Barcode (HIBC) data may also be encoded in the symbologies Aztec
Code, Codablock-F, Code 128, Code 39, Data Matrix, MicroPDF417, PDF417 and QR
Code. Within this mode, the leading '+' and the check character are
automatically added, conforming to HIBC Labeler Identification Code (HIBC LIC).
For HIBC Provider Applications Standard (HIBC PAS), preface the data with a
slash '/'.
The --binary option encodes the input data as given. Automatic code page
translation to an ECI page is disabled, and no validation of the data’s encoding
takes place. This may be used for raw binary or binary encrypted data. This
switch plays together with the built-in ECI logic and examples may be found
below.
The --fullmultibyte option uses the multibyte modes of QR Code, Micro QR Code,
Rectangular Micro QR Code, Han Xin Code and Grid Matrix for non-ASCII data,
maximizing density. This is achieved by using compression designed for
Kanji/Hanzi characters; however some decoders take blocks which are encoded this
way and interpret them as Kanji/Hanzi characters, thus causing data corruption.
Symbols encoded with this option should be checked against decoders before they
are used. The popular open-source ZXing decoder is known to exhibit this
behaviour.
4.10.2 Input Modes and ECI
If your data contains characters that are not in the default character set, you
may encode it using an ECI-aware symbology and an ECI value from Table
: ECI Codes below. The ECI information is added to your code symbol as prefix
data. The symbologies that support ECI are
------------- -------------- ------------- -----------
Aztec Code DotCode MaxiCode QR Code
Code One Grid Matrix MicroPDF417 rMQR
Data Matrix Han Xin Code PDF417 Ultracode
------------- -------------- ------------- -----------
: Table : ECI-Aware Symbologies:
Be aware that not all barcode readers support ECI mode, so this can sometimes
lead to unreadable barcodes. If you are using characters beyond those supported
by the default character set then you should check that the resulting barcode
can be understood by your target barcode reader.
The ECI value may be specified with the --eci switch, followed by the value in
the column "ECI Code" in the table below. The input data should be UTF-8
formatted. Zint automatically translates the data into the target encoding.
ECI Code Character Encoding Scheme (ISO/IEC 8859 schemes include ASCII)
---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
3 ISO/IEC 8859-1 - Latin alphabet No. 1
4 ISO/IEC 8859-2 - Latin alphabet No. 2
5 ISO/IEC 8859-3 - Latin alphabet No. 3
6 ISO/IEC 8859-4 - Latin alphabet No. 4
7 ISO/IEC 8859-5 - Latin/Cyrillic alphabet
8 ISO/IEC 8859-6 - Latin/Arabic alphabet
9 ISO/IEC 8859-7 - Latin/Greek alphabet
10 ISO/IEC 8859-8 - Latin/Hebrew alphabet
11 ISO/IEC 8859-9 - Latin alphabet No. 5 (Turkish)
12 ISO/IEC 8859-10 - Latin alphabet No. 6 (Nordic)
13 ISO/IEC 8859-11 - Latin/Thai alphabet
15 ISO/IEC 8859-13 - Latin alphabet No. 7 (Baltic)
16 ISO/IEC 8859-14 - Latin alphabet No. 8 (Celtic)
17 ISO/IEC 8859-15 - Latin alphabet No. 9
18 ISO/IEC 8859-16 - Latin alphabet No. 10
20 Shift JIS (JIS X 0208 and JIS X 0201)
21 Windows 1250 - Latin 2 (Central Europe)
22 Windows 1251 - Cyrillic
23 Windows 1252 - Latin 1
24 Windows 1256 - Arabic
25 UTF-16BE (High order byte first)
26 UTF-8
27 ASCII (ISO/IEC 646 IRV)
28 Big5 (Taiwan) Chinese Character Set
29 GB 2312 (PRC) Chinese Character Set
30 Korean Character Set EUC-KR (KS X 1001:2002)
31 GBK Chinese Character Set
32 GB 18030 Chinese Character Set
33 UTF-16LE (Low order byte first)
34 UTF-32BE (High order bytes first)
35 UTF-32LE (Low order bytes first)
170 ISO/IEC 646 Invariant[5]
899 8-bit binary data
: Table : ECI Codes:
An ECI value of 0 does not encode any ECI information in the code symbol (unless
the data contains non-default character set characters). In this case, the
default character set applies (see Table : Default Character Sets above).
If no ECI is specified or a value of 0 is given, and the data does contain
characters other than in the default character set, then Zint will automatically
insert the appropriate single-byte ECI if possible (ECIs 3 to 24, excluding ECI
20), or failing that ECI 26 (UTF-8). A warning will be generated. This mechanism
is not applied if the --binary option is given.
Multiple ECIs can be specified using the --segN options - see 4.15 Multiple
Segments.
Note: the --eci=3 specification should only be used for special purposes. Using
this parameter, the ECI information is explicitly added to the symbol.
Nevertheless, for ECI Code 3, this is not usually required, as this is the
default encoding for most barcodes, which is also active without any ECI
information.
4.10.2.1 Input Modes and ECI Example 1
The Euro sign U+20AC can be encoded in ISO/IEC 8859-15. The Euro sign has the
ISO/IEC 8859-15 codepoint hex "A4". It is encoded in UTF-8 as the hex sequence:
"E2 82 AC". Those 3 bytes are contained in the file "utf8euro.txt". This command
will generate the corresponding code:
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=17 -i utf8euro.txt
This is equivalent to the commands (using the --esc switch):
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=17 --esc -d "\xE2\x82\xAC"
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=17 --esc -d "\u20AC"
and to the command:
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=17 -d "€"
[zint -b DATAMATRIX --eci=17 -d "€"]
4.10.2.2 Input Modes and ECI Example 2
The Chinese character with the Unicode codepoint U+5E38 can be encoded in Big5
encoding. The Big5 representation of this character is the two hex bytes:
"B1 60" (contained in the file "big5char.txt"). The generation command for Data
Matrix is:
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=28 --binary -i big5char.txt
This is equivalent to the command (using the --esc switch):
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=28 --binary --esc -d "\xB1\x60"
and to the commands (no --binary switch so conversion occurs):
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=28 --esc -d "\xE5\xB8\xB8"
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=28 --esc -d "\u5E38"
zint -b 71 --scale=10 --eci=28 -d "常"
[zint -b DATAMATRIX --eci=28 -d "\u5E38" --esc]
4.10.2.3 Input Modes and ECI Example 3
Some decoders (in particular mobile app ones) for QR Code assume UTF-8 encoding
by default and do not support ECI. In this case supply UTF-8 data and use the
--binary switch so that the data will be encoded as UTF-8 without conversion:
zint -b 58 --binary -d "UTF-8 data"
[zint -b QRCODE --binary -d "\xE2\x82\xAC\xE5\xB8\xB8" --esc]
4.11 Batch Processing
Data can be batch processed by reading from a text file and producing a separate
barcode image for each line of text in that file. To do this use the --batch
switch. To select the input file from which to read data use the -i option. Zint
will automatically detect the end of a line of text (in either Unix or Windows
formatted text files) and produce a symbol each time it finds this. Input files
should end with a line feed character - if this is not present then Zint will
not encode the last line of text, and will warn you that there is a problem.
By default Zint will output numbered filenames starting with 00001.png,
00002.png etc. To change this behaviour use the -o option in combination with
--batch using special characters in the output filename as shown in the table
below:
Input Character Interpretation
----------------- ----------------------------------------
~ Insert a number or 0
# Insert a number or space
@ Insert a number or * (or + on Windows)
Any other Insert literally
: Table : Batch Filename Formatting:
The following table shows some examples to clarify this method:
Input Filenames Generated
----------------- -----------------------------------------------
-o file~~~.svg file001.svg, file002.svg, file003.svg
-o @@@@bar.png ***1.png, ***2.png, ***3.png (except Windows)
-o @@@@bar.png +++1.png, +++2.png, +++3.png (on Windows)
-o my~~~bar.eps my001.bar.eps, my002.bar.eps, my003bar.eps
-o t@es~t~.png t*es0t1.png, t*es0t2.png, t*es0t3.png
: Table : Batch Filename Examples:
4.12 Direct Output
The finished image files can be output directly to stdout for use as part of a
pipe by using the --direct option. By default --direct will output data as a PNG
image (or GIF image if libpng is not present), but this can be altered by
supplementing the --direct option with a --filetype option followed by the
suffix of the file type required. For example:
zint -b 84 --direct --filetype=pcx -d "Data to encode"
This command will output the symbol as a PCX file to stdout. The currently
supported output file formats are shown in the following table:
Abbreviation File format
-------------- -------------------------------------------
BMP Windows Bitmap
EMF Enhanced Metafile Format
EPS Encapsulated PostScript
GIF Graphics Interchange Format
PCX ZSoft Paintbrush image
PNG Portable Network Graphic
SVG Scalable Vector Graphic
TIF Tagged Image File Format
TXT Text file (see 4.18 Other Output Options)
: Table : Output File Formats:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAUTION: Outputting binary files to the command shell without catching that data
in a pipe can have unpredictable results. Use with care!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.13 Automatic Filenames
The --mirror option instructs Zint to use the data to be encoded as an indicator
of the filename to be used. This is particularly useful if you are processing
batch data. For example the input data "1234567" will result in a file named
"1234567.png".
There are restrictions, however, on what characters can be stored in a filename,
so the filename may vary from the data if the data includes non-printable
characters, for example, and may be shortened if the data input is long.
To set the output file format use the --filetype option as detailed above in
4.12 Direct Output.
4.14 Working with Dots
Matrix codes can be rendered as a series of dots or circles rather than the
normal squares by using the --dotty option. This option is only available for
matrix symbologies, and is automatically selected for DotCode. The size of the
dots can be adjusted using the --dotsize option followed by the diameter of the
dot, where that diameter is given as a multiple of the X-dimension. The minimum
dot size is 0.01, the maximum is 20. The default size is 0.8.
The default and minimum scale for raster output in dotty mode is 1.
[zint -b CODEONE -d "123456789012345678" --dotty --vers=9]
4.15 Multiple Segments
If you need to specify different ECIs for different sections of the input data,
the --seg1 to --seg9 options can be used. Each option is of the form
--segN=ECI,data where ECI is the ECI code (see Table : ECI Codes) and data is
the data to which this applies. This is in addition to the ECI and data
specified using the --eci and -d options which must still be present and which
in effect constitute segment 0. For instance
zint -b AZTEC_CODE --eci=9 -d "Κείμενο" --seg1=7,"Текст" --seg2=20,"文章"
specifies 3 segments: segment 0 with ECI 9 (Greek), segment 1 with ECI 7
(Cyrillic), and segment 2 with ECI 20 (Shift JIS). Segments must be consecutive.
The symbology must be ECI-aware (see Table : ECI-Aware Symbologies).
[zint -b AZTEC --eci=9 -d "Κείμενο" --seg1=7,"Текст" --seg2=20,"文章"]
ECIs of zero may be given, in which case Zint will automatically determine an
ECI if necessary, as described in section 4.10.2 Input Modes and ECI.
Multiple segments are not currently supported for use with GS1 data.
4.16 Structured Append
Structured Append is a method of splitting data among several symbols so that
they form a sequence that can be scanned and re-assembled in the correct order
on reading, and is available for Aztec Code, Code One, Data Matrix, DotCode,
Grid Matrix, MaxiCode, MicroPDF417, PDF417, QR Code and Ultracode.
The --structapp option marks a symbol as part of a Structured Append sequence,
and has the format
--structapp=I,C[,ID]
[zint -b DATAMATRIX -d "2nd of 3" --structapp="2,3,5006"]
where I is the index (position) of the symbol in the Structured Append sequence,
C is the count or total number of symbols in the sequence, and ID is an optional
identifier (not available for Code One, DotCode or MaxiCode) that is the same
for all symbols belonging to the same sequence. The index is 1-based and goes
from 1 to count. Count must be 2 or more. See the individual symbologies for
further details.
4.17 Help Options
There are three help options which give information about how to use the command
line. The -h or --help option will display a list of all of the valid options
available, and also gives the exact version of the software (the version by
itself can be displayed with -v or --version).
The -t or --types option gives the table of symbologies along with the symbol ID
numbers and names.
The -e or --ecinos option gives a list of the ECI codes.
4.18 Other Output Options
For linear barcodes the text present in the output image can be removed by using
the --notext option.
The text can be set to bold using the --bold option, or a smaller font can be
substituted using the --small option. The --bold and --small options can be used
together if required, but only for vector output.
[zint --bold -d "This Text" --small]
Zint can output a representation of the symbol data as a set of hexadecimal
values if asked to output to a text file ("*.txt") or if given the option
--filetype=txt. This can be used for test and diagnostic purposes.
The --cmyk option is specific to output in Encapsulated PostScript and TIF, and
converts the RGB colours used to the CMYK colour space. Setting custom colours
at the command line will still need to be done in RRGGBB format.
Additional options are available which are specific to certain symbologies.
These may, for example, control the amount of error correction data or the size
of the symbol. These options are discussed in section 6. Types of Symbology of
this guide.
5. Using the API
Zint has been written using the C language and has an API for use with C/C++
language programs. A Qt interface is available in the "backend_qt"
sub-directory, and a Tcl interface is available in the "backend_tcl"
sub-directory.
The libzint API has been designed to be very similar to that used by the GNU
Barcode package. This allows easy migration from GNU Barcode to Zint. Zint,
however, uses none of the same function names or option names as GNU Barcode.
This allows you to use both packages in your application without conflict if you
wish.
5.1 Creating and Deleting Symbols
The symbols manipulated by Zint are held in a zint_symbol structure defined in
"zint.h". These symbols are created with the ZBarcode_Create() function and
deleted using the ZBarcode_Delete() function. For example the following code
creates and then deletes a symbol:
#include <zint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
struct zint_symbol *my_symbol;
my_symbol = ZBarcode_Create();
if (my_symbol != NULL) {
printf("Symbol successfully created!\n");
}
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 0;
}
When compiling this code it will need to be linked with the libzint library
using the -lzint option:
gcc -o simple simple.c -lzint
5.2 Encoding and Saving to File
To encode data in a barcode use the ZBarcode_Encode() function. To write the
symbol to a file use the ZBarcode_Print() function. For example the following
code takes a string from the command line and outputs a Code 128 symbol in a PNG
file named "out.png" (or a GIF file called "out.gif" if libpng is not present)
in the current working directory:
#include <zint.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct zint_symbol *my_symbol;
my_symbol = ZBarcode_Create();
ZBarcode_Encode(my_symbol, argv[1], 0);
ZBarcode_Print(my_symbol, 0);
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 0;
}
This can also be done in one stage using the ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print()
function as shown in the next example:
#include <zint.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct zint_symbol *my_symbol;
my_symbol = ZBarcode_Create();
ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, argv[1], 0, 0);
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 0;
}
Note that when using the API, the input data is assumed to be 8-bit binary
unless the input_mode variable in the zint_symbol structure is set - see 5.10
Setting the Input Mode for details.
5.3 Encoding and Printing Functions in Depth
The functions for encoding and printing barcodes are defined as:
int ZBarcode_Encode(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const unsigned char *source, int length);
int ZBarcode_Encode_File(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const char *filename);
int ZBarcode_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const unsigned char *source, int length, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_File_and_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const char *filename, int rotate_angle);
In these definitions length can be used to set the length of the input string.
This allows the encoding of NUL (ASCII 0) characters in those symbologies which
allow this. A value of 0 will disable this usage and Zint will encode data up to
the first NUL character in the input string, which must be present.
The rotate_angle value can be used to rotate the image when outputting. Valid
values are 0, 90, 180 and 270.
The ZBarcode_Encode_File() and ZBarcode_Encode_File_and_Print() functions can be
used to encode data read directly from a text file where the filename is given
in the NUL-terminated filename string.
If printing more than one barcode, the zint_symbol structure may be re-used by
calling the ZBarcode_Clear() function after each barcode to free any output
buffers allocated. The zint_symbol input variables must be reset.
5.4 Buffering Symbols in Memory (raster)
In addition to saving barcode images to file Zint allows you to access a
representation of the resulting bitmap image in memory. The following functions
allow you to do this:
int ZBarcode_Buffer(struct zint_symbol *symbol, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_and_Buffer(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const unsigned char *source, int length, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_File_and_Buffer(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const char *filename, int rotate_angle);
The arguments here are the same as above. The difference is that instead of
saving the image to a file it is placed in an unsigned character array. The
bitmap pointer is set to the first memory location in the array and the values
barcode_width and barcode_height indicate the size of the resulting image in
pixels. Rotation and colour options can be used with the buffer functions in the
same way as when saving to a file. The pixel data can be extracted from the
array by the method shown in the example below where render_pixel() is assumed
to be a function for drawing a pixel on the screen implemented by the external
application:
int row, col, i = 0;
int red, blue, green;
for (row = 0; row < my_symbol->bitmap_height; row++) {
for (col = 0; col < my_symbol->bitmap_width; col++) {
red = (int) my_symbol->bitmap[i];
green = (int) my_symbol->bitmap[i + 1];
blue = (int) my_symbol->bitmap[i + 2];
render_pixel(row, col, red, green, blue);
i += 3;
}
}
Where speed is important, the buffer can be returned instead in a more compact
intermediate form using the output option OUT_BUFFER_INTERMEDIATE. Here each
byte is an ASCII value: '1' for foreground colour and '0' for background colour,
except for Ultracode, which also uses colour codes: 'W' for white, 'C' for cyan,
'B' for blue, 'M' for magenta, 'R' for red, 'Y' for yellow, 'G' for green, and
'K' for black. The loop for accessing the data is then:
int row, col, i = 0;
for (row = 0; row < my_symbol->bitmap_height; row++) {
for (col = 0; col < my_symbol->bitmap_width; col++) {
render_pixel(row, col, my_symbol->bitmap[i]);
i++;
}
}
5.5 Buffering Symbols in Memory (vector)
Symbols can also be saved to memory in a vector representation as well as a
bitmap one. The following functions, exactly analogous to the ones above, allow
you to do this:
int ZBarcode_Buffer_Vector(struct zint_symbol *symbol, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_and_Buffer_Vector(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const unsigned char *source, int length, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_File_and_Buffer_Vector(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const char *filename, int rotate_angle);
Here the vector pointer is set to a header which contains pointers to lists of
structures representing the various elements of the barcode: rectangles,
hexagons, strings and circles. To draw the barcode, each of the element types is
iterated in turn, and using the information stored is drawn by a rendering
system. For instance, to draw a barcode using a rendering system with
prepare_canvas(), draw_rect(), draw_hexagon(), draw_string(), and draw_circle()
routines available:
struct zint_vector_rect *rect;
struct zint_vector_hexagon *hexagon;
struct zint_vector_string *string;
struct zint_vector_circle *circle;
prepare_canvas(my_symbol->vector->width, my_symbol->vector->height,
my_symbol->scale, my_symbol->fgcolour, my_symbol->bgcolor,
rotate_angle);
for (rect = my_symbol->vector->rectangles; rect; rect = rect->next) {
draw_rect(rect->x, rect->y, rect->width, rect->height,
rect->colour);
}
for (hexagon = my_symbol->vector->hexagons; hexagon; hexagon = hexagon->next) {
draw_hexagon(hexagon->x, hexagon->y, hexagon->diameter,
hexagon->rotation);
}
for (string = my_symbol->vector->strings; string; string = string->next) {
draw_string(string->x, string->y, string->fsize,
string->rotation, string->halign,
string->text, string->length);
}
for (circle = my_symbol->vector->circles; circle; circle = circle->next) {
draw_circle(circle->x, circle->y, circle->diameter,
circle->width, circle->colour);
}
5.6 Setting Options
So far our application is not very useful unless we plan to only make Code 128
symbols and we don’t mind that they only save to "out.png". As with the CLI
program, of course, these options can be altered. The way this is done is by
altering the contents of the zint_symbol structure between the creation and
encoding stages. The zint_symbol structure consists of the following variables:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variable Name Type Meaning Default Value
--------------------- ------------ ---------------------------- -----------------
symbology integer Symbol to use (see 5.8 BARCODE_CODE128
Specifying a Symbology).
height float Symbol height, excluding Symbol dependent
fixed width-to-height
symbols.[6]
scale float Scale factor for adjusting 1.0
size of image.
whitespace_width integer Horizontal whitespace width. 0
whitespace_height integer Vertical whitespace height. 0
border_width integer Border width. 0
output_options integer Set various output file 0 (none)
parameters (see 5.9
Adjusting Other Output
Options).
fgcolour character Foreground (ink) colour as "000000"
string RGB/RGBA hexadecimal string.
Must be 6 or 8 characters
followed by a terminating
NUL.
bgcolour character Background (paper) colour as "ffffff"
string RGB/RGBA hexadecimal string.
Must be 6 or 8 characters
followed by a terminating
NUL.
fgcolor pointer Points to fgcolour allowing
alternate spelling.
bgcolor pointer Points to bgcolour allowing
alternate spelling.
outfile character Contains the name of the "out.png"
string file to output a resulting
barcode symbol to. Must end
in .png, .gif, .bmp, .emf,
.eps, .pcx, .svg, .tif or
.txt followed by a
terminating NUL.
primary character Primary message data for "" (empty)
string more complex symbols, with a
terminating NUL.
option_1 integer Symbol specific options. -1
option_2 integer Symbol specific options. 0
option_3 integer Symbol specific options. 0
show_hrt integer Set to 0 to hide text. 1
input_mode integer Set encoding of input data DATA_MODE
(see 5.10 Setting the Input
Mode).
eci integer Extended Channel 0 (none)
Interpretation code.
dot_size float Diameter of dots used in 4.0 / 5.0
dotty mode.
guard_descent float Height of guard bar descent 5.0
(EAN/UPC only).
structapp Structured Mark a symbol as part of a count 0
Append sequence of symbols. (disabled)
structure
warn_level integer Affects error/warning value WARN_DEFAULT
returned by Zint API (see
5.7 Handling Errors).
text unsigned Human Readable Text, which "" (empty)
character usually consists of input (output only)
string data plus one more check
digit. Uses UTF-8
formatting, with a
terminating NUL.
rows integer Number of rows used by the (output only)
symbol.
width integer Width of the generated (output only)
symbol.
encoding_data array of Representation of the (output only)
unsigned encoded data.
character
arrays
row_height array of Representation of the height (output only)
floats of a row.
errtxt character Error message in the event (output only)
string that an error occurred, with
a terminating NUL.
bitmap pointer to Pointer to stored bitmap (output only)
unsigned image.
character
array
bitmap_width integer Width of stored bitmap image (output only)
(in pixels).
bitmap_height integer Height of stored bitmap (output only)
image (in pixels).
alphamap pointer to Pointer to array (output only)
unsigned representing alpha channel
character (or NULL if no alpha channel
array needed).
bitmap_byte_length integer Size of BMP bitmap data. (output only)
vector pointer to Pointer to vector header (output only)
vector containing pointers to
structure vector elements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table  : API Structure zint_symbol
To alter these values use the syntax shown in the example below. This code has
the same result as the previous example except the output is now taller and
plotted in green.
#include <zint.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct zint_symbol *my_symbol;
my_symbol = ZBarcode_Create();
strcpy(my_symbol->fgcolour, "00ff00");
my_symbol->height = 400.0f;
ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, argv[1], 0, 0);
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 0;
}
Background removal for EMF, EPS, GIF, PNG, SVG and TIF files can be achieved by
setting the background alpha to "00" where the values for R, G and B will be
ignored:
strcpy(my_symbol->bgcolour, "55555500");
5.7 Handling Errors
If errors occur during encoding a non-zero integer value is passed back to the
calling application. In addition the errtxt variable is used to give a message
detailing the nature of the error. The errors generated by Zint are given in the
table below:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return Value Meaning
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
ZINT_WARN_INVALID_OPTION One of the values in zint_struct was set
incorrectly but Zint has made a guess at what it
should have been and generated a barcode
accordingly.
ZINT_WARN_USES_ECI Zint has automatically inserted an ECI
character. The symbol may not be readable with
some readers.
ZINT_WARN_NONCOMPLIANT The symbol was created but is not compliant with
certain standards set in its specification (e.g.
height, GS1 AI data lengths).
ZINT_ERROR Marks the divide between warnings and errors.
For return values greater than or equal to this
no symbol (or only an incomplete symbol) is
generated.
ZINT_ERROR_TOO_LONG The input data is too long or too short for the
selected symbology. No symbol has been
generated.
ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_DATA The data to be encoded includes characters which
are not permitted by the selected symbology
(e.g. alphabetic characters in an EAN symbol).
No symbol has been generated.
ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_CHECK Data with an incorrect check digit has been
entered. No symbol has been generated.
ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_OPTION One of the values in zint_struct was set
incorrectly and Zint was unable to guess what it
should have been. No symbol has been generated.
ZINT_ERROR_ENCODING_PROBLEM A problem has occurred during encoding of the
data. This should never happen. Please contact
the developer if you encounter this error.
ZINT_ERROR_FILE_ACCESS Zint was unable to open the requested output
file. This is usually a file permissions
problem.
ZINT_ERROR_MEMORY Zint ran out of memory. This should only be a
problem with legacy systems.
ZINT_ERROR_FILE_WRITE Zint failed to write all contents to the
requested output file. This should only occur if
the output device becomes full.
ZINT_ERROR_USES_ECI Returned if warn_level set to WARN_FAIL_ALL and
ZINT_WARN_USES_ECI occurs.
ZINT_ERROR_NONCOMPLIANT Returned if warn_level set to WARN_FAIL_ALL and
ZINT_WARN_NONCOMPLIANT occurs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : API Warning and Error Return Values:
To catch errors use an integer variable as shown in the code below:
#include <zint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct zint_symbol *my_symbol;
int error;
my_symbol = ZBarcode_Create();
strcpy(my_symbol->fgcolour, "nonsense");
error = ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, argv[1], 0, 0);
if (error != 0) {
/* some warning or error occurred */
printf("%s\n", my_symbol->errtxt);
}
if (error >= ZINT_ERROR) {
/* stop now */
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 1;
}
/* otherwise carry on with the rest of the application */
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 0;
}
This code will exit with the appropriate message:
Error 653: Malformed foreground colour 'NONSENSE' (hexadecimal only)
To treat all warnings as errors, set symbol->warn_level to WARN_FAIL_ALL.
5.8 Specifying a Symbology
Symbologies can be specified by number or by name as shown in the Table
: Barcode Types (Symbologies). For example
symbol->symbology = BARCODE_LOGMARS;
means the same as
symbol->symbology = 50;
5.9 Adjusting Other Output Options
The output_options variable can be used to adjust various aspects of the output
file. To select more than one option from the table below simply OR them
together when adjusting this value:
my_symbol->output_options |= BARCODE_BIND | READER_INIT;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Value Effect
-------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
0 No options selected.
BARCODE_BIND Boundary bars above and below the symbol and between
rows if stacking multiple symbols.[7]
BARCODE_BOX Add a box surrounding the symbol and whitespace.
BARCODE_STDOUT Output the file to stdout.
READER_INIT Create as a Reader Initialisation (Programming)
symbol.
SMALL_TEXT Use a smaller font for the Human Readable Text.
BOLD_TEXT Embolden the Human Readable Text.
CMYK_COLOUR Select the CMYK colour space option for Encapsulated
PostScript and TIF files.
BARCODE_DOTTY_MODE Plot a matrix symbol using dots rather than squares.
GS1_GS_SEPARATOR Use GS instead of FNC1 as GS1 separator (Data Matrix
only).
OUT_BUFFER_INTERMEDIATE Return the bitmap buffer as ASCII values instead of
separate colour channels (OUT_BUFFER only).
BARCODE_QUIET_ZONES Add compliant quiet zones (additional to any
specified whitespace).[8]
BARCODE_NO_QUIET_ZONES Disable quiet zones, notably those with defaults.
COMPLIANT_HEIGHT Warn if height not compliant and use standard height
(if any) as default.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table  : API output_options Values
5.10 Setting the Input Mode
The way in which the input data is encoded can be set using the input_mode
property. Valid values are shown in the table below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Value Effect
------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------
DATA_MODE Uses full 8-bit range interpreted as binary data.
UNICODE_MODE Uses UTF-8 input.
GS1_MODE Encodes GS1 data using FNC1 characters.
The above are exclusive, the following optional and OR-ed.
ESCAPE_MODE Process input data for escape sequences.
GS1PARENS_MODE Parentheses (round brackets) used in GS1 data instead of
square brackets to delimit Application Identifiers
(parentheses must not otherwise occur in the data).
GS1NOCHECK_MODE Do not check GS1 data for validity, i.e. suppress checks
for valid AIs and data lengths. Invalid characters
(e.g. control characters, extended ASCII characters) are
still checked for.
HEIGHTPERROW_MODE Interpret the height variable as per-row rather than as
overall height.
FAST_MODE Use faster if less optimal encodation for symbologies that
support it (currently DATAMATRIX only).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table  : API input_mode Values
The default mode is DATA_MODE. (Note that this differs from the default for the
CLI and GUI, which is UNICODE_MODE.)
DATA_MODE, UNICODE_MODE and GS1_MODE are mutually exclusive, whereas
ESCAPE_MODE, GS1PARENS_MODE, GS1NOCHECK_MODE, HEIGHTPERROW_MODE and FAST_MODE
are optional. So, for example, you can set
my_symbol->input_mode = UNICODE_MODE | ESCAPE_MODE;
or
my_symbol->input_mode = GS1_MODE | GS1PARENS_MODE | GS1NOCHECK_MODE;
whereas
my_symbol->input_mode = DATA_MODE | GS1_MODE;
is not valid.
Permissible escape sequences are listed in Table : Escape Sequences. An example
of GS1PARENS_MODE usage is given in section 6.1.10.3 GS1-128.
GS1NOCHECK_MODE is for use with legacy systems that have data that does not
conform to the current GS1 standard. Printable ASCII input is still checked for,
as is the validity of GS1 data specified without AIs (e.g. linear data for GS1
DataBar Omnidirectional/Limited/etc.).
For HEIGHTPERROW_MODE, see --heightperrow in section 4.4 Adjusting Height. The
height variable should be set to the desired per-row value on input (it will be
set to the overall height on output).
5.11 Multiple Segments
For input data requiring multiple ECIs, the following functions may be used:
int ZBarcode_Encode_Segs(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const struct zint_seg segs[], const int seg_count);
int ZBarcode_Encode_Segs_and_Print(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const struct zint_seg segs[], const int seg_count, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_Segs_and_Buffer(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const struct zint_seg segs[], const int seg_count, int rotate_angle);
int ZBarcode_Encode_Segs_and_Buffer_Vector(struct zint_symbol *symbol,
const struct zint_seg segs[], const int seg_count, int rotate_angle);
These are direct analogues of the previously mentioned ZBarcode_Encode(),
ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(), ZBarcode_Encode_and_Buffer() and
ZBarcode_Encode_and_Buffer_Vector() respectively, where instead of a pair
consisting of "source, length", a pair consisting of "segs, seg_count" is given,
with segs being an array of struct zint_seg segments and seg_count being the
number of elements it contains. The zint_seg structure is of the form:
struct zint_seg {
unsigned char *source; /* Data to encode */
int length; /* Length of `source`. If 0, `source` must be
NUL-terminated */
int eci; /* Extended Channel Interpretation */
};
The symbology must support ECIs (see Table : ECI-Aware Symbologies). For
example:
#include <zint.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct zint_seg segs[] = {
{ "Κείμενο", 0, 9 },
{ "Текст", 0, 7 },
{ "文章", 0, 20 }
};
struct zint_symbol *my_symbol;
my_symbol = ZBarcode_Create();
my_symbol->symbology = BARCODE_AZTEC;
my_symbol->input_mode = UNICODE_MODE;
ZBarcode_Encode_Segs(my_symbol, segs, 3);
ZBarcode_Print(my_symbol, 0);
ZBarcode_Delete(my_symbol);
return 0;
}
A maximum of 256 segments may be specified. Use of multiple segments with GS1
data is not currently supported.
5.12 Verifying Symbology Availability
An additional function available in the API is:
int ZBarcode_ValidID(int symbol_id);
which allows you to check whether a given symbology is available, returning a
non-zero value if so. For example:
if (ZBarcode_ValidID(BARCODE_PDF417) != 0) {
printf("PDF417 available\n");
} else {
printf("PDF417 not available\n");
}
Another function that may be useful is:
int ZBarcode_BarcodeName(int symbol_id, char name[32]);
which copies the name of a symbology into the supplied name buffer, which should
be 32 characters in length. The name is NUL-terminated, and zero is returned on
success. For instance:
char name[32];
if (ZBarcode_BarcodeName(BARCODE_PDF417, name) == 0) {
printf("%s\n", name);
}
will print BARCODE_PDF417.
5.13 Checking Symbology Capabilities
It can be useful for frontend programs to know the capabilities of a symbology.
This can be determined using another additional function:
unsigned int ZBarcode_Cap(int symbol_id, unsigned int cap_flag);
by OR-ing the flags below in the cap_flag argument and checking the return to
see which are set.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Value Meaning
--------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
ZINT_CAP_HRT Can the symbology print Human Readable Text?
ZINT_CAP_STACKABLE Is the symbology stackable?
ZINT_CAP_EXTENDABLE Is the symbology extendable with add-on data? (i.e.
is it EAN/UPC?)
ZINT_CAP_COMPOSITE Does the symbology support composite data? (see 6.3
GS1 Composite Symbols (ISO 24723) below)
ZINT_CAP_ECI Does the symbology support Extended Channel
Interpretations?
ZINT_CAP_GS1 Does the symbology support GS1 data?
ZINT_CAP_DOTTY Can the symbology be outputted as dots?
ZINT_CAP_QUIET_ZONES Does the symbology have default quiet zones?
ZINT_CAP_FIXED_RATIO Does the symbology have a fixed width-to-height
(aspect) ratio?
ZINT_CAP_READER_INIT Does the symbology support Reader Initialisation?
ZINT_CAP_FULL_MULTIBYTE Is the ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE option applicable?
ZINT_CAP_MASK Is mask selection applicable?
ZINT_CAP_STRUCTAPP Does the symbology support Structured Append?
ZINT_CAP_COMPLIANT_HEIGHT Does the symbology have a compliant height defined?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : API Capability Flags:
For example:
unsigned int cap = ZBarcode_Cap(BARCODE_PDF417, ZINT_CAP_HRT | ZINT_CAP_ECI);
if (cap & ZINT_CAP_HRT) {
printf("PDF417 supports HRT\n");
} else {
printf("PDF417 does not support HRT\n");
}
if (cap & ZINT_CAP_ECI) {
printf("PDF417 supports ECI\n");
} else {
printf("PDF417 does not support ECI\n");
}
5.14 Zint Version
Lastly, the version of the Zint library linked to is returned by:
int ZBarcode_Version();
The version parts are separated by hundreds. For instance, version "2.9.1" is
returned as "20901".
6. Types of Symbology
6.1 One-Dimensional Symbols
One-dimensional or linear symbols are what most people associate with the term
barcode. They consist of a number of bars and a number of spaces of differing
widths.
6.1.1 Code 11
[zint -b CODE11 -d "9212320967"]
Developed by Intermec in 1977, Code 11 is similar to Code 2 of 5 Matrix and is
primarily used in telecommunications. The symbol can encode data consisting of
the digits 0-9 and the dash character (-) up to a maximum of 121 characters. Two
modulo-11 check digits are added by default. To add just one check digit, set
--vers=1 (API option_2 = 1). To add no check digits, set --vers=2 (API
option_2 = 2).
6.1.2 Code 2 of 5
Code 2 of 5 is a family of one-dimensional symbols, 8 of which are supported by
Zint. Note that the names given to these standards alters from one source to
another so you should take care to ensure that you have the right barcode type
before using these standards.
6.1.2.1 Standard Code 2 of 5
[zint -b C25STANDARD -d "9212320967"]
Also known as Code 2 of 5 Matrix, this is a self-checking code used in
industrial applications and photo development. Standard Code 2 of 5 will encode
numeric input (digits 0-9) up to a maximum of 80 digits. No check digit is added
by default. To add a check digit, set --vers=1 (API option_2 = 1). To add a
check digit but not show it in the Human Readable Text, set --vers=2 (API
option_2 = 2).
6.1.2.2 IATA Code 2 of 5
[zint -b C25IATA -d "9212320967"]
Used for baggage handling in the air-transport industry by the International Air
Transport Agency, this self-checking code will encode numeric input (digits 0-9)
up to a maximum of 45 digits. No check digit is added by default. Check digit
options are the same as for 6.1.2.1 Standard Code 2 of 5.
6.1.2.3 Industrial Code 2 of 5
[zint -b C25IND -d "9212320967"]
Industrial Code 2 of 5 can encode numeric input (digits 0-9) up to a maximum of
45 digits. No check digit is added by default. Check digit options are the same
as for 6.1.2.1 Standard Code 2 of 5.
6.1.2.4 Interleaved Code 2 of 5 (ISO 16390)
[zint -b C25INTER --compliantheight -d "9212320967"]
This self-checking symbology encodes pairs of numbers, and so can only encode an
even number of digits (0-9). If an odd number of digits is entered a leading
zero is added by Zint. A maximum of 45 pairs (90 digits) can be encoded. No
check digit is added by default. Check digit options are the same as for 6.1.2.1
Standard Code 2 of 5.
6.1.2.5 Code 2 of 5 Data Logic
[zint -b C25LOGIC -d "9212320967"]
Data Logic does not include a check digit by default and can encode numeric
input (digits 0-9) up to a maximum of 80 digits. Check digit options are the
same as for 6.1.2.1 Standard Code 2 of 5.
6.1.2.6 ITF-14
[zint -b ITF14 --compliantheight -d "9212320967145"]
ITF-14, also known as UPC Shipping Container Symbol or Case Code, is based on
Interleaved Code 2 of 5 and requires a 13-digit numeric input (digits 0-9). One
modulo-10 check digit is added by Zint.
If no border option is specified Zint defaults to adding a bounding box with a
border width of 5. This behaviour can be overridden by using the --bind option
(API output_options |= BARCODE_BIND). Similarly the border width can be
overridden using --border (API border_width). If a symbol with no border is
required this can be achieved by explicitly setting the border type to box (or
bind) and leaving the border width 0.
[zint -b ITF14 --box --compliantheight -d "9212320967145"]
6.1.2.7 Deutsche Post Leitcode
[zint -b DPLEIT -d "9212320967145"]
Leitcode is based on Interleaved Code 2 of 5 and is used by Deutsche Post for
mailing purposes. Leitcode requires a 13-digit numerical input and includes a
check digit.
6.1.2.8 Deutsche Post Identcode
[zint -b DPIDENT -d "91232096712"]
Identcode is based on Interleaved Code 2 of 5 and is used by Deutsche Post for
mailing purposes. Identcode requires an 11-digit numerical input and includes a
check digit.
6.1.3 UPC (Universal Product Code) (ISO 15420)
6.1.3.1 UPC Version A
[zint -b UPCA --compliantheight -d "72527270270"]
UPC-A is used in the United States for retail applications. The symbol requires
an 11-digit article number. The check digit is calculated by Zint. In addition
EAN-2 and EAN-5 add-on symbols can be added using the + character. For example,
to draw a UPC-A symbol with the data 72527270270 with an EAN-5 add-on showing
the data 12345 use the command:
zint -b UPCA -d 72527270270+12345
or using the API encode a data string with the + character included:
my_symbol->symbology = BARCODE_UPCA;
error = ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, "72527270270+12345", 0, 0);
[zint -b UPCA --compliantheight -d "72527270270+12345"]
If your input data already includes the check digit symbology BARCODE_UPCA_CHK
(35) can be used which takes a 12-digit input and validates the check digit
before encoding.
You can adjust the gap between the main symbol and an add-on in multiples of the
X-dimension by setting --addongap (API option_2) to a value between 9 (default)
and 12. The height in X-dimensions that the guard bars descend below the main
bars can be adjusted by setting --guarddescent (API guard_descent) to a value
between 0 and 20 (default 5).
6.1.3.2 UPC Version E
[zint -b UPCE --compliantheight -d "1123456"]
UPC-E is a zero-compressed version of UPC-A developed for smaller packages. The
code requires a 6-digit article number (digits 0-9). The check digit is
calculated by Zint. EAN-2 and EAN-5 add-on symbols can be added using the +
character as with UPC-A. In addition Zint also supports Number System 1 encoding
by entering a 7-digit article number stating with the digit 1. For example:
zint -b UPCE -d 1123456
or
my_symbol->symbology = BARCODE_UPCE;
error = ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, "1123456", 0, 0);
If your input data already includes the check digit symbology BARCODE_UPCE_CHK
(38) can be used which takes a 7 or 8-digit input and validates the check digit
before encoding.
You can adjust the gap between the main symbol and an add-on in multiples of the
X-dimension by setting --addongap (API option_2) to a value between 7 (default)
and 12. The height in X-dimensions that the guard bars descend below the main
bars can be adjusted by setting --guarddescent (API guard_descent) to a value
between 0 and 20 (default 5).
6.1.4 EAN (European Article Number) (ISO 15420)
6.1.4.1 EAN-2, EAN-5, EAN-8 and EAN-13
[zint -b EANX --compliantheight -d "4512345678906"]
The EAN system is used in retail across Europe and includes standards for EAN-2,
EAN-5, EAN-8 and EAN-13 which encode 2, 5, 7 or 12-digit numbers respectively.
Zint will decide which symbology to use depending on the length of the input
data. In addition EAN-2 and EAN-5 add-on symbols can be added to EAN-8 and
EAN-13 symbols using the + character as with UPC symbols. For example:
zint -b EANX -d 54321
[zint -b EANX --compliantheight -d "54321"]
will encode a stand-alone EAN-5, whereas
zint -b EANX -d 7432365+54321
will encode an EAN-8 symbol with an EAN-5 add-on. As before these results can be
achieved using the API:
my_symbol->symbology = BARCODE_EANX;
error = ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, "54321", 0, 0);
error = ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, "7432365+54321", 0, 0);
[zint -b EANX --compliantheight -d "7432365+54321"]
All of the EAN symbols include check digits which are added by Zint.
If you are encoding an EAN-8 or EAN-13 symbol and your data already includes the
check digit then you can use symbology BARCODE_EANX_CHK (14) which takes an 8 or
13-digit input and validates the check digit before encoding.
Options to adjust the add-on gap and the descent height of guard bars are the
same as for 6.1.3.2 UPC Version E.
6.1.4.2 SBN, ISBN and ISBN-13
[zint -b ISBNX --compliantheight -d "9789295055124"]
EAN-13 symbols (also known as Bookland EAN-13) can also be produced from 9-digit
SBN, 10-digit ISBN or 13-digit ISBN-13 data. The relevant check digit needs to
be present in the input data and will be verified before the symbol is
generated. In addition EAN-2 and EAN-5 add-on symbols can be added using the +
character as with UPC symbols, and there are options to adjust the add-on gap
and the descent height of guard bars - see 6.1.3.2 UPC Version E.
6.1.5 Plessey
6.1.5.1 UK Plessey
[zint -b PLESSEY -d "C64"]
Also known as Plessey Code, this symbology was developed by the Plessey Company
Ltd. in the UK. The symbol can encode data consisting of digits (0-9) or letters
A-F up to a maximum of 65 characters and includes a CRC check digit.
6.1.5.2 MSI Plessey
[zint -b MSI_PLESSEY -d "6502" --vers=2]
Based on Plessey and developed by MSE Data Corporation, MSI Plessey has a range
of check digit options that are selectable by setting --vers (API option_2).
Numeric (digits 0-9) input can be encoded, up to a maximum of 65 digits. The
table below shows the options available:
Value Check Digits
------- -----------------------------
0 None
1 Modulo-10 (Luhn)
2 Modulo-10 & Modulo-10
3 Modulo-11 (IBM)
4 Modulo-11 (IBM) & Modulo-10
5 Modulo-11 (NCR)
6 Modulo-11 (NCR) & Modulo-10
: Table : MSI Plessey Check Digit Options:
To not show the check digit or digits in the Human Readable Text, add 10 to the
--vers value. For example --vers=12 (API option_2 = 12) will add two hidden
modulo-10 check digits.
6.1.6 Telepen
6.1.6.1 Telepen Alpha
[zint -b TELEPEN --compliantheight -d "Z80"]
Telepen Alpha was developed by SB Electronic Systems Limited and can encode
ASCII text input, up to a maximum of 30 characters. Telepen includes a
modulo-127 check digit.
6.1.6.2 Telepen Numeric
[zint -b TELEPEN_NUM --compliantheight -d "466X33"]
Telepen Numeric allows compression of numeric data into a Telepen symbol. Data
can consist of pairs of numbers or pairs consisting of a numerical digit
followed an X character. For example: 466333 and 466X33 are valid codes whereas
46X333 is not (the digit pair "X3" is not valid). Up to 60 digits can be
encoded. Telepen Numeric includes a modulo-127 check digit which is added by
Zint.
6.1.7 Code 39
6.1.7.1 Standard Code 39 (ISO 16388)
[zint -b CODE39 --compliantheight -d "1A" --vers=1]
Standard Code 39 was developed in 1974 by Intermec. Input data can be up to 85
characters in length and can include the characters 0-9, A-Z, dash (-), full
stop (.), space, asterisk (*), dollar ($), slash (/), plus (+) and percent (%).
The standard does not require a check digit but a modulo-43 check digit can be
added if required by setting --vers=1 (API option_2 = 1).
6.1.7.2 Extended Code 39
[zint -b EXCODE39 --compliantheight -d "123.45$@fd"]
Also known as Code 39e and Code39+, this symbology expands on Standard Code 39
to provide support for the full 7-bit ASCII character set. The standard does not
require a check digit but a modulo-43 check digit can be added if required by
setting --vers=1 (API option_2 = 1).
6.1.7.3 Code 93
[zint -b CODE93 --compliantheight -d "C93"]
A variation of Extended Code 39, Code 93 also supports full ASCII text. Two
check characters are added by Zint. By default these check characters are not
shown in the Human Readable Text, but may be shown by setting --vers=1 (API
option_2 = 1).
6.1.7.4 PZN (Pharmazentralnummer)
[zint -b PZN --compliantheight -d "2758089"]
PZN is a Code 39 based symbology used by the pharmaceutical industry in Germany.
PZN encodes a 7-digit number to which Zint will add a modulo-11 check digit.
6.1.7.5 LOGMARS
[zint -b LOGMARS --compliantheight -d "12345/ABCDE" --vers=1]
LOGMARS (Logistics Applications of Automated Marking and Reading Symbols) is a
variation of the Code 39 symbology used by the US Department of Defense. LOGMARS
encodes the same character set as Standard Code 39. It does not require a check
digit but a modulo-43 check digit can be added by setting --vers=1 (API
option_2 = 1).
6.1.7.6 Code 32
[zint -b CODE32 --compliantheight -d "14352312"]
A variation of Code 39 used by the Italian Ministry of Health (“Ministero della
Sanità”) for encoding identifiers on pharmaceutical products. This symbology
requires a numeric input up to 8 digits in length. A check digit is added by
Zint.
6.1.7.7 HIBC Code 39
[zint -b HIBC_39 --compliantheight -d "14352312"]
This variant adds a leading '+' character and a trailing modulo-49 check digit
to a standard Code 39 symbol as required by the Health Industry Barcode
standards.
6.1.7.8 Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
[zint -b VIN -d "2FTPX28L0XCA15511" --vers=1]
A variation of Code 39 that for vehicle identification numbers used in North
America (first character '1' to '5') has a check character verification stage. A
17 character input (0-9, and A-Z excluding 'I', 'O' and 'Q') is required. An
invisible Import character prefix 'I' can be added by setting --vers=1 (API
option_2 = 1).
6.1.8 Codabar (EN 798)
[zint -b CODABAR --compliantheight -d "A37859B"]
Also known as NW-7, Monarch, ABC Codabar, USD-4, Ames Code and Code 27, this
symbology was developed in 1972 by Monarch Marketing Systems for retail
purposes. The American Blood Commission adopted Codabar in 1977 as the standard
symbology for blood identification. Codabar can encode up to 60 characters
starting and ending with the letters A-D and containing between these letters
the numbers 0-9, dash (-), dollar ($), colon (:), slash (/), full stop (.) or
plus (+). No check character is generated by default, but a modulo-16 one can be
added by setting --vers=1 (API option_2 = 1). To have the check character appear
in the Human Readable Text, set --vers=2 (API option_2 = 2).
6.1.9 Pharmacode
[zint -b PHARMA --compliantheight -d "130170"]
Developed by Laetus, Pharmacode is used for the identification of
pharmaceuticals. The symbology is able to encode whole numbers between 3 and
131070.
6.1.10 Code 128
6.1.10.1 Standard Code 128 (ISO 15417)
[zint -b CODE128 --bind -d "130170X178"]
One of the most ubiquitous one-dimensional barcode symbologies, Code 128 was
developed in 1981 by Computer Identics. This symbology supports full ASCII text
and uses a three-mode system to compress the data into a smaller symbol. Zint
automatically switches between modes and adds a modulo-103 check digit. Code 128
is the default barcode symbology used by Zint. In addition Zint supports the
encoding of ISO/IEC 8859-1 (non-English) characters in Code 128 symbols. The
ISO/IEC 8859-1 character set is shown in Appendix A.2 Latin Alphabet No. 1
(ISO/IEC 8859-1).
6.1.10.2 Code 128 Subset B
[zint -b CODE128B -d "130170X178"]
It is sometimes advantageous to stop Code 128 from using subset mode C which
compresses numerical data. The BARCODE_CODE128B variant (symbology 60)
suppresses mode C in favour of mode B.
6.1.10.3 GS1-128
[zint -b GS1_128 --compliantheight -d "[01]98898765432106[3202]012345[15]991231"]
A variation of Code 128 previously known as UCC/EAN-128, this symbology is
defined by the GS1 General Specifications. Application Identifiers (AIs) should
be entered using [square bracket] notation. These will be converted to
parentheses (round brackets) for the Human Readable Text. This will allow round
brackets to be used in the data strings to be encoded.
For compatibility with data entry in other systems, if the data does not include
round brackets, the option --gs1parens (API input_mode |= GS1PARENS_MODE) may be
used to signal that AIs are encased in round brackets instead of square ones.
Fixed length data should be entered at the appropriate length for correct
encoding. GS1-128 does not support extended ASCII characters. Check digits for
GTIN data AI (01) are not generated and need to be included in the input data.
The following is an example of a valid GS1-128 input:
zint -b 16 -d "[01]98898765432106[3202]012345[15]991231"
or using the --gs1parens option:
zint -b 16 --gs1parens -d "(01)98898765432106(3202)012345(15)991231"
6.1.10.4 EAN-14
[zint -b EAN14 --compliantheight -d "9889876543210"]
A shorter version of GS1-128 which encodes GTIN data only. A 13-digit number is
required. The GTIN check digit and AI (01) are added by Zint.
6.1.10.5 NVE-18 (SSCC-18)
[zint -b NVE18 --compliantheight -d "37612345000001003"]
A variation of Code 128 the ‘Nummer der Versandeinheit’ standard, also known as
SSCC-18 (Serial Shipping Container Code), includes both modulo-10 and modulo-103
check digits. NVE-18 requires a 17-digit numerical input. Check digits and AI
(00) are added by Zint.
6.1.10.6 HIBC Code 128
[zint -b HIBC_128 -d "A123BJC5D6E71"]
This option adds a leading '+' character and a trailing modulo-49 check digit to
a standard Code 128 symbol as required by the Health Industry Barcode standards.
6.1.10.7 DPD Code
[zint -b DPD --compliantheight -d "%000393206219912345678101040"]
Another variation of Code 128 as used by DPD (Deutsher Paket Dienst). Requires a
28 character alphanumeric input. Zint formats the Human Readable Text as
specified by DPD and adds a modulo-36 check character.
6.1.11 GS1 DataBar (ISO 24724)
Previously known as RSS (Reduced Spaced Symbology), these symbols are due to
replace GS1-128 symbols in accordance with the GS1 General Specifications. If a
GS1 DataBar symbol is to be printed with a 2D component as specified in ISO/IEC
24723 set --mode=2 (API option_1 = 2). See 6.3 GS1 Composite Symbols (ISO 24723)
to find out how to generate DataBar symbols with 2D components.
6.1.11.1 GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional and GS1 DataBar Truncated
[zint -b DBAR_OMN --compliantheight -d "0950110153001"]
Previously known as RSS-14 this standard encodes a 13-digit item code. A check
digit and Application Identifier of (01) are added by Zint. (A 14-digit code
that appends the check digit may be given, in which case the check digit will be
verified.)
GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional symbols should have a height of 33 or greater. To
produce a GS1 DataBar Truncated symbol set the symbol height to a value between
13 and 32. Truncated symbols may not be scannable by omnidirectional scanners.
[zint -b DBAR_OMN -d "0950110153001" --height=13]
6.1.11.2 GS1 DataBar Limited
[zint -b DBAR_LTD --compliantheight -d "0950110153001"]
Previously known as RSS Limited this standard encodes a 13-digit item code and
can be used in the same way as GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional above. GS1 DataBar
Limited, however, is limited to data starting with digits 0 and 1 (i.e. numbers
in the range 0 to 1999999999999). As with GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional a check
digit and Application Identifier of (01) are added by Zint, and a 14-digit code
may be given in which case the check digit will be verified.
6.1.11.3 GS1 DataBar Expanded
[zint -b DBAR_EXP --compliantheight -d "[01]98898765432106[3202]012345[15]991231"]
Previously known as RSS Expanded this is a variable length symbology capable of
encoding data from a number of AIs in a single symbol. AIs should be encased in
[square brackets] in the input data, which will be converted to parentheses
(round brackets) before being included in the Human Readable Text attached to
the symbol. This method allows the inclusion of parentheses in the data to be
encoded. If the data does not include parentheses, the AIs may alternatively be
encased in parentheses using the --gs1parens switch. See 6.1.10.3 GS1-128.
GTIN data AI (01) should also include the check digit data as this is not
calculated by Zint when this symbology is encoded. Fixed length data should be
entered at the appropriate length for correct encoding. The following is an
example of a valid GS1 DataBar Expanded input:
zint -b 31 -d "[01]98898765432106[3202]012345[15]991231"
6.1.12 Korea Post Barcode
[zint -b KOREAPOST -d "923457"]
The Korean Postal Barcode is used to encode a 6-digit number and includes one
check digit.
6.1.13 Channel Code
[zint -b CHANNEL -d "453678" --compliantheight]
A highly compressed symbol for numeric data. The number of channels in the
symbol can be between 3 and 8 and this can be specified by setting the value of
the --vers option (API option_2). It can also be determined by the length of the
input data e.g. a three character input string generates a 4 channel code by
default.
The maximum values permitted depend on the number of channels used as shown in
the table below:
Channels Minimum Value Maximum Value
---------- --------------- ---------------
3 00 26
4 000 292
5 0000 3493
6 00000 44072
7 000000 576688
8 0000000 7742862
: Table : Channel Maximum Values:
6.2 Stacked Symbologies
6.2.1 Basic Symbol Stacking
An early innovation to get more information into a symbol, used primarily in the
vehicle industry, is to simply stack one-dimensional codes on top of each other.
This can be achieved at the command prompt by giving more than one set of input
data. For example
zint -d "This" -d "That"
will draw two Code 128 symbols, one on top of the other. The same result can be
achieved using the API by executing the ZBarcode_Encode() function more than
once on a symbol. For example:
my_symbol->symbology = BARCODE_CODE128;
error = ZBarcode_Encode(my_symbol, "This", 0);
error = ZBarcode_Encode(my_symbol, "That", 0);
error = ZBarcode_Print(my_symbol);
[zint -d "This" -d "That"]
Note that the Human Readable Text will be that of the last data, so it’s best to
use the option --notext (API show_hrt = 0).
The stacked barcode rows can be separated by row separator bars by specifying
--bind (API output_options |= BARCODE_BIND). The height of the row separator
bars in multiples of the X-dimension (minimum and default 1, maximum 4) can be
set by --separator (API option_3):
zint --bind --notext --separator=2 -d "This" -d "That"
[zint --notext --bind --separator=2 -d "This" -d "That"]
A more sophisticated method is to use some type of line indexing which indicates
to the barcode reader which order the stacked symbols should be read in. This is
demonstrated by the symbologies below.
6.2.2 Codablock-F
[zint -b CODABLOCKF -d "CODABLOCK F Symbology" --rows=3]
This is a stacked symbology based on Code 128 which can encode extended ASCII
code set data up to a maximum length of 2725 characters. The width of the
Codablock-F symbol can be set using the --cols option (API option_2). The height
(number of rows) can be set using the --rows option (API option_1). Zint does
not currently support encoding of GS1 data in Codablock-F symbols.
A separate symbology ID (BARCODE_HIBC_BLOCKF) can be used to encode Health
Industry Barcode (HIBC) data which adds a leading '+' character and a modulo-49
check digit to the encoded data.
6.2.3 Code 16K (EN 12323)
[zint -b CODE16K --compliantheight -d "ab0123456789"]
Code 16K uses a Code 128 based system which can stack up to 16 rows in a block.
This gives a maximum data capacity of 77 characters or 154 numerical digits and
includes two modulo-107 check digits. Code 16K also supports extended ASCII
character encoding in the same manner as Code 128. GS1 data encoding is also
supported. The minimum number of rows to use can be set using the --rows option
(API option_1), with values from 2 to 16.
6.2.4 PDF417 (ISO 15438)
[zint -b PDF417 -d "PDF417"]
Heavily used in the parcel industry, the PDF417 symbology can encode a vast
amount of data into a small space. Zint supports encoding up to the ISO standard
maximum symbol size of 925 codewords which (at error correction level 0) allows
a maximum data size of 1850 text characters, or 2710 digits.
The width of the generated PDF417 symbol can be specified at the command line
using the --cols switch (API option_2) followed by a number between 1 and 30,
the number of rows using the --rows switch (API option_3) followed by a number
between 3 and 90, and the amount of error correction information can be
specified by using the --secure switch (API option_1) followed by a number
between 0 and 8 where the number of codewords used for error correction is
determined by 2^(value + 1). The default level of error correction is determined
by the amount of data being encoded.
This symbology uses Latin-1 character encoding by default but also supports the
ECI encoding mechanism. A separate symbology ID (BARCODE_HIBC_PDF) can be used
to encode Health Industry Barcode (HIBC) data.
PDF417 supports Structured Append of up to 99,999 symbols and an optional
numeric ID of up to 30 digits, which can be set by using the --structapp option
(see 4.16 Structured Append) (API structapp). The ID consists of up to 10
triplets, each ranging from "000" to "899". For instance "123456789" would be a
valid ID of 3 triplets. However "123456900" would not, as the last triplet "900"
exceeds "899". The triplets are 0-filled, for instance "1234" becomes "123004".
If an ID is not given, no ID is encoded.
6.2.5 Compact PDF417 (ISO 15438)
[zint -b PDF417COMP -d "PDF417"]
Previously known as Truncated PDF417, Compact PDF417 omits some per-row overhead
to produce a narrower but less robust symbol. Options are the same as for PDF417
above.
6.2.6 MicroPDF417 (ISO 24728)
[zint -b MICROPDF417 -d "12345678"]
A variation of the PDF417 standard, MicroPDF417 is intended for applications
where symbol size needs to be kept to a minimum. 34 predefined symbol sizes are
available with 1 - 4 columns and 4 - 44 rows. The maximum amount a MicroPDF417
symbol can hold is 250 alphanumeric characters or 366 digits. The amount of
error correction used is dependent on symbol size. The number of columns used
can be determined using the --cols switch (API option_2) as with PDF417.
This symbology uses Latin-1 character encoding by default but also supports the
ECI encoding mechanism. A separate symbology ID (BARCODE_HIBC_MICPDF) can be
used to encode Health Industry Barcode (HIBC) data. MicroPDF417 supports
Structured Append the same as PDF417, for which see details.
6.2.7 GS1 DataBar Stacked (ISO 24724)
6.2.7.1 GS1 DataBar Stacked
[zint -b DBAR_STK --compliantheight -d "9889876543210"]
A stacked variation of the GS1 DataBar Truncated symbol requiring the same input
(see 6.1.11.1 GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional and GS1 DataBar Truncated), this
symbol is the same as the following GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional symbol
except that its height is reduced, making it suitable for small items when
omnidirectional scanning is not required. It can be generated with a
two-dimensional component to make a composite symbol.
6.2.7.2 GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional
[zint -b DBAR_OMNSTK --compliantheight -d "9889876543210"]
A stacked variation of the GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional symbol requiring the same
input (see 6.1.11.1 GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional and GS1 DataBar Truncated). The
data is encoded in two rows of bars with a central finder pattern. This symbol
can be generated with a two-dimensional component to make a composite symbol.
6.2.7.3 GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked
[zint -b DBAR_EXPSTK --compliantheight -d "[01]98898765432106[3202]012345[15]991231"]
A stacked variation of the GS1 DataBar Expanded symbol for smaller packages.
Input is the same as for GS1 DataBar Expanded (see 6.1.11.3 GS1 DataBar
Expanded). In addition the width of the symbol can be altered using the --cols
switch (API option_2). In this case the number of columns (values 1 to 11)
relates to the number of character pairs on each row of the symbol.
Alternatively the --rows switch (API option_3) can be used to specify the
maximum number of rows (values 2 to 11), and the number of columns will be
adjusted accordingly. This symbol can be generated with a two-dimensional
component to make a composite symbol. For symbols with a 2D component the number
of columns must be at least 2.
6.2.8 Code 49
[zint -b CODE49 --compliantheight -d "MULTIPLE ROWS IN CODE 49"]
Developed in 1987 at Intermec, Code 49 is a cross between UPC and Code 39. It is
one of the earliest stacked symbologies and influenced the design of Code 16K a
few years later. It supports full 7-bit ASCII input up to a maximum of 49
characters or 81 numeric digits. GS1 data encoding is also supported. The
minimum number of rows to use can be set using the --rows option (API option_1),
with values from 2 to 8.
6.3 GS1 Composite Symbols (ISO 24723)
Composite symbols employ a mixture of components to give more comprehensive
information about a product. The permissible contents of a composite symbol is
determined by the terms of the GS1 General Specifications. Composite symbols
consist of a linear component which can be an EAN, UPC, GS1-128 or GS1 DataBar
symbol, a two-dimensional (2D) component which is based on PDF417 or
MicroPDF417, and a separator pattern. The type of linear component to be used is
determined using the -b or --barcode switch (API symbology) as with other
encoding methods. Valid values are shown below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numeric Name Barcode Name
Value
--------- ------------------------- --------------------------------------------
130 BARCODE_EANX_CC Composite Symbol with EAN linear component
131 BARCODE_GS1_128_CC Composite Symbol with GS1-128 linear
component
132 BARCODE_DBAR_OMN_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar
Omnidirectional linear component
133 BARCODE_DBAR_LTD_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Limited
linear component
134 BARCODE_DBAR_EXP_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Expanded
linear component
135 BARCODE_UPCA_CC Composite Symbol with UPC-A linear component
136 BARCODE_UPCE_CC Composite Symbol with UPC-E linear component
137 BARCODE_DBAR_STK_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Stacked
component
138 BARCODE_DBAR_OMNSTK_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Stacked
Omnidirectional component
139 BARCODE_DBAR_EXPSTK_CC Composite Symbol with GS1 DataBar Expanded
Stacked component
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : Composite Symbology Values:
The data to be encoded in the linear component of a composite symbol should be
entered into a primary string with the data for the 2D component being entered
in the normal way. To do this at the command prompt use the --primary switch
(API primary). For example:
zint -b EANX_CC --mode=1 --primary=331234567890 -d "[99]1234-abcd"
This creates an EAN-13 linear component with the data "331234567890" and a 2D
CC-A (see below) component with the data "(99)1234-abcd". The same results can
be achieved using the API as shown below:
my_symbol->symbology = BARCODE_EANX_CC;
my_symbol->option_1 = 1;
strcpy(my_symbol->primary, "331234567890");
ZBarcode_Encode_and_Print(my_symbol, "[99]1234-abcd", 0, 0);
EAN-2 and EAN-5 add-on data can be used with EAN and UPC symbols using the +
symbol as described in sections 6.1.3 UPC (Universal Product Code) (ISO 15420)
and 6.1.4 EAN (European Article Number) (ISO 15420).
The 2D component of a composite symbol can use one of three systems: CC-A, CC-B
and CC-C, as described below. The 2D component type can be selected
automatically by Zint dependent on the length of the input string. Alternatively
the three methods can be accessed using the --mode prompt (API option_1)
followed by 1, 2 or 3 for CC-A, CC-B or CC-C respectively.
6.3.1 CC-A
[zint -b EANX_CC --compliantheight -d "[99]1234-abcd" --mode=1 --primary=331234567890]
This system uses a variation of MicroPDF417 which is optimised to fit into a
small space. The size of the 2D component and the amount of error correction is
determined by the amount of data to be encoded and the type of linear component
which is being used. CC-A can encode up to 56 numeric digits or an alphanumeric
string of shorter length. To select CC-A use --mode=1 (API option_1 = 1).
6.3.2 CC-B
[zint -b EANX_CC --compliantheight -d "[99]1234-abcd" --mode=2 --primary=331234567890]
This system uses MicroPDF417 to encode the 2D component. The size of the 2D
component and the amount of error correction is determined by the amount of data
to be encoded and the type of linear component which is being used. CC-B can
encode up to 338 numeric digits or an alphanumeric string of shorter length. To
select CC-B use --mode=2 (API option_1 = 2).
6.3.3 CC-C
[zint -b GS1_128_CC --compliantheight -d "[99]1234-abcd" --mode=3 --primary="[01]03312345678903"]
This system uses PDF417 and can only be used in conjunction with a GS1-128
linear component. CC-C can encode up to 2361 numeric digits or an alphanumeric
string of shorter length. To select CC-C use --mode=3 (API option_1 = 3).
6.4 Two-Track Symbols
6.4.1 Two-Track Pharmacode
[zint -b PHARMA_TWO --compliantheight -d "29876543"]
Developed by Laetus, Pharmacode Two-Track is an alternative system to Pharmacode
One-Track (see 6.1.9 Pharmacode) used for the identification of pharmaceuticals.
The symbology is able to encode whole numbers between 4 and 64570080.
6.4.2 POSTNET
[zint -b POSTNET --compliantheight -d "12345678901"]
Used by the United States Postal Service until 2009, the POSTNET barcode was
used for encoding zip-codes on mail items. POSTNET uses numerical input data and
includes a modulo-10 check digit. While Zint will encode POSTNET symbols of up
to 38 digits in length, standard lengths as used by USPS were PostNet6 (5-digit
ZIP input), PostNet10 (5-digit ZIP + 4-digit user data) and PostNet12 (5-digit
ZIP + 6-digit user data), and a warning will be issued if the input length is
not one of these.
6.4.3 PLANET
[zint -b PLANET --compliantheight -d "4012345235636"]
Used by the United States Postal Service until 2009, the PLANET (Postal Alpha
Numeric Encoding Technique) barcode was used for encoding routing data on mail
items. PLANET uses numerical input data and includes a modulo-10 check digit.
While Zint will encode PLANET symbols of up to 38 digits in length, standard
lengths used by USPS were Planet12 (11-digit input) and Planet14 (13-digit
input), and as with POSTNET a warning will be issued if the length is not one of
these.
6.5 4-State Postal Codes
6.5.1 Australia Post 4-State Symbols
6.5.1.1 Customer Barcodes
[zint -b AUSPOST --compliantheight -d "96184209"]
Australia Post Standard Customer Barcode, Customer Barcode 2 and Customer
Barcode 3 are 37-bar, 52-bar and 67-bar specifications respectively, developed
by Australia Post for printing Delivery Point ID (DPID) and customer information
on mail items. Valid data characters are 0-9, A-Z, a-z, space and hash (#). A
Format Control Code (FCC) is added by Zint and should not be included in the
input data. Reed-Solomon error correction data is generated by Zint. Encoding
behaviour is determined by the length of the input data according to the formula
shown in the following table:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Input Required Input Format Symbol FCC Encoding
Length Length Table
--------- --------------------------- -------- ----- ----------
8 99999999 37-bar 11 None
13 99999999AAAAA 52-bar 59 C
16 9999999999999999 52-bar 59 N
18 99999999AAAAAAAAAA 67-bar 62 C
23 99999999999999999999999 67-bar 62 N
---------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : Australia Post Input Formats:
6.5.1.2 Reply Paid Barcode
[zint -b AUSREPLY --compliantheight -d "12345678"]
A Reply Paid version of the Australia Post 4-State Barcode (FCC 45) which
requires an 8-digit DPID input.
6.5.1.3 Routing Barcode
[zint -b AUSROUTE --compliantheight -d "34567890"]
A Routing version of the Australia Post 4-State Barcode (FCC 87) which requires
an 8-digit DPID input.
6.5.1.4 Redirect Barcode
[zint -b AUSREDIRECT --compliantheight -d "98765432"]
A Redirection version of the Australia Post 4-State Barcode (FCC 92) which
requires an 8-digit DPID input.
6.5.2 Dutch Post KIX Code
[zint -b KIX --compliantheight -d "2500GG30250"]
This symbology is used by Royal Dutch TPG Post (Netherlands) for Postal code and
automatic mail sorting. Data input can consist of numbers 0-9 and letters A-Z
and needs to be 11 characters in length. No check digit is included.
6.5.3 Royal Mail 4-State Customer Code (RM4SCC)
[zint -b RM4SCC --compliantheight -d "W1J0TR01"]
The RM4SCC standard is used by the Royal Mail in the UK to encode postcode and
customer data on mail items. Data input can consist of numbers 0-9 and letters
A-Z and usually includes delivery postcode followed by house number. For example
"W1J0TR01" for 1 Piccadilly Circus in London. Check digit data is generated by
Zint.
6.5.4 Royal Mail 4-State Mailmark
[zint -b MAILMARK --compliantheight -d "1100000000000XY11"]
Developed in 2014 as a replacement for RM4SCC this 4-state symbol includes Reed
Solomon error correction. Input is a pre-formatted alphanumeric string of 22
(for Barcode C) or 26 (for Barcode L) characters, producing a symbol with 66 or
78 bars respectively. The rules for the input data are complex, as summarized in
the following table.
Format Version ID Class Supply Chain ID Item ID Destination+DPS
--------- ------------ ------------- ----------------- ---------- -------------------
1 digit 1 digit 1 alphanum. 2 digits (C) or 8 digits 9 alphanumerics
(0-4) (0-3) (0-9A-E) 6 digits (L) (1 of 6 patterns)
: Table : Royal Mail Mailmark Input Fields:
The 6 Destination+DPS (Destination Post Code plus Delivery Point Suffix)
patterns are 'FNFNLLNLS', 'FFNNLLNLS', 'FFNNNLLNL', 'FFNFNLLNL', 'FNNLLNLSS' and
'FNNNLLNLS', where 'F' stands for full alphabetic (A-Z), 'L' for limited
alphabetic (A-Z less 'CIKMOV'), 'N' for numeric (0-9), and 'S' for space.
Four of the permitted patterns include a number of trailing space characters -
these will be appended by Zint if not included in the input data.
6.5.5 USPS Intelligent Mail
[zint -b USPS_IMAIL --compliantheight -d "01234567094987654321-01234"]
Also known as the OneCode barcode and used in the US by the United States Postal
Service (USPS), the Intelligent Mail system replaced the POSTNET and PLANET
symbologies in 2009. Intelligent Mail is a fixed length (65-bar) symbol which
combines routing and customer information in a single symbol. Input data
consists of a 20-digit tracking code, followed by a dash (-), followed by a
delivery point zip-code which can be 0, 5, 9 or 11 digits in length. For example
all of the following inputs are valid data entries:
- "01234567094987654321"
- "01234567094987654321-01234"
- "01234567094987654321-012345678"
- "01234567094987654321-01234567891"
6.5.6 Japanese Postal Code
[zint -b JAPANPOST --compliantheight -d "15400233-16-4-205"]
Used for address data on mail items for Japan Post. Accepted values are 0-9, A-Z
and dash (-). A modulo 19 check digit is added by Zint.
6.5.7 DAFT Code
[zint -b DAFT -d "AAFDTTDAFADTFTTFFFDATFTADTTFFTDAFAFDTF" --height=8.494 --vers=256]
This is a method for creating 4-state codes where the data encoding is provided
by an external program. Input data should consist of the letters 'D', 'A', 'F'
and 'T' where these refer to descender, ascender, full (ascender and descender)
and tracker (neither ascender nor descender) respectively. All other characters
are invalid. The ratio of the tracker size to full height can be given in
thousandths (permille) using the --vers option (API option_2). The default value
is 250 (25%).
For example the following
zint -b DAFT -d AAFDTTDAFADTFTTFFFDATFTADTTFFTDAFAFDTF --height=8.494 --vers=256
produces the same barcode (see 6.5.3 Royal Mail 4-State Customer Code (RM4SCC))
as
zint -b RM4SCC --compliantheight -d "W1J0TR01"
6.6 Matrix Symbols
6.6.1 Data Matrix (ISO 16022)
[zint -b HIBC_DM -d "/ACMRN123456/V200912190833" --fast --square]
Also known as Semacode this symbology was developed in 1989 by Acuity CiMatrix
in partnership with the US DoD and NASA. The symbol can encode a large amount of
data in a small area. Data Matrix encodes characters in the Latin-1 set by
default but also supports encoding in other character sets using the ECI
mechanism. It can also encode GS1 data. The size of the generated symbol can be
adjusted using the --vers option (API option_2) as shown in the table below. A
separate symbology ID (BARCODE_HIBC_DM) can be used to encode Health Industry
Barcode (HIBC) data. Note that only ECC200 encoding is supported, the older
standards have now been removed from Zint.
Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size
------- ------------- -- ------- ------------- -- ------- -------------
1 10 x 10 11 36 x 36 21 104 x 104
2 12 x 12 12 40 x 40 22 120 x 120
3 14 x 14 13 44 x 44 23 132 x 132
4 16 x 16 14 48 x 48 24 144 x 144
5 18 x 18 15 52 x 52 25 8 x 18
6 20 x 20 16 64 x 64 26 8 x 32
7 22 x 22 17 72 x 72 28 12 x 26
8 24 x 24 18 80 x 80 28 12 x 36
9 26 x 26 19 88 x 88 29 16 x 36
10 32 x 32 20 96 x 96 30 16 x 48
: Table : Data Matrix Sizes:
When using automatic symbol sizes you can force Zint to use square symbols
(versions 1-24) at the command line by using the option --square (API
option_3 = DM_SQUARE).
Data Matrix Rectangular Extension (ISO/IEC 21471) codes may be generated with
the following values as before:
Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size
------- ------------- -- ------- -------------
31 8 x 48 40 20 x 36
32 8 x 64 41 20 x 44
33 8 x 80 42 20 x 64
34 8 x 96 43 22 x 48
35 8 x 120 44 24 x 48
36 8 x 144 45 24 x 64
37 12 x 64 46 26 x 40
38 12 x 88 47 26 x 48
39 16 x 64 48 26 x 64
: Table : DMRE Sizes:
DMRE symbol sizes may be activated in automatic size mode using the option
--dmre (API option_3 = DM_DMRE).
GS1 data may be encoded using FNC1 (default) or GS as separator. Use the option
--gssep to change to GS (API output_options |= GS1_GS_SEPARATOR).
For a faster but less optimal encoding, the --fast option (API
input_mode |= FAST_MODE) may be used.
Data Matrix supports Structured Append of up to 16 symbols and a numeric ID
(file identifications), which can be set by using the --structapp option (see
4.16 Structured Append) (API structapp). The ID consists of 2 numbers ID1 and
ID2, each of which can range from 1 to 254, and is specified as the single
number ID1 * 1000 + ID2, so for instance ID1 "123" and ID2 "234" would be given
as "123234". Note that both ID1 and ID2 must be non-zero, so e.g. "123000" or
"000123" would be invalid IDs. If an ID is not given it defaults to "001001".
6.6.2 QR Code (ISO 18004)
[zint -b QRCODE -d "QR Code Symbol" --mask=5]
Also known as Quick Response Code this symbology was developed by Denso. Four
levels of error correction are available using the --secure option (API
option_1) as shown in the following table.
Input ECC Level Error Correction Capacity Recovery Capacity
------- ----------- --------------------------- -------------------
1 L Approx 20% of symbol Approx 7%
2 M Approx 37% of symbol Approx 15%
3 Q Approx 55% of symbol Approx 25%
4 H Approx 65% of symbol Approx 30%
: Table : QR Code ECC Levels:
The size of the symbol can be specified by setting the --vers option (API
option_2) to the QR Code version required (1-40). The size of symbol generated
is shown in the table below.
Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size
------- ------------- -- ------- ------------- -- ------- -------------
1 21 x 21 15 77 x 77 29 133 x 133
2 25 x 25 16 81 x 81 30 137 x 137
3 29 x 29 17 85 x 85 31 141 x 141
4 33 x 33 18 89 x 89 32 145 x 145
5 37 x 37 19 93 x 93 33 149 x 149
6 41 x 41 20 97 x 97 34 153 x 153
7 45 x 45 21 101 x 101 35 157 x 157
8 49 x 49 22 105 x 105 36 161 x 161
9 53 x 53 23 109 x 109 37 165 x 165
10 57 x 57 24 113 x 113 38 169 x 169
11 61 x 61 25 117 x 117 39 173 x 173
12 65 x 65 26 121 x 121 40 177 x 177
13 69 x 69 27 125 x 125
14 73 x 73 28 129 x 129
: Table : QR Code Sizes:
The maximum capacity of a QR Code symbol (version 40) is 7089 numeric digits,
4296 alphanumeric characters or 2953 bytes of data. QR Code symbols can also be
used to encode GS1 data. QR Code symbols can by default encode either characters
in the Latin-1 set or Kanji, Katakana and ASCII characters which are members of
the Shift JIS encoding scheme. In addition QR Code supports other character sets
using the ECI mechanism. Input should usually be entered as UTF-8 with
conversion to Latin-1 or Shift JIS being carried out by Zint. A separate
symbology ID (BARCODE_HIBC_QR) can be used to encode Health Industry Barcode
(HIBC) data.
Non-ASCII data density may be maximized by using the --fullmultibyte switch (API
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE), but check that your barcode reader supports
this before using.
QR Code has eight different masks designed to minimize unwanted patterns. The
best mask to use is selected automatically by Zint but may be manually specified
by using the --mask switch with values 0-7, or in the API by setting
option_3 = (N + 1) << 8 where N is 0-7. To use with ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE set
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE | (N + 1) << 8
QR Code supports Structured Append of up to 16 symbols and a numeric ID
(parity), which can be set by using the --structapp option (see 4.16 Structured
Append) (API structapp). The parity ID ranges from 0 (default) to 255, and for
full compliance should be set to the value obtained by XOR-ing together each
byte of the complete data forming the sequence. Currently this calculation must
be done outside of Zint.
6.6.3 Micro QR Code (ISO 18004)
[zint -b MICROQR -d "01234567"]
A miniature version of the QR Code symbol for short messages, Micro QR Code
symbols can encode either Latin-1 characters or Shift JIS characters. Input
should be entered as a UTF-8 stream with conversion to Latin-1 or Shift JIS
being carried out automatically by Zint. A preferred symbol size can be selected
by using the --vers option (API option_2), as shown in the table below. Note
that versions M1 and M2 have restrictions on what characters can be encoded.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Input Version Symbol Size Allowed Characters
------- --------- ------------- ----------------------------------
1 M1 11 x 11 Numeric only
2 M2 13 x 13 Numeric, uppercase letters, space,
and the characters "$%*+-./:"
3 M3 15 x 15 Latin-1 and Shift JIS
4 M4 17 x 17 Latin-1 and Shift JIS
------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : Micro QR Code Sizes:
Except for version M1, which is always ECC level L, the amount of ECC codewords
can be adjusted using the --secure option (API option_1); however ECC level H is
not available for any version, and ECC level Q is only available for version M4:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Input ECC Error Correction Recovery Available for
Level Capacity Capacity Versions
-------- -------- ----------------------- ------------- --------------
1 L Approx 20% of symbol Approx 7% M1, M2, M3, M4
2 M Approx 37% of symbol Approx 15% M2, M3, M4
3 Q Approx 55% of symbol Approx 25% M4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The defaults for symbol size and ECC level depend on the input and whether
either of them is specified.
For barcode readers that support it, non-ASCII data density may be maximized by
using the --fullmultibyte switch (API option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE).
Micro QR Code has four different masks designed to minimize unwanted patterns.
The best mask to use is selected automatically by Zint but may be manually
specified by using the --mask switch with values 0-3, or in the API by setting
option_3 = (N + 1) << 8 where N is 0-3. To use with ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE set
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE | (N + 1) << 8
6.6.4 Rectangular Micro QR Code (rMQR) (ISO 23941)
[zint -b RMQR -d "0123456"]
A rectangular version of QR Code, rMQR supports encoding of GS1 data, and either
Latin-1 characters or Shift JIS characters, and other encodings using the ECI
mechanism. As with other symbologies data should be entered as UTF-8 with
conversion being handled by Zint. The amount of ECC codewords can be adjusted
using the --secure option (API option_1), however only ECC levels M and H are
valid for this type of symbol.
Input ECC Level Error Correction Capacity Recovery Capacity
------- ----------- --------------------------- -------------------
2 M Approx 37% of symbol Approx 15%
4 H Approx 65% of symbol Approx 30%
: Table : rMQR ECC Levels:
The preferred symbol sizes can be selected using the --vers option (API
option_2) as shown in the table below. Input values between 33 and 38 fix the
height of the symbol while allowing Zint to determine the minimum symbol width.
Input Version Symbol Size (HxW) Input Version Symbol Size (HxW)
------- --------- ------------------- -- ------- --------- ----------------------
1 R7x43 7 x 73 20 R13x77 13 x 77
2 R7x59 7 x 59 21 R13x99 13 x 99
3 R7x77 7 x 77 22 R13x139 13 x 139
4 R7x99 7 x 99 23 R15x43 15 x 43
5 R7x139 7 x 139 24 R15x59 15 x 59
6 R9x43 9 x 43 25 R15x77 15 x 77
7 R9x59 9 x 59 26 R15x99 15 x 99
8 R9x77 9 x 77 27 R15x139 15 x 139
9 R9x99 9 x 99 28 R17x43 17 x 43
10 R9x139 9 x 139 29 R17x59 17 x 59
11 R11x27 11 x 27 30 R17x77 17 x 77
12 R11x43 11 x 43 31 R17x99 17 x 99
13 R11x59 11 x 59 32 R17x139 17 x 139
14 R11x77 11 x 77 33 R7xW 7 x automatic width
15 R11x99 11 x 99 34 R9xW 9 x automatic width
16 R11x139 11 x 139 35 R11xW 11 x automatic width
17 R13x27 13 x 27 36 R13xW 13 x automatic width
18 R13x43 13 x 43 37 R15xW 15 x automatic width
19 R13x59 13 x 59 38 R17xW 17 x automatic width
: Table : rMQR Sizes:
For barcode readers that support it, non-ASCII data density may be maximized by
using the --fullmultibyte switch or in the API by setting
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE.
6.6.5 UPNQR (Univerzalnega Plačilnega Naloga QR)
[zint -b UPNQR -i upn_utf8.txt --quietzones]
A variation of QR Code used by Združenje Bank Slovenije (Bank Association of
Slovenia). The size, error correction level and ECI are set by Zint and do not
need to be specified. UPNQR is unusual in that it uses Latin-2 (ISO/IEC 8859-2
plus ASCII) formatted data. Zint will accept UTF-8 data and convert it to
Latin-2, or if your data is already Latin-2 formatted use the --binary switch
(API input_mode = DATA MODE).
The following example creates a symbol from data saved as a Latin-2 file:
zint -o upnqr.png -b 143 --scale=3 --binary -i upn.txt
6.6.6 MaxiCode (ISO 16023)
[zint -b MAXICODE -d "1Z00004951\GUPSN\G06X610\G159\G1234567\G1/1\G\GY\G1 MAIN ST\GNY\GNY\R\E" --esc --primary="152382802000000" --scmvv=96]
Developed by UPS the MaxiCode symbology employs a grid of hexagons surrounding a
bulls-eye finder pattern. This symbology is designed for the identification of
parcels. MaxiCode symbols can be encoded in one of five modes. In modes 2 and 3
MaxiCode symbols are composed of two parts named the primary and secondary
messages. The primary message consists of a Structured Carrier Message which
includes various data about the package being sent and the secondary message
usually consists of address data in a data structure. The format of the primary
message required by Zint is given in the following table:
Characters Meaning
------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 9 Postcode data which can consist of up to 9 digits (for mode 2)
or up to 6 alphanumeric characters (for mode 3). Remaining
unused characters can be filled with the SPACE character
(ASCII 32) or omitted (if omitted adjust the following
character positions).
10 - 12 Three-digit country code according to ISO 3166-1.
13 - 15 Three-digit service code. This depends on your parcel courier.
: Table : MaxiCode Structured Carrier Message Format:
The primary message can be set at the command prompt using the --primary switch
(API primary). The secondary message uses the normal data entry method. For
example:
zint -o test.eps -b 57 --primary="999999999840012" \
-d "Secondary Message Here"
When using the API the primary message must be placed in the primary string. The
secondary is entered in the same way as described in 5.2 Encoding and Saving to
File. When either of these modes is selected Zint will analyse the primary
message and select either mode 2 or mode 3 as appropriate.
As a convenience the secondary message for modes 2 and 3 can be set to be
prefixed by the ISO/IEC 15434 Format "01" (transportation) sequence
"[)>\R01\Gvv", where vv is a 2-digit version, by using the --scmvv switch (API
option_2 = vv + 1). For example to use the common version "96" (ASC MH10/SC 8):
zint -b 57 --primary="152382802840001" --scmvv=96 --esc -d \
"1Z00004951\GUPSN\G06X610\G159\G1234567\G1/1\G\GY\G1 MAIN ST\GNY\GNY\R\E"
will prefix "[)>\R01\G96" to the secondary message. (\R, \G and \E are the
escape sequences for Record Separator, Group Separator and End of Transmission
respectively - see Table : Escape Sequences.)
Modes 4 to 6 can be accessed using the --mode switch (API option_1). Modes 4 to
6 do not have a primary message. For example:
zint -o test.eps -b 57 --mode=4 -d "A MaxiCode Message in Mode 4"
Mode 6 is reserved for the maintenance of scanner hardware and should not be
used to encode user data.
This symbology uses Latin-1 character encoding by default but also supports the
ECI encoding mechanism. The maximum length of text which can be placed in a
MaxiCode symbol depends on the type of characters used in the text.
Example maximum data lengths are given in the table below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mode Maximum Data Length Maximum Data Length Number of Error
for Capital Letters for Numeric Digits Correction Codewords
------ --------------------- --------------------- ---------------------
2* 84 126 50
3* 84 126 50
4 93 138 50
5 77 113 66
6 93 138 50
------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : MaxiCode Data Length Maxima:
* - secondary only
MaxiCode supports Structured Append of up to 8 symbols, which can be set by
using the --structapp option (see 4.16 Structured Append) (API structapp). It
does not support specifying an ID.
MaxiCode uses a different scaling than other symbols for raster output, see
4.9.2 MaxiCode Raster Scaling, and also for EMF vector output, when the scale is
multiplied by 20 instead of 2.
6.6.7 Aztec Code (ISO 24778)
[zint -b AZTEC -d "123456789012"]
Invented by Andrew Longacre at Welch Allyn Inc in 1995 the Aztec Code symbol is
a matrix symbol with a distinctive bulls-eye finder pattern. Zint can generate
Compact Aztec Code (sometimes called Small Aztec Code) as well as ‘full-range’
Aztec Code symbols and by default will automatically select symbol type and size
dependent on the length of the data to be encoded. Error correction codewords
will normally be generated to fill at least 23% of the symbol. Two options are
available to change this behaviour:
The size of the symbol can be specified using the --vers option (API option_2)
to a value between 1 and 36 according to the following table. The symbols marked
with an asterisk (*) in the table below are ‘compact’ symbols, meaning they have
a smaller bulls-eye pattern at the centre of the symbol.
Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size
------- ------------- -- ------- ------------- -- ------- -------------
1 15 x 15* 13 53 x 53 25 105 x 105
2 19 x 19* 14 57 x 57 26 109 x 109
3 23 x 23* 15 61 x 61 27 113 x 113
4 27 x 27* 16 67 x 67 28 117 x 117
5 19 x 19 17 71 x 71 29 121 x 121
6 23 x 23 18 75 x 75 30 125 x 125
7 27 x 27 19 79 x 79 31 131 x 131
8 31 x 31 20 83 x 83 32 135 x 135
9 37 x 37 21 87 x 87 33 139 x 139
10 41 x 41 22 91 x 91 34 143 x 143
11 45 x 45 23 95 x 95 35 147 x 147
12 49 x 49 24 101 x 101 36 151 x 151
: Table : Aztec Code Sizes:
Note that in symbols which have a specified size the amount of error correction
is dependent on the length of the data input and Zint will allow error
correction capacities as low as 3 codewords.
Alternatively the amount of error correction data can be specified by setting
the --secure option (API option_1) to a value from the following table:
Mode Error Correction Capacity
------ ---------------------------
1 >10% + 3 codewords
2 >23% + 3 codewords
3 >36% + 3 codewords
4 >50% + 3 codewords
: Table : Aztec Code Error Correction Modes:
It is not possible to select both symbol size and error correction capacity for
the same symbol. If both options are selected then the error correction capacity
selection will be ignored.
Aztec Code supports ECI encoding and can encode up to a maximum length of
approximately 3823 numeric or 3067 alphabetic characters or 1914 bytes of data.
A separate symbology ID (BARCODE_HIBC_AZTEC) can be used to encode Health
Industry Barcode (HIBC) data.
Aztec Code supports Structured Append of up to 26 symbols and an optional
alphanumeric ID of up to 32 characters, which can be set by using the
--structapp option (see 4.16 Structured Append) (API structapp). The ID cannot
contain spaces. If an ID is not given, no ID is encoded.
6.6.8 Aztec Runes (ISO 24778)
[zint -b AZRUNE -d "125"]
A truncated version of compact Aztec Code for encoding whole integers between 0
and 255, as defined in ISO/IEC 24778 Annex A. Includes Reed-Solomon error
correction. It does not support Structured Append.
6.6.9 Code One
[zint -b CODEONE -d "1234567890123456789012"]
A matrix symbology developed by Ted Williams in 1992 which encodes data in a way
similar to Data Matrix, Code One is able to encode the Latin-1 character set or
GS1 data, and also supports the ECI mechanism. There are two types of Code One
symbol - fixed-ratio symbols which are roughly square (versions A through to H)
and variable-width versions (versions S and T). These can be selected by using
--vers (API option_2) as shown in the table below:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Input Version Size (W x H) Numeric Data Alphanumeric
Capacity Data Capacity
------- --------- ------------ --------------- ---------------
1 A 16 x 18 22 13
2 B 22 x 22 44 27
3 C 28 x 28 104 64
4 D 40 x 42 217 135
5 E 52 x 54 435 271
6 F 70 x 76 886 553
7 G 104 x 98 1755 1096
8 H 148 x 134 3550 2218
9 S width x 8 18 N/A
10 T width x 16 90 55
--------------------------------------------------------------
: Table : Code One Sizes:
Version S symbols can only encode numeric data. The width of version S and
version T symbols is determined by the length of the input data.
Code One supports Structured Append of up to 128 symbols, which can be set by
using the --structapp option (see 4.16 Structured Append) (API structapp). It
does not support specifying an ID. Structured Append is not supported with GS1
data nor for Version S symbols.
6.6.10 Grid Matrix
[zint -b GRIDMATRIX --eci=29 -d "AAT2556 电池充电器+降压转换器 200mA至2A tel:86 019 82512738"]
Grid Matrix groups modules in a chequerboard pattern, and by default supports
the GB 2312 standard set, which includes Hanzi, ASCII and a small number of
ISO/IEC 8859-1 characters. Input should be entered as UTF-8 with conversion to
GB 2312 being carried out automatically by Zint. The symbology also supports the
ECI mechanism. Support for GS1 data has not yet been implemented.
The size of the symbol and the error correction capacity can be specified. If
you specify both of these values then Zint will make a ‘best-fit’ attempt to
satisfy both conditions. The symbol size can be specified using the --vers
option (API option_2), and the error correction capacity can be specified by
using the --secure option (API option_1), according to the following tables:
Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size
------- ------------- -- ------- -------------
1 18 x 18 8 102 x 102
2 30 x 30 9 114 x 114
3 42 x 42 10 126 x 126
4 54 x 54 11 138 x 138
5 66 x 66 12 150 x 150
6 78 x 78 13 162 x 162
7 90 x 90
: Table : Grid Matrix Sizes:
Mode Error Correction Capacity
------ ---------------------------
1 Approximately 10%
2 Approximately 20%
3 Approximately 30%
4 Approximately 40%
5 Approximately 50%
: Table : Grid Matrix Error Correction Modes:
Non-ASCII data density may be maximized by using the --fullmultibyte switch (API
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE), but check that your barcode reader supports
this before using.
Grid Matrix supports Structured Append of up to 16 symbols and a numeric ID
(file signature), which can be set by using the --structapp option (see 4.16
Structured Append) (API structapp). The ID ranges from 0 (default) to 255.
6.6.11 DotCode
[zint -b DOTCODE -d "[01]00012345678905[17]201231[10]ABC123456" --gs1]
DotCode uses a grid of dots in a rectangular formation to encode characters up
to a maximum of approximately 450 characters (or 900 numeric digits). The
symbology supports ECI encoding and GS1 data encoding. By default Zint will
produce a symbol which is approximately square, however the width of the symbol
can be adjusted by using the --cols option (API option_2) (maximum 200).
Outputting DotCode to raster images (BMP, GIF, PCX, PNG, TIF) will require
setting the scale of the image to a larger value than the default (e.g.
approximately 10) for the dots to be plotted correctly. Approximately 33% of the
resulting symbol is comprised of error correction codewords.
DotCode has two sets of 4 masks, designated 0-3 and 0’-3’, the second "prime"
set being the same as the first with corners lit. The best mask to use is
selected automatically by Zint but may be manually specified by using the --mask
switch with values 0-7, where 4-7 denote 0’-3’, or in the API by setting
option_3 = (N + 1) << 8 where N is 0-7.
DotCode supports Structured Append of up to 35 symbols, which can be set by
using the --structapp option (see 4.16 Structured Append) (API structapp). It
does not support specifying an ID.
6.6.12 Han Xin Code (ISO 20830)
[zint -b HANXIN -d "Hanxin Code symbol"]
Also known as Chinese Sensible Code, Han Xin is capable of encoding characters
in either the Latin-1 character set or the GB 18030 character set (which is a
UTF, i.e. includes all Unicode characters, optimized for Chinese characters) and
is also able to support the ECI mechanism. Support for the encoding of GS1 data
has not yet been implemented.
The size of the symbol can be specified using the --vers option (API option_2)
to a value between 1 and 84 according to the following table.
Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size Input Symbol Size
------- ------------- -- ------- ------------- -- ------- -------------
1 23 x 23 29 79 x 79 57 135 x 135
2 25 x 25 30 81 x 81 58 137 x 137
3 27 x 27 31 83 x 83 59 139 x 139
4 29 x 29 32 85 x 85 60 141 x 141
5 31 x 31 33 87 x 87 61 143 x 143
6 33 x 33 34 89 x 89 62 145 x 145
7 35 x 35 35 91 x 91 63 147 x 147
8 37 x 37 36 93 x 93 64 149 x 149
9 39 x 39 37 95 x 95 65 151 x 151
10 41 x 41 38 97 x 97 66 153 x 153
11 43 x 43 39 99 x 99 67 155 x 155
12 45 x 45 40 101 x 101 68 157 x 157
13 47 x 47 41 103 x 103 69 159 x 159
14 49 x 49 42 105 x 105 70 161 x 161
15 51 x 51 43 107 x 107 71 163 x 163
16 53 x 53 44 109 x 109 72 165 x 165
17 55 x 55 45 111 x 111 73 167 x 167
18 57 x 57 46 113 x 113 74 169 x 169
19 59 x 59 47 115 x 115 75 171 x 171
20 61 x 61 48 117 x 117 76 173 x 173
21 63 x 63 49 119 x 119 77 175 x 175
22 65 x 65 50 121 x 121 78 177 x 177
23 67 x 67 51 123 x 123 79 179 x 179
24 69 x 69 52 125 x 125 80 181 x 181
25 71 x 71 53 127 x 127 81 183 x 183
26 73 x 73 54 129 x 129 82 185 x 185
27 75 x 75 55 131 x 131 83 187 x 187
28 77 x 77 56 133 x 133 84 189 x 189
: Table : Han Xin Sizes:
There are four levels of error correction capacity available for Han Xin Code
which can be set by using the --secure option (API option_1) to a value from the
following table:
Mode Recovery Capacity
------ -------------------
1 Approx 8%
2 Approx 15%
3 Approx 23%
4 Approx 30%
: Table : Han Xin Error Correction Modes:
Non-ASCII data density may be maximized by using the --fullmultibyte switch (API
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE), but check that your barcode reader supports
this before using.
Han Xin has four different masks designed to minimize unwanted patterns. The
best mask to use is selected automatically by Zint but may be manually specified
by using the --mask switch with values 0-3, or in the API by setting
option_3 = (N + 1) << 8 where N is 0-3. To use with ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE set
option_3 = ZINT_FULL_MULTIBYTE | (N + 1) << 8
6.6.13 Ultracode
[zint -b ULTRA -d "HEIMASÍÐA KENNARAHÁSKÓLA ÍSLANDS"]
This symbology uses a grid of coloured elements to encode data. ECI and GS1
modes are supported. The amount of error correction can be set using the
--secure option (API option_1) to a value as shown in the following table:
Value EC Level Amount of symbol holding error correction data
------- ---------- ------------------------------------------------
1 EC0 0% - Error detection only
2 EC1 Approx 5%
3 EC2 Approx 9% - Default value
4 EC3 Approx 17%
5 EC4 Approx 25%
6 EC5 Approx 33%
: Table : Ultracode Error Correction Values:
Zint does not currently implement data compression by default, but this can be
initiated through the API by setting
symbol->option_3 = ULTRA_COMPRESSION;
WARNING: Ultracode data compression is experimental and should not be used in a
production environment.
Revision 2 of Ultracode (2021) which swops and inverts the DCCU and DCCL tiles
may be specified using --vers=2 (API option_2 = 2).
Ultracode supports Structured Append of up to 8 symbols and an optional numeric
ID (File Number), which can be set by using the --structapp option (see 4.16
Structured Append) (API structapp). The ID ranges from 1 to 80088. If an ID is
not given, no ID is encoded.
6.7 Other Barcode-Like Markings
6.7.1 Facing Identification Mark (FIM)
[zint -b FIM --compliantheight -d "C"]
Used by the United States Postal Service (USPS), the FIM symbology is used to
assist automated mail processing. There are only 5 valid symbols which can be
generated using the characters A-E as shown in the table below.
Code Letter Usage
------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
A Used for courtesy reply mail and metered reply mail with a
pre-printed POSTNET symbol.
B Used for business reply mail without a pre-printed zip code.
C Used for business reply mail with a pre-printed zip code.
D Used for Information Based Indicia (IBI) postage.
E Used for customized mail with a USPS Intelligent Mail barcode.
: Table : Valid FIM Characters:
6.7.2 Flattermarken
[zint -b FLAT -d "1304056"]
Used for the recognition of page sequences in print-shops, the Flattermarken is
not a true barcode symbol and requires precise knowledge of the position of the
mark on the page. The Flattermarken system can encode numeric data up to a
maximum of 90 digits and does not include a check digit.
7. Legal and Version Information
7.1 License
Zint, libzint and Zint Barcode Studio are Copyright © 2022 Robin Stuart. All
historical versions are distributed under the GNU General Public License version
3 or later. Versions 2.5 and later are released under a dual license: the
encoding library is released under the BSD (3 clause) license whereas the GUI,
Zint Barcode Studio, and the CLI are released under the GNU General Public
License version 3 or later.
Telepen is a trademark of SB Electronic Systems Ltd.
QR Code is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated.
Mailmark is a registered trademark of Royal Mail Group Ltd.
Microsoft, Windows and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other
countries.
Mac and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other
countries.
Zint.org.uk website design and hosting provided by Robert Elliott.
7.2 Patent Issues
All of the code in Zint is developed using information in the public domain,
usually freely available on the Internet. Some of the techniques used may be
subject to patents and other intellectual property legislation. It is my belief
that any patents involved in the technology underlying symbologies utilised by
Zint are ‘unadopted’, that is the holder does not object to their methods being
used.
Any methods patented or owned by third parties or trademarks or registered
trademarks used within Zint or in this document are and remain the property of
their respective owners and do not indicate endorsement or affiliation with
those owners, companies or organisations.
7.3 Version Information
The current stable version of Zint is 2.11.0, released on 24th May 2022.
See "ChangeLog" in the project root directory for information on all releases.
7.4 Sources of Information
Below is a list of some of the sources used in rough chronological order:
- Nick Johnson’s Barcode Specifications
- Bar Code 1 Specification Source Page
- SB Electronic Systems Telepen website
- Pharmacode specifications from Laetus
- Morovia RM4SCC specification
- Australia Post’s ‘A Guide to Printing the 4-State Barcode’ and bcsample
source code
- Plessey algorithm from GNU-Barcode v0.98 by Leonid A. Broukhis
- GS1 General Specifications v 8.0 Issue 2
- PNG: The Definitive Guide and wpng source code by Greg Reolofs
- PDF417 specification and pdf417 source code by Grand Zebu
- Barcode Reference, TBarCode/X User Documentation and TBarCode/X
demonstration program from Tec-It
- IEC16022 source code by Stefan Schmidt et al
- United States Postal Service Specification USPS-B-3200
- Adobe Systems Incorporated Encapsulated PostScript File Format Specification
- BSI Online Library
- Libdmtx Data Matrix ECC200 decoding library
7.5 Standards Compliance
Zint was developed to provide compliance with the following British and
international standards:
7.5.1 Symbology Standards
- ISO/IEC 24778:2008 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Aztec Code bar code symbology specification
- ANSI/AIM BC12-1998 - Uniform Symbology Specification Channel Code
- BS EN 798:1996 Bar coding - Symbology specifications - ‘Codabar’
- AIM Europe ISS-X-24 - Uniform Symbology Specification Codablock-F (1995)
- ISO/IEC 15417:2007 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Code 128 bar code symbology specification
- BS EN 12323:2005 AIDC technologies - Symbology specifications - Code 16K
- ISO/IEC 16388:2007 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Code 39 bar code symbology specification
- ANSI/AIM BC6-2000 - Uniform Symbology Specification Code 49
- ANSI/AIM BC5-1995 - Uniform Symbology Specification Code 93
- AIM Uniform Symbology Specification Code One (1994)
- ISO/IEC 16022:2006 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Data Matrix ECC200 bar code symbology
specification
- ISO/IEC 21471:2020 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Extended rectangular data matrix (DMRE) bar code
symbology specification
- AIM TSC1705001 (v 4.0 Draft 0.15) - Information technology - Automatic
identification and data capture techniques - Bar code symbology
specification - DotCode (Revised 28th May 2019)
- ISO/IEC 15420:2009 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - EAN/UPC bar code symbology specification
- AIMD014 (v 1.63) - Information technology, Automatic identification and data
capture techniques - Bar code symbology specification - Grid Matrix
(Released 9th Dec 2008)
- ISO/IEC 24723:2010 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - GS1 Composite bar code symbology specification
- ISO/IEC 24724:2011 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - GS1 DataBar bar code symbology specification
- ISO/IEC 20830:2021 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Han Xin Code bar code symbology specification
- ISO/IEC 16390:2007 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Interleaved 2 of 5 bar code symbology
specification
- ISO/IEC 16023:2000 Information technology - International symbology
specification - MaxiCode
- ISO/IEC 24728:2006 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - MicroPDF417 bar code symbology specification
- ISO/IEC 15438:2015 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - PDF417 bar code symbology specification
- ISO/IEC 18004:2015 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - QR Code bar code symbology specification
- ISO/IEC 23941:2022 Information technology - Automatic identification and
data capture techniques - Rectangular Micro QR Code (rMQR) bar code
symbology specification
- AIMD/TSC15032-43 (v 0.99c) - International Technical Specification -
Ultracode Symbology (Draft) (Released 4th Nov 2015)
A number of other specification documents have also been referenced, such as
MIL-STD-1189 Rev. B (1989) (LOGMARS), USPS DMM 300 2006 (2011) (POSTNET, PLANET,
FIM) and USPS-B-3200 (2015) (IMAIL). Those not named include postal and delivery
company references in particular.
7.5.2 General Standards
- AIM ITS/04-001 International Technical Standard - Extended Channel
Interpretations Part 1: Identification Schemes and Protocol (Released 24th
May 2004)
- AIM ITS/04-023 International Technical Standard - Extended Channel
Interpretations Part 3: Register (Version 2, February 2022)
- GS1 General Specifications Release 22.0 (Jan 2022)
- ANSI/HIBC 2.6-2016 - The Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC) Supplier Labeling
Standard
Annex A. Character Encoding
This section is intended as a quick reference to the character sets used by
Zint. All symbologies use standard ASCII input as shown in section A.1, but some
support extended characters as shown in the subsequent section A.2 Latin
Alphabet No. 1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1).
A.1 ASCII Standard
The ubiquitous ASCII standard is well known to most computer users. It’s
reproduced here for reference.
Hex 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
----- ----- ----- ------- --- --- --- --- -----
0 NUL DLE SPACE 0 @ P ` p
1 SOH DC1 ! 1 A Q a q
2 STX DC2 " 2 B R b r
3 ETX DC3 # 3 C S c s
4 EOT DC4 $ 4 D T d t
5 ENQ NAK % 5 E U e u
6 ACK SYN & 6 F V f v
7 BEL ETB ' 7 G W g w
8 BS CAN ( 8 H X h x
9 TAB EM ) 9 I Y i y
A LF SUB * : J Z j z
B VT ESC + ; K [ k {
C FF FS , < L \ l |
D CR GS - = M ] m }
E SO RS . > N ^ n ~
F SI US / ? O _ o DEL
: Table : ASCII:
A.2 Latin Alphabet No. 1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1)
ISO/IEC 8859-1 defines additional characters common in western European
languages like French, German, Italian and Spanish. This extension is the
default encoding of many barcodes (see Table : Default Character Sets) when a
codepoint above hex 9F is encoded. Note that codepoints hex 80 to 9F are not
defined.
Hex 8 9 A B C D E F
----- --- --- ------ --- --- --- --- ---
0 NBSP ° À Ð à ð
1 ¡ ± Á Ñ á ñ
2 ¢ ² Â Ò â ò
3 £ ³ Ã Ó ã ó
4 ¤ ´ Ä Ô ä ô
5 ¥ μ Å Õ å õ
6 ¦ ¶ Æ Ö æ ö
7 § · Ç × ç ÷
8 ¨ ¸ È Ø è ø
9 © ¹ É Ù é ù
A ª º Ê Ú ê ú
B « » Ë Û ë û
C ¬ ¼ Ì Ü ì ü
D SHY ½ Í Ý í ý
E ® ¾ Î Þ î þ
F ¯ ¿ Ï ß ï ÿ
: Table : ISO/IEC 8859-1:
Annex B. Man Page ZINT(1)
% ZINT(1) Version 2.11.0.9 % % June 2022
NAME
zint - encode data as a barcode image
SYNOPSIS
zint [-h | --help]
zint [options]
DESCRIPTION
zint takes input data from the command line or a file to encode in a barcode
which is then output to an image file.
Input data is UTF-8, unless --binary is specified.
Human Readable Text (HRT) is displayed by default for those barcodes that
support HRT, unless --notext is specified.
The output image file (specified with -o | --output) may be in one of these
formats: Windows Bitmap (BMP), Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF), Encapsulated
PostScript (EPS), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), ZSoft Paintbrush (PCX),
Portable Network Format (PNG), Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG), or Tagged Image
File Format (TIF).
OPTIONS
-h, --help
Print usage information summarizing command line options.
-b TYPE, --barcode=TYPE
Set the barcode symbology that will be used to encode the data. TYPE is the
number or name of the barcode symbology. If not given, the symbology
defaults to 20 (Code 128). To see what types are available, use the -t |
--types option. Type names are case-insensitive, and non-alphanumerics are
ignored.
--addongap=INTEGER
For EAN/UPC symbologies, set the gap between the main data and the add-on.
INTEGER is in integral multiples of the X-dimension. The maximum gap that
can be set is 12. The minimum is 7, except for UPC-A, when the minimum is 9.
--batch
Treat each line of an input file specified with -i | --input as a separate
data set and produce a barcode image for each one. The barcode images are
outputted by default to numbered filenames starting with “00001.png”,
“00002.png” etc., which can be changed by using the -o | --output option.
--bg=COLOUR
Specify a background (paper) colour where COLOUR is in hex RRGGBB or
RRGGBBAA format.
--binary
Treat input data as raw 8-bit binary data instead of the default UTF-8.
Automatic code page translation to an ECI page is disabled, and no
validation of the data’s character encoding takes place.
--bind
Add horizontal boundary bars (also known as bearer bars) to the symbol. The
width of the boundary bars is specified by the --border option. --bind can
also be used to add row separator bars to symbols stacked with multiple -d |
--data inputs, in which case the width of the separator bars is specified
with the --separator option.
--bold
Use bold text for the Human Readable Text (HRT).
--border=INTEGER
Set the width of boundary bars (--bind) or box borders (--box), where
INTEGER is in integral multiples of the X-dimension. The default is zero.
--box
Add a box around the symbol. The width of the borders is specified by the
--border option.
--cmyk
Use the CMYK colour space when outputting to Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
or TIF files.
--cols=INTEGER
Set the number of data columns in the symbol to INTEGER. Affects
Codablock-F, DotCode, GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked (DBAR_EXPSTK),
MicroPDF417 and PDF417 symbols.
--compliantheight
Warn if the height specified by the --height option is not compliant with
the barcode’s specification, or if --height is not given, default to the
height specified by the specification (if any).
-d, --data=DATA
Specify the input DATA to encode. The --esc option may be used to enter
non-printing characters using escape sequences. The DATA should be UTF-8,
unless the --binary option is given, in which case it can be anything.
--direct
Send output to stdout, which in most cases should be re-directed to a pipe
or a file. Use --filetype to specify output format.
--dmre
For Data Matrix symbols, allow Data Matrix Rectangular Extended (RMRE) sizes
when considering automatic sizes.
--dotsize=NUMBER
Set the radius of the dots in dotty mode (--dotty). NUMBER is in multiples
of the X-dimension, and may be floating-point. The default is 0.8.
--dotty
Use dots instead of squares for matrix symbols. DotCode is always in dotty
mode.
--dump
Dump a hexadecimal representation of the symbol’s encodation to stdout. The
same representation may be outputted to a file by using a .txt extension
with -o | --output or by specifying --filetype=txt.
-e, --ecinos
Display the table of ECIs (Extended Channel Interpretations).
--eci=INTEGER
Set the ECI code for the input data to INTEGER. See -e | --ecinos for a list
of the ECIs available. ECIs are supported by Aztec Code, Code One, Data
Matrix, DotCode, Grid Matrix, Han Xin Code, MaxiCode, MicroPDF417, PDF417,
QR Code, rMQR and Ultracode
--esc
Process escape characters in the input data. The escape sequences are:
\0 (0x00) NUL Null character
\E (0x04) EOT End of Transmission
\a (0x07) BEL Bell
\b (0x08) BS Backspace
\t (0x09) HT Horizontal Tab
\n (0x0A) LF Line Feed
\v (0x0B) VT Vertical Tab
\f (0x0C) FF Form Feed
\r (0x0D) CR Carriage Return
\e (0x1B) ESC Escape
\G (0x1D) GS Group Separator
\R (0x1E) RS Record Separator
\\ (0x5C) \ Backslash
\dNNN (NNN) Any 8-bit character where NNN is
decimal (000-255)
\xNN (0xNN) Any 8-bit character where NN is
hexadecimal
\uNNNN (U+NNNN) Any 16-bit Unicode BMP character
where NNNN is hexadecimal
\UNNNNNN (U+NNNNNN) Any 21-bit Unicode character
where NNNNNN is hexadecimal
--fast
Use faster if less optimal encodation (currently affects Data Matrix only).
--fg=COLOUR
Specify a foreground (ink) colour where COLOUR is in hex RRGGBB or RRGGBBAA
format.
--filetype=TYPE
Set the output file type to TYPE, which is one of BMP, EMF, EPS, GIF, PCX,
PNG, SVG, TIF, TXT.
--fullmultibyte
Use the multibyte modes of Grid Matrix, Han Xin and QR Code for non-ASCII
data.
--gs1
Treat input as GS1 compatible data. Application Identifiers (AIs) should be
placed in square brackets "[]" (but see --gs1parens).
--gs1nocheck
Do not check the validity of GS1 data.
--gs1parens
Process parentheses "()" as GS1 AI delimiters, rather than square brackets
"[]". The input data must not otherwise contain parentheses.
--gssep
For Data Matrix in GS1 mode, use GS (0x1D) as the GS1 data separator instead
of FNC1.
--guarddescent=NUMBER
For EAN/UPC symbols, set the height the guard bars descend below the main
bars, where NUMBER is in multiples of the X-dimension. NUMBER may be
floating-point.
--height=NUMBER
Set the height of the symbol in multiples of the X-dimension. NUMBER may be
floating-point.
--heightperrow
Treat height as per-row. Affects Codablock-F, Code16K, Code 49, GS1 DataBar
Expanded Stacked (DBAR_EXPSTK), MicroPDF417 and PDF417.
-i, --input=FILE
Read the input data from FILE.
--init
Create a Reader Initialisation (Programming) symbol.
--mask=INTEGER
Set the masking pattern to use for DotCode, Han Xin or QR Code to INTEGER,
overriding the automatic selection.
--mirror
Use the batch data to determine the filename in batch mode (--batch).
--mode=INTEGER
For MaxiCode and GS1 Composite symbols, set the encoding mode to INTEGER.
For MaxiCode (SCM is Structured Carrier Message, with 3 fields: postcode,
3-digit ISO 3166-1 country code, 3-digit service code):
2 SCM with 9-digit numeric postcode
3 SCM with 6-character alphanumeric postcode
4 Enhanced ECC for the primary part of the message
5 Enhanced ECC for all of the message
6 Reader Initialisation (Programming)
For GS1 Composite symbols (names end in _CC, i.e. EANX_CC, GS1_128_CC,
DBAR_OMN_CC etc.):
1 CC-A
2 CC-B
3 CC-C (GS1_128_CC only)
--nobackground
Remove the background colour (EMF, EPS, GIF, PNG, SVG and TIF only).
--noquietzones
Disable any quiet zones for symbols that define them by default.
--notext
Remove the Human Readable Text (HRT).
-o, --output=FILE
Send the output to FILE. When not in batch mode, the default is “out.png”
(or “out.gif” if zint built without PNG support). When in batch mode
(--batch), special characters can be used to format the output filenames:
~ Insert a number or 0
# Insert a number or space
@ Insert a number or *
Any other Insert literally
--primary=STRING
For MaxiCode, set the content of the primary message. For GS1 Composite
symbols, set the content of the linear symbol.
--quietzones
Add compliant quiet zones for symbols that specify them. This is in addition
to any whitespace specified by -w | --whitesp or --vwhitesp.
-r, --reverse
Reverse the foreground and background colours (white on black). Known as
“reflectance reversal” or “reversed reflectance”.
--rotate=INTEGER
Rotate the symbol by INTEGER degrees, where INTEGER can be 0, 90, 270 or
360.
--rows=INTEGER
Set the number of rows for Codablock-F or PDF417 to INTEGER. It will also
set the minimum number of rows for Code 16k or Code 49, and the maximum
number of rows for GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked (DBAR_EXPSTK).
--scale=NUMBER
Adjust the size of the X-dimension. NUMBER may be floating-point, and is
multiplied by 2 (except for MaxiCode) before being applied. The default
scale is 1.
For MaxiCode, the scale is multiplied by 10 for raster output, by 20 for EMF
output, and by 2 otherwise.
Increments of 0.5 (half-integers) are recommended for non-MaxiCode raster
output (BMP, GIF, PCX, PNG and TIF).
--scmvv=INTEGER
For MaxiCode, prefix the Structured Carrier Message (SCM) with
"[)>\R01\Gvv", where vv is a 2-digit INTEGER.
--secure=INTEGER
Set the error correction level (ECC) to INTEGER. The meaning is specific to
the following matrix symbols (all except PDF417 are approximate):
Aztec Code 1 to 4 (10%, 23%, 36%, 50%)
Grid Matrix 1 to 5 (10% to 50%)
Han Xin 1 to 4 (8%, 15%, 23%, 30%)
Micro QR 1 to 3 (7%, 15%, 25%) (L, M, Q)
PDF417 0 to 8 (2^(INTEGER + 1) codewords)
QR Code 1 to 4 (7%, 15%, 25%, 30%) (L, M, Q, H)
rMQR 2 or 4 (15% or 30%) (M or H)
Ultracode 1 to 6 (0%, 5%, 9%, 17%, 25%, 33%)
--segN=ECI,DATA
Set the ECI & DATA content for segment N, where N is 1 to 9. -d | --data
must still be given, and counts as segment 0, its ECI given by --eci.
Segments must be consecutive.
--separator=INTEGER
Set the height of row separator bars for stacked symbologies, where INTEGER
is in integral multiples of the X-dimension. The default is zero.
--small
Use small text for Human Readable Text (HRT).
--square
For Data Matrix symbols, exclude rectangular sizes when considering
automatic sizes.
--structapp=I,C[,ID]
Set Structured Append info, where I is the 1-based index, C is the total
number of symbols in the sequence, and ID, which is optional, is the
identifier that all symbols in the sequence share. Structured Append is
supported by Aztec Code, Code One, Data Matrix, DotCode, Grid Matrix,
MaxiCode, MicroPDF417, PDF417, QR Code and Ultracode.
-t, --types
Display the table of barcode types (symbologies). The numbers or names can
be used with -b | --barcode.
--vers=INTEGER
Set the symbol version (size, check digits, other options) to INTEGER. The
meaning is symbol-specific.
For most matrix symbols, it specifies size:
Aztec Code 1 to 36 (1 to 4 compact)
Code One 1 to 10
Data Matrix 1 to 48 (31 to 48 DMRE)
Grid Matrix 1 to 13
Han Xin 1 to 84
Micro QR 1 to 4 (M1, M2, M3, M4)
QR Code 1 to 40
rMQR 1 to 38 (33 to 38 automatic width)
For a number of linear symbols, it specifies check character options (“hide”
or “hidden” means don’t show in HRT, “show” or “visible” means do display in
HRT):
C25IATA 1 or 2 (add visible or hidden check digit)
C25IND ditto
C25INTER ditto
C25LOGIC ditto
C25STANDARD ditto
Codabar 1 or 2 (add hidden or visible check digit)
Code 11 0 or 1 (no or 1 visible check digit only)
(default is 2 visible check digits)
Code 39 1 (add visible check digit)
Code 93 1 (hide the default check characters)
EXCODE39 1 (add visible check digit)
LOGMARS 1 (add visible check digit)
MSI Plessey 0 to 6 (none to various visible options)
1, 2 (mod-10, mod-10 + mod-10)
3, 4 (mod-11 IBM, mod-11 IBM + mod-10)
5, 6 (mod-11 NCR, mod-11 NCR + mod-10)
+10 (hide)
For a few other symbologies, it specifies other characteristics:
Channel Code 3 to 8 (no. of channels)
DAFT 50 to 900 (permille tracker ratio)
Ultracode 2 (revision 2)
VIN 1 (add international prefix)
-v, --version
Display zint version.
--vwhitesp=INTEGER
Set the height of vertical whitespace above and below the barcode, where
INTEGER is in integral multiples of the X-dimension.
-w, --whitesp=INTEGER
Set the width of horizontal whitespace either side of the barcode, where
INTEGER is in integral multiples of the X-dimension.
--werror
Convert all warnings into errors.
EXIT STATUS
0
Success (including when given informational options -h | --help, -e |
--ecinos, -t | --types, -v | --version).
2
Invalid option given but overridden by Zint (ZINT_WARN_INVALID_OPTION)
3
Automatic ECI inserted by Zint (ZINT_WARN_USES_ECI)
4
Symbol created not compliant with standards (ZINT_WARN_NONCOMPLIANT)
5
Input data wrong length (ZINT_ERROR_TOO_LONG)
6
Input data incorrect (ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_DATA)
7
Input check digit incorrect (ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_CHECK)
8
Incorrect option given (ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_OPTION)
9
Internal error (should not happen) (ZINT_ERROR_ENCODING_PROBLEM)
10
Error opening output file (ZINT_ERROR_FILE_ACCESS)
11
Memory allocation (malloc) failure (ZINT_ERROR_MEMORY)
12
Error writing to output file (ZINT_ERROR_FILE_WRITE)
13
Error counterpart of warning if --werror given (ZINT_ERROR_USES_ECI)
14
Error counterpart of warning if --werror given (ZINT_ERROR_NONCOMPLIANT)
EXAMPLES
Create “out.png” (or “out.gif” if zint built without PNG support) in the current
directory, as a Code 128 symbol.
zint -d 'This Text'
Create “qr.svg” in the current directory, as a QR Code symbol.
zint -b QRCode -d 'This Text' -o 'qr.svg'
Use batch mode to read from an input file “ean_nos.txt” containing 13-digit
GTINs, to create a series of EAN-13 barcodes, formatting the output filenames to
“ean001.gif”, “ean002.gif” etc. using the special character “~”.
zint -b EANX --batch -i 'ean_nos.txt' -o 'ean~~~.gif'
BUGS
Please send bug reports to https://sourceforge.net/p/zint/tickets/.
SEE ALSO
Full documention for zint (and the API libzint and the GUI zint-qt) is available
from http://zint.org.uk/Manual.aspx, and at
https://sourceforge.net/p/zint/docs/manual.txt.
CONFORMING TO
Zint is designed to be compliant with a number of international standards,
including:
ISO/IEC 24778:2008, ANSI/AIM BC12-1998, EN 798:1996, AIM ISS-X-24 (1995),
ISO/IEC 15417:2007, EN 12323:2005, ISO/IEC 16388:2007, ANSI/AIM BC6-2000,
ANSI/AIM BC5-1995, AIM USS Code One (1994), ISO/IEC 16022:2006, ISO/IEC
21471:2019, ISO/IEC 15420:2009, AIMD014 (v 1.63) (2008), ISO/IEC 24723:2010,
ISO/IEC 24724:2011, ISO/IEC 20830:2021, ISO/IEC 16390:2007, ISO/IEC 16023:2000,
ISO/IEC 24728:2006, ISO/IEC 15438:2015, ISO/IEC 18004:2015, ISO/IEC 23941:2022,
AIM ITS/04-023 (2022)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2022 Robin Stuart. Released under GNU GPL 3.0 or later.
AUTHOR
Robin Stuart robin@zint.org.uk
[1] See the Homebrew website https://brew.sh.
[2] In Unicode contexts, BMP stands for Basic Multilingual Plane, the plane 0
codeset from U+0000 to U+D7FF and U+E000 to U+FFFF (i.e. excluding surrogates).
Not to be confused with the Windows Bitmap file format BMP!
[3] The symbologies marked with an asterisk (*) in Table
: Barcode Types (Symbologies) above used different names in Zint before version
2.9.0. For example, symbology 29 used the name BARCODE_RSS14. These names are
now deprecated but are still recognised by Zint and will continue to be
supported in future versions.
[4] Shift JIS (JIS X 0201 Roman) re-maps two ASCII characters: backslash (\) to
the yen sign (¥), and tilde (~) to overline (U+203E).
[5] ISO/IEC 646 Invariant is a subset of ASCII with 12 characters undefined: #,
$, @, [, \, ], ^, `, {, |, }, ~.
[6] The height value is ignored for Aztec (including HIBC and Aztec Rune), Code
One, Data Matrix (including HIBC), DotCode, Grid Matrix, Han Xin, MaxiCode, QR
Code (including HIBC, Micro QR, rMQR and UPNQR), and Ultracode - all of which
have a fixed width-to-height ratio (or, in the case of Code One, a fixed
height).
[7] The BARCODE_BIND flag is always set for Codablock-F, Code 16K and Code 49.
Special considerations apply to ITF-14 - see 6.1.2.6 ITF-14.
[8] Codablock-F, Code 16K, Code 49, EAN-2 to EAN-13, ISBN, ITF-14, UPC-A and
UPC-E have compliant quiet zones added by default.
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