WORD2000 UPC-A Barcode will not work

[markajem]

I have downloaded a few UPC A fonts and installed them into FONTS Control Panel.

When I type my upc code numbers in my word document I get the barcodes to come out but they do not scan at all.

Any insight as to what I may be doing incorrectly.

Thanks

 

[repete]

it may be due to the difference between a true bar-code printer, and a normal printer. this was explained to me by a colleague as follows

a bar-code works on the principle that the width of the bars & white-space has special & precise meaning - a certain width represents a number - a different width represents a different number. additional numbers in the code act as error-checking, and the many different types of barcodes use different techniques. if the bars are not reproduced accurately, then the scanner says "well, that bar looks like a 2, but that can't be right based on the error-checking codes, so i just wont say anything".

an ordinary printer (laser, inkjet, etc) will take the instructions to print a bar-code at a given size as just like any other graphic image, and print the vertical bars. the instructions from the application (& fonts etc) have no idea what the native resolution of the printing device is, they just say "print a bar (graphic image) X micrometers wide". the printer driver and printer then say "ok, that's equal to 10.3 of my pixels, so the best i can do is 10 pixels wide." same for the white gaps.

a dedicated bar-code printer interprets instructions to print barcodes differently - it will maintain correct bar/white-space width by intelligently enlarging or shrinking the whole barcode until the bars fall comfortably within the tolerance allowance of the type of barcode in use, given the barcode printers native resolution. ie there are certain exact barcode sizes that will work well, whereas all others would be a compromise, which is the generic printers downfall.

also, a printer set too light or too dark will effectively make bars narrower or wider than expected due to 'spillage' beyond where the toner dots should be.

this does not necessarily mean you need a dedicated barcode printer, i would first try making the barcode a larger font size. basically the wider it is, the rounding up or down by the printer of the # of pixels that make up each bars becomes less likely to compromise the desired width of the bars.



Pete Bloomfield
Down Under