BarCode printing on InkJet Printers

#1

We are utilizing the .NET Bar Code API to generate bar codes that will eventually be printed on a report. We’ve run into a problem with the bar codes be unscannable with a tethered handheld scanner when printed to an ink jet printer (Xerox Phaser 6600 is one example). We’ve tried manipulating the bar code quality via the wideNarrowRatio, xDimension, and barWidthReduction properties with no success.

As an aside, the bar codes generated print fine on laser printers and also can be read by the scanner from the monitor. These are linear bar codes (Code39Standard) containing text data between 14 and 25 characters that are being rendered via HTML. The printed copy though consistently has “gray” areas where the bars have bled together resulting in a loss of detail.

#2

@kkcoker,
Thank you for your query.
Please share your runnable sample code for our testing. Also, take the printout of the output barcode image using InkJet and Laser printer both. Scan these printouts using some scanner and share the scanned images of both the printouts with us for our analysis. We will review the information here and provide our feedback afterward.

#3

Problem with barcode recognition with laser scanner and ink jet printing it is well known problem. This related with the physical problem that inks are liquid and can flow until they dry up. Problem could be solved with special pigment inks or special paper (expensive). However, the best solution here is using only laser printer for reports creation.

The software solutions which could help is setting “AutoSizeMode” to “None” or “Nearest”, just ignore “Interpolation” and using more wide bars and more wide barcodes to avoid “inks flowing” problem.