Advantages of Barcode Fonts

Barcode printers like Zebra printers and SATO printers print barcode labels in specific fonts. Barcode fonts are nothing but the bars and spaces which make up barcode symbology. They are added to the computer and can be used based on the need of application.

A barcode font can be made by combination of numbers in Word, and start and stop characters. This simple application can be used in symbols such as Code 39 where the symbol can be mapped directly to the encoded character. However, in UPC codes, the number to be encoded has to be converted into a usable form with a given font. Certain software tools having certain fonts are required for this purpose. A checksum or a check digit has to be calculated in addition. Barcode fonts can provide many benefits. Some of them are listed here.

Advantages of Barcode Fonts:

• Barcode fonts are able to work with any virtual application which works with the text including word processing, databases, spreadsheets, image editing, desktop publishing, and other programming environments.
• Images and bitmaps are pixel based. However, barcode fonts are not pixel based and hence scaling of them is very easy.
• Based on the type of barcode, it is enough to enter the number and change the font easily.
• Various platforms like Linux, Mac, and Windows can be uhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifsed for barcode fonts.
• The cost of barcode fonts is very less and specific barcode software is available for the fonts. A UPC code font requires the UPC code which costs between 30 USD and 50 USD.

However, some symbologies need conversion before formatting which is a bit risky. Some fonts are not much flexible and hence they are provided with different sizes and ratios. Many printers like Zebra printer make use of specific software for creating required barcode fonts.