🚀 go-pugleaf

One thing that no one has mentioned so far is that you can get in trouble
by printing barcode on a 300 dpi printer for anything but your own internal
use, unless you really know what you are doing.  Most barcode symblogies
are designed to withstand printing glitches and other distortions, but it
is a lot harder to produce barcodes that are actually in spec than it is
to just produces ones that scan OK most of the time.  For internal inventory
purposes, it's up to you to decide whether or not it's worth worrying about.
However, if you are making things like UPC codes for retail packaging or
LOGMARS labels for DoD shipments, you should bear some things in mind:

 - UPC cannot be printed in spec on a 300 dpi printer.  At the standard
   symbol sizes, you need to be able to control the bar widths more finely
   than 1/300th of an inch.  Something like a LaserMax or other "super
   resolution" printer may work, though, since it's a question of positioning
   accuracy, not resolution.

   Now, you can print *scannable* UPC & EAN (which is the European extension
   of UPC) symbols on anything down to a 72 dpi printer, which has proven
   useful for one-shot symbols such as weigh-it-yourself produce labels.
   For retail packaging, though, you should probably typeset it to be safe.

 - Most other codes are only in spec at specific sizes for a particular
   resolution, and at high resolutions you need to take the printer
   marking characteristics into account.  For example, a high-density Code
   39 symbol may be in spec on a write-black printer, but the same set of
   pixels on a write-white printer will be way out of spec.

 - Toner smear can quickly render a barcode symbol unscannable.  If you are
   using a wand-type scanner, covering symbols with clear labels will
   greatly prolong their useful lives and save a lot of aggravation.

For anyone doing serious work with barcodes, I suggest getting copies of
the USD (Uniform Symbol Description) series of documents from AIM (Automatic
Indentification Manufacturers), an automatic-ID technology clearinghouse.
I don't have their address handy, but I can dig it up if anyone needs it.

--
Amanda Walker, InterCon Systems Corporation
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Entropy requires no maintenance.