Expand my Community achievements bar.

Dive into Adobe Summit 2024! Explore curated list of AEM sessions & labs, register, connect with experts, ask questions, engage, and share insights. Don't miss the excitement.

Difference between barcodes

Avatar

Former Community Member
Hi,



I was wondering where could i find a document that could let me know what kind of barcode to use in a particular situation ??



I´ve tried several choices. They work. no problem here. But i never new what if the use for each particular barcode that exists on Designer.



Does anyone know some kinf of manual or something like it that explain the use or the cases where to use this barcode or that barcobe.



Thanks,
4 Replies

Avatar

Former Community Member
Hi Rui,



Are you refering to the choice between PDF417, QRCode, and DataMatrix?

Avatar

Former Community Member
hi Lee,



I was refering to all the barcode types. How do i know what kind of barcode to use in a particular situation ?



Until now i was trying the codes to see what was the one that did what i wanted. But i wonder if there is some manual that could help me decide. Something that described the barcodes, and what was the use for that particular barcode.



I know that if i try some choices, i'll probably find the one i'm looking for. That's what i've been doing until now. And the forms are working fine.



But how do i now if that particular barcode is indicated to do that kind of representation.



That's why i was asking if there was some guide or index that indicated the kind of situation to use barcode A or barcode B.



Thanks,

Avatar

Former Community Member
I have yet to write an article that compares the 3 symbologies that we use in the 2D Barcoded Forms environment but the choice that has been made between PDF417, QRCode, and DataMatrix has always been based on the local of the user. PDF417 is the defacto standard in North America most likely because it encodes US ASCII more efficient than anything else. QRCode has been the choice for any double-byte character set language locals for the same reason, better encoding of those types of characters.



Most of my time has been spent around PDF417 and there have been a good number of studies done around the read rates of the technology because of its use in the government and in particular the military for inventory purposes. PDF417 in my opinion is like a low-cost version of passive RFID but line-of-site is required.



In the case of either 1D or 2D barcodes I would start off with a couple of questions before deciding on the symbology.:



- What is the barcode for? / Will your barcode be used as a form identifier or used to capture data from a form?

- What can your backend system currently decode?

- How much data do you need to capture in your barcode?

- What is an acceptable read-rate?



If you don't want to post these publicly, feel free to send me an email directly to lsutton@adobe.com.

Avatar

Level 2

Hi Lee,

My doubt is also similar.

The things I'm sure of are: I am using Paper barcoded form with Data Matirx symbology.

1. I'm not sure if I have to compress / uncompress the data before Encoding

2. Do not know which Character Encoding option to use

Kindly help me in deciding these.

What is an acceptable read rate?

Thanks,

Sandhya