This is an additional help file to help document printer and barcode specs for technical users.

Label Printer Specs:

The only requirement for a printer is that it may be used as a normal desktop printer and is capable of printing barcode labels. Our recommendation would be a thermal transfer printer that has a capacity of of between 100 to 500 labels per day. A Dymo LabelWriter Printer will handle most smaller retail businesses and can be purchased for $100 to $150 dollars from any retailer or online store. The Dymo labels (return address 3/4'x2") run around $9 to $10/roll for a roll of 500. That comes to about $0.02/label. If your corporation uses more than 500 labels per day, you are going to be looking in the more heavy duty lines like a Zebra, Eltron, Sato, or Datamax thermal printer. The price for the heavier duty printers ranges from $500 to $2,000. The label cost does go down to $0.01/label but there is a higher up-front cost.

Bar Code Specs:

The Adilas.biz barcode generator application uses Adobe Flash to draw the physical barcode values on the fly. We have included two different code sets or symbologies into our free online Flash barcode widget. We allow for "UPC-A" or "128B" barcodes. The difference between the two is basically the requirements and the output that gets generated. If you are interested in how the Flash movie draws and prints the barcode values, contact support@adilas.biz. Enquiries are welcome.

The UPC barcode requires a 12 digit numeric value with the 12th digit being a check digit or check code. This code base is used highly in retail and comes standard on most retail labeled items. The check digit is calculated by adding up the odd values (according to position) and then multiplying that value times 3. The even values are then added up (according to position) and finally added to the odd values product. This number is then checked to see what it will require to make it a factor of 10. For example: Say you got a final product of 123. The check digit would be 7 because 123+7=130 which is a factor of 10.

The Code 128B or 128-B barcode is much more flexible and allows for letters a-z, letters A-Z, numbers 0-9, and basic punctuation and special characters including spaces on an American standard keyboard. The minimum number of characters to encode is a single character and it may handle up to 15 characters max (at least for the Adilas.biz version of the application - this is due to output printing sizes). The Code 128B symbology also requires a check digit but it is done internally and only shows up in the output (physical barcode). Behind the scenes, the 128B adds a start character, encodes the given value (what people see and/or submit for encoding), adds the check digit, and also includes a stop code. For example: If you wanted to encode the letter "A" (all by itself), The application would show the letter "A" but would create a barcode with the start code, letter "A", the check digit, and end code. The 128B code set is flexible enough it can encode phrases, numbers, letters, mixed values, punctuation, etc. These are some samples of possible values: "Apples", "HC-35-X", "John W. Smith", "555666777888", "$14.95/per", ect. The 128B code set is the default for the Adilas.biz application.

Passing Dynamic Values To The Generator:

This is somewhat advanced and requires knowledge of URL and FORM scope variables. The secure version of the barcode generator does this automatically behind the scenes and is included in the use of the Adilas.biz application. However, if you would like to use the free barcode generator for your own use (personal or commercial), here are some ideas. First off, we would recommend that you browse the free barcode generator and look at the source code for that page. Look for the start and end form tags. All of these values (form fields) can be used and passed directly from your own pages to our barcode generator. When you pass the values, you can preset any of the values and include them as hidden form fields if needed (in case you didn't want your users to monkey with the values). Basically, just do a form submit or post to our page (free online barcode application) and the application will automatically suck up your data and try to present it for you. Your users can then use their back button when done and be right back in your application. If you have any questions, please contact us via email. support@adilas.biz. Enquiries are welcome.

For more basic barcode information, click here to view an additional help file.

free online barcode generator

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