Barcode Unscannable? How to Fix It
Route: FAQ - [ Barcode Unscannable? How to Fix It ]If the barcodes you created are hard to scan, return incorrect results, or are completely unscannable, what might be the causes and how to resolve them?
There are usually several common reasons:
1. Printing Paper Size Is Too Small
The width of a barcode is directly proportional to the number of characters in its content—more characters result in a wider barcode.
If the barcode is too wide to fit on small-sized printing paper, the printer will usually automatically shrink the barcode to match the paper size. During this shrinking process, some fine bars may be omitted or removed, ultimately causing barcode errors and making it unscannable.
Solution: Choose printing paper of an appropriate size based on the generated barcode’s dimensions.
DoingLabel has conducted simple tests: For the widely used 203dpi thermal printers, each character occupies an average width of at least 2mm. For example, if a barcode contains 20 characters, the printing paper should be at least 40mm wide.
2. Insufficient Margins Reserved for the Barcode
Some printers have margin errors that may crop off small parts of the bars at the left and right ends of the barcode, leading to unscannability. Therefore, always reserve some blank margins for the barcode.
DoingLabel barcodes are initialized with a 30-unit [Left and Right Quiet Zone]. If this is insufficient, you can further increase the [Left and Right Quiet Zone] size.
Click [Why Do Barcodes Need Reserved Quiet Zone?] to learn more.
3. Mismatched Barcode Type Between Generation and Scanning
For example: The barcode is generated using the Code128 type, but the scanning device attempts to read it as EAN-13.
Solution: Adjust to a unified type. Typically, EAN or UPC types are used for commercial product circulation, while Code128 is used for internal business scenarios. If you are unsure which type to use, generate barcodes with different types one by one—the one that scans correctly is the right choice.
4. Incorrect Data Used for Barcode Generation
In such cases, check and import the correct data to resolve the issue.
- Kindly refrain from reposting this article unless you have obtained permission.
- This is a translated article. Should you find any translation mistakes or content errors, please refer to the Original Article (Chinese), which takes precedence.
- Due to ongoing version iterations, the feature details and interface screenshots included in this article may not be updated in a timely manner, leading to potential discrepancies between the article content and the actual product. For the most accurate information, please refer to the features of the latest version.