My client needs barcode grade A.
How this possible ? Is it related to any printing techniques ?
Please help.
Google Grade A barcode to see what comes up.
Iād never heard of grades regarding barcodes either, but it seems there are services/machines that will grade them for their ability to be scanned easily and accurately. It seems the measurement takes place once itās printed rather than this or that bar code being inherently better than another. For example, maybe a larger barcode on white coated stock will be more easily read by a grocery store scanner than a small barcode on a clear plastic bag.
Other than that, I know nothing about it, but Iām skeptical. It sort of seems like common sense regarding size, background, positioning, print quality, etc., might work just about as well as the barcode grading gadgets found on those sites Google found. I could be wrong, though.
Iād guess that your client has semi-educated him or herself on the subject just like I did ā barely enough to toss jargon and opinions around without knowing much more.
Hmm. The barcode generating software I use has an option for a āUPC-Aā which is different than a UPC-E. I wonder if thatās what they mean. A UPC-A is just the standard 12 digit code.
Yes, there is a lot of limited and partial understanding around barcode formats, and it very often leads to ambiguity in the terms applied. Iāve seen ābarcodeā and āUPCā used as interchangable terms, so āgrade A barcodeā = āUPC-Aā is a reasonable suspicion.
Try to get some clarity on what they mean with āGrade A.ā They could just mean UPC-A but they might also be referring to the Barcode grading that is typically done at the print facility.
And if I remember correctly, it is an A thru F grading system. They take a barcode scanner to it to see how āscan-ableā it is, and it is given a grade. I know there are specifications out there, probably on FDAās labeling regulation PDF, but this is how I always handled them:
ā¢ UPC in one color (not CMYK mix)
ā¢ Minimum box size: 1.25" wide x .75" tall
ā¢ Minimum of 60% contrast ration between the UPC and background (black / white is safest choice)
ā¢ the lines of the barcode must be parallel with web direction
I realize this is an older thread, but Iām going to post here just in case anyone needs it in the futureā¦
Barcodes have a GSI decodability grade. A is the best, but very few people ever get it. C is acceptable for 99% of the people out there. In my previous job I was head of barcoding. I can tell you more than any one person needs to know about barcodes.
If your barcode is failing or getting a bad grade itās almost always a bar width reduction issue. Itās very common to reduce the width of the printed bars to compensate for dot gain. Ideally the narrowest bar in a code will be the exact same width as the narrowest space in that code. That is very rarely achieved. We used to use a special measuring microscope to determine the ratio.
I highly, highly recommend giving the folks at Symbology a call - www.symbology.com. Norm at Symbology literally invented some of the codes in use today. They can get you pointed in the right direction. They can also generate the barcodes for you. The best part about that is they stand behind their work, so if you run into an issue they have your back.
We printed a job for a very large store chain one time. I wonāt say who, but their name starts with a āWā. Anyone that has dealt with them knows how pickty they are. They love to reject jobs and bill the printer back. We had them reject a 3 million piece run because of a barcode issue. We scanned it on two different industry-standard verifiers many times during the job. It passed every time. However it was failing for them. Norm helped figure out the issue (it was an issue with their verifier, not the printing) and saved all of us a lot of time and money.
If you need any more info on bar codes just ask. Iāll help all that I can.
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