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IDAutomation Code 39 Font Advantage Package

INDEX:

Code 39 Symbology Information

Code 39 (also called Code 3 of 9) is an easy to print barcode commonly used for various bar-coding labels such as name badges, inventory and industrial applications. The symbology of the Code 39 character set consists of bar code symbols representing uppercase letters, numbers, the space character and the following symbols: - .  $  /  +  %. The Code 39 barcode is the easiest to use of alpha-numeric barcodes and is designed for character self-checking, eliminating the requirement for check character calculations. For more information about Code 39, please refer to the Code 39 FAQ.

Code 39 Font Advantage Package Features

This package contains 24 different Code 39 fonts in 6 different font formats. The license to the package also provides the rights to use the font tools, macros and source code to help integrate the fonts into an application. Details are as follows:

Code 39 Font Specifications and Font Name Descriptions

The X dimension (X is the width of the narrow bar) is listed below for various point sizes. The narrow to wide ratio is 3:1 which is recommended by international standards. IDAutomation also offers the Universal Barcode Font Advantage™ which is designed to support most linear barcodes as a single font on multiple operating systems and locales. This Universal Font can provide wide to narrow ratios of 2:1, 2.5:1 and 3:1.

Point Size

Approximate X dimension (1 mil = .001")

48 .102 cm 40 mil
36 .076 cm 30 mil
32 .069 cm 27 mil
30 .064 cm 25 mil
28 .058 cm 23 mil
24 .051 cm 20 mil
20 .043 cm 17 mil
18 .038 cm 15 mil
16 .033 cm 13 mil
12 .025 cm 10 mil
8 .018 cm 7 mil
6 .013 cm 5 mil

* To print at a different X dimension, find the point size that has the X dimension closest to what is needed and use this formula to find the point size needed:
12 * (X dimension needed) / (X dimension at 12 points) = (point size)
For example, to set an X dimension of 12 mils, print it at 14 points because:
12 * 12 / 10 = 14

NOTICE: When using a printer with less than 600 DPI, the following point sizes should be used to create accurate barcodes:

 203 DPI Printer (thermal printer)  300 DPI Printer
 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36...  4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36...

24 different versions of the Code 39 barcode fonts are provided to support human readable versions and different width and height requirements. The last character in the Code 39 barcode font name determines the height of the barcode with the shortest being "XS" and the tallest being "XXL". Because each single font can be printed at various point sizes, there are several combinations of heights that can be produced.

Font name of purchased version Font name of eval version* Font height at 12 points*
Code 3 of 9 Fonts with text below the barcode:
IDAutomationHC39XS IDAutomationSHC39XS  .20" or .5 CM
IDAutomationHC39S IDAutomationSHC39S  .35" or .9 CM
IDAutomationHC39M IDAutomationSHC39M  .50" or 1.2 CM
IDAutomationHC39L IDAutomationSHC39L  .70" or 1.8 CM
IDAutomationHC39XL IDAutomationSHC39XL  .90" or 2.3 CM
IDAutomationHC39XXL IDAutomationSHC39XXL  1.25" or 3.2 CM
Code 3 of 9 Fonts with no text below the barcode:
IDAutomationC39XS IDAutomationSC39XS  .20" or .5 CM
IDAutomationC39S IDAutomationSC39S  .35" or .9 CM
IDAutomationC39M IDAutomationSC39M  .50" or 1.2 CM
IDAutomationC39L IDAutomationSC39L  .70" or 1.8 CM
IDAutomationC39XL IDAutomationSC39XL  .90" or 2.3 CM
IDAutomationC39XXL IDAutomationSC39XXL  1.25" or 3.2 CM
Extended Code 3 of 9 Fonts with text below the barcode:
IDAutomationXHC39XS    .20" or .5 CM
IDAutomationXHC39S    .35" or .9 CM
IDAutomationXHC39M IDAutomationSXHC39M  .50" or 1.2 CM
IDAutomationXHC39L    .70" or 1.8 CM
IDAutomationXHC39XL    .90" or 2.3 CM
IDAutomationXHC39XXL    1.25" or 3.2 CM
Extended Code 3 of 9 Fonts with no text below the barcode:
IDAutomationXC39XS    .20" or .5 CM
IDAutomationXC39S    .35" or .9 CM
IDAutomationXC39M    .50" or 1.2 CM
IDAutomationXC39L    .70" or 1.8 CM
IDAutomationXC39XL    .90" or 2.3 CM
IDAutomationXC39XXL    1.25" or 3.2 CM
 
* Measurements are approximate and were measured when printed at 12 points which should work for most scanners. Measurements for Human Readable fonts do not include the text below. At 12 points, the X dimension is about 10 mils.

To print at a different height, find the font that has the height closest to what is needed or use this formula to find the point size to print the font at to get that height:
12 * (height wanted) / (height at 12 points) = (point size converted to nearest integer)
For example, if using IDAutomationHC39M and the barcode needs to be about .75" tall, then it should be printed at 17 points because: 12 * .75 / .5 = 17

 

Font Installation Instructions

NOTICE: When printing the barcode fonts at less than 12 points, a high quality printer with a 600 DPI or greater resolution should be used; it may also be necessary to reduce the print intensity if you have increased this in the past to a value greater than normal.

If you need to print barcodes smaller than 12 points with a 203 DPI printer, it is recommended you print at point sizes 4, 8 or 12 to create a high quality barcode. For a 300 DPI printer, it is recommended you print at point sizes 2.8, 5.5, 8 or above.

To install the TrueType fonts in Windows, run the INSTALL.EXE program or perform the following for manual installation:

  1. Click on Start, Select settings and click on Control Panel.
  2. Click on Fonts, Click on File in your main tool bar, Select Install New Font.
  3. Select the folder where you placed the barcode fonts.
  4. The fonts will appear and look like this: FontName (true type) - select the fonts you want to install and choose OK.
  5. Click Start and choose to shut down and restart your computer.
  6. The font should be active when you restart your computer.

Installing the fonts on Macintosh OS X:

  1. Drag or copy and paste the TrueType font file(s) ending in TTF to the Library/Fonts folder.
  2. To activate the fonts, restart the application - some applications may require you to restart the computer.
  3. The font should now be active in the font menu of your application.

To install the TrueType font on the Classic Macintosh (OS 7.1 - OS 9):

  1. Download and install Stuffit Expander on your Macintosh if you do not have an expander utility that can open ZIP files and decode MacBinary files.
  2. Open the ZIP distribution file that contains the fonts by dragging the ZIP file on the Stuffit Expander icon. The font files will be extracted from the ZIP distribution file and will appear in a subfolder of the folder you placed the ZIP file in. Open this subfolder to view the font files.  At this point, you may want to view the documentation supplied with the font files. To do so just drag the file "readme.html" to the Netscape or Internet Explorer icon.
  3. Now we must decode the files from MacBinary format. Drag the font files that you wish to use that end with "mtt" to the Stuffit Expander icon.
  4. Drag the decoded font files to the System - Fonts folder.
  5. Restart the application you wish to use the font with.
  6. The font will be active in the font menu of your application.
  7. To create the correct output for the font, you will need to choose the font in your application and type in the corresponding letter.

Font installation procedures for other operating systems

Extended Character Set Fonts and Information

Extended Code 39 allows encoding of the Full ASCII Character Set with the Code 3 of 9 symbology. For the scanner to properly decode Code 3 of 9 extended characters, the scanner must first be programmed to accept extended code 3 of 9. Extended Code 39 is useful if tabs, returns or lower case letters need to be encoded.

There are 2 methods of creating extended Code 3 of 9 barcodes with IDAutomation fonts.

  1. The easiest method may be to use the Extended Code 39 Fonts which are provided in IDAutomation's Code 39 Barcode Font Advantage Package. This font easily creates uppercase & lowercase letters, numbers and some symbols. Refer to the extended font character set for details.
  2. Use one of the four Code 39 characters +, $, % or / followed by one of the 26 Code 39 barcode alphabetic characters according to the Code 3 of 9 Full ASCII Chart. The regular Code 39 fonts should be used when using this method.

IDAutomation recommends using Code 128 or PDF417 for purposes of encoding a large amount of extended characters because Code 39 is inefficient in extended mode and the barcodes can become quite long.

Creating Returns and Tabs in Extended Code 39:

To create a barcode that scans in 1234 and then a return function, !1234$M! would need to be printed. These can be combined also, as an example !12$I34$M! prints the barcode that scans 12, a tab, then 34 and a return. Refer to the Full ASCII Chart for other codes. For the extended characters to scan properly, the scanner must first be programmed to accept extended code 3 of 9.

About Extended Code 39 Fonts

Extended Code 39 fonts are provided with IDAutomation's Code 39 Barcode Font Advantage Package. IDAutomation has created these fonts for convenience when it is necessary to print some of the extended characters as they are on the keyboard. The extended fonts are not compatible with IDAutomation's font automation tools and the asterisk must be used as the start and stop character. For extended characters to scan properly, the scanner must first be programmed to accept extended code 3 of 9.

The IDAutomation Extended Code 39 Font Character Set

The ExtC39 Character column lists the character that resides at the ASCII location which can be used to print the corresponding symbol. The "Symbol Scans As" column lists the character that the scanner will read when it is in extended mode. The ASCII and Unicode columns designate the location in either ASCII or Unicode where the barcode symbol for the character resides. 

ExtC39
Character
Symbol Scans As ASCII * Unicode *   ExtC39
Character
Symbol Scans As ASCII * Unicode *
space na 0032 0020   P P 0080 0050
! ! 0033 0021   Q Q 0081 0051
" " 0034 0022   R R 0082 0052
# # 0035 0023   S S 0083 0053
$ control 0036 0024   T T 0084 0054
% control 0037 0025   U U 0085 0055
& & 0038 0026   V V 0086 0056
' ' 0039 0027   W W 0087 0057
( ( 0040 0028   X X 0088 0058
) ) 0041 0029   Y Y 0089 0059
* Start / Stop 0042 002A   Z Z 0090 005A
+ control 0043 002B   [ [ 0091 005B
, , 0044 002C   \ \ 0092 005C
- - 0045 002D   ] ] 0093 005D
. . 0046 002E   ^ ^ 0094 005E
/ control 0047 002F   _ _ 0095 005F
0 0 0048 0030   ` ` 0096 0060
1 1 0049 0031   a a 0097 0061
2 2 0050 0032   b b 0098 0062
3 3 0051 0033   c c 0099 0063
4 4 0052 0034   d d 0100 0064
5 5 0053 0035   e e 0101 0065
6 6 0054 0036   f f 0102 0066
7 7 0055 0037   g g 0103 0067
8 8 0056 0038   h h 0104 0068
9 9 0057 0039   i i 0105 0069
: : 0058 003A   j j 0106 006A
; ; 0059 003B   k k 0107 006B
< < 0060 003C   l l 0108 006C
= = 0061 003D   m m 0109 006D
> > 0062 003E   n n 0110 006E
? ? 0063 003F   o o 0111 006F
@ @ 0064 0040   p p 0112 0070
A A 0065 0041   q q 0113 0071
B B 0066 0042   r r 0114 0072
C C 0067 0043   s s 0115 0073
D D 0068 0044   t t 0116 0074
E E 0069 0045   u u 0117 0075
F F 0070 0046   v v 0118 0076
G G 0071 0047   w w 0119 0077
H H 0072 0048   x x 0120 0078
I I 0073 0049   y y 0121 0079
J J 0074 004A   z z 0122 007A
K K 0075 004B   { { 0123 007B
L L 0076 004C   | | 0124 007C
M M 0077 004D   } } 0125 007D
N N 0078 004E   ~ Space 0126 007E
O O 0079 004F          

The Extended Code 39 Full ASCII Chart

NOTE: For these extended characters to scan properly, you must first program your scanner to accept them.  

The full 128 character ASCII character set can be printed in accordance with ISO 646.  This may also be encoded in the Code 39 barcode font using combinations of two symbol characters made up of one of the four Code 39 characters (+ $ % / ) followed by one of the 26 Code 39 barcode alphabetic characters. 

ASCII Code 39 ASCII Code 39 ASCII Code 39 ASCII Code 39 ASCII Code 39
A A a +A 0 0 ESC  (Escape) %A SH  (Start of Heading) $A
B B b +B 1 1 FS  (File Separator) %B SX  (Start of Text) $B
C C c +C 2 2 GS  (Group Separator) %C EX  (End of Text) $C
D D d +D 3 3 RS  (Record Separator) %D ET  (End of Transmission) $D
E E e +E 4 4 US  (Unit Separator) %E EQ  (Enquiry) $E
F F f +F 5 5 ; %F AK  (Acknowledge) $F
G G g +G 6 6 < %G BL  (Bell-Audible of Attention Signal) $G
H H h +H 7 7 = %H BS  (Backspace) $H
I I i +I 8 8 > %I HT  (Horizontal Tabulation) $I
J J j +J 9 9 ? %J LF  (Line Feed) $J
K K k +K ! /A [ %K VT  (Vertical Tabulation) $K
L L l +L " /B \ %L FF  (Form Feed) $L
M M m +M # /C ] %M CR  (Carriage Return) $M
N N n +N $ /D ^ %N SO  (Shift Out) $N
O O o +O % /E _ %O SI  (Shift In) $O
P P p +P & /F { %P DL  (Data Link Escape) $P
Q Q q +Q ' /G | %Q D1  (Device Control 1-XON) $Q
R R r +R ( /H } %R D2  (Device Control 2) $R
S S s +S ) /I ~ %S D3  (Device Control 3-XOFF) $S
T T t +T * /J DEL %T D4  (Device Control 4) $T
U U u +U + /K NU (Null) %U NK  (Negative Acknowledge) $U
V V v +V , /L @ %V SY  (Synchronous Idle) $V
W W w +W - /M ` %W EB  (End of Transmission Block) $W
X X x +X . /N SP
(= or ~ in our fonts)
SP
 
CN  (Cancel) $X
Y Y y +Y / /O EM  (End of Medium) $Y
Z Z z +Z : /Z     SB  (Substitute) $Z

 

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