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How to / Working with Fonts

EPSON BarCode Fonts

System requirements
Installing EPSON BarCode Fonts
Printing with EPSON BarCode Fonts
BarCode Font specifications

EPSON BarCode Fonts let you easily create and print many types of barcodes.

Normally, barcode creation is a laborious process requiring you to specify various command codes, such as Start bar, Stop bar and OCR-B, in addition to the barcode characters themselves. However, EPSON BarCode Fonts are designed to add such codes automatically, allowing you to easily print barcodes that conform to a variety of barcode standards.

EPSON BarCode Fonts support the following types of barcodes:

System requirements

To use EPSON BarCode Fonts, your computer system should meet the following requirements:

Note:

EPSON BarCode Fonts can only be used with EPSON printer drivers.

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Installing EPSON BarCode Fonts

Follow these steps to install EPSON BarCode Fonts. The procedure described here is for installation in Windows NT 4.0; the procedure for other Windows operating systems is nearly the same.

Turn on the computer and start Windows.

Insert the CD-ROM or floppy disk containing the BarCode Fonts into the appropriate drive.

Click Start, point to Settings, then click Control Panel.

Double click Fonts.

From the File menu, select Install New Font.

Select the appropriate CD-ROM or floppy drive, then select the BarCode Fonts folder from the Folders list.

In the List of fonts box, select the BarCode Font you want to install, or click the Select All button to install all EPSON BarCode Fonts.

Click OK. The selected EPSON BarCode Fonts are installed in the Windows Fonts folder.

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Printing with EPSON BarCode Fonts

Follow these steps to create and print barcodes using EPSON BarCode Fonts. The application featured in these instructions is Microsoft WordPad. The actual procedure may differ slightly when printing from other applications.

Open a document in your application and enter the characters you want to convert to a barcode.

Select the characters, then select Font from the Format menu.

Select the EPSON BarCode Font you want to use, then set the font size and click OK.

Note:

In Windows NT 3.5x and NT 4.0, you cannot use font sizes larger than 96 points when printing barcodes.

The characters you selected appear as barcodes similar to those shown below.

Select Print from the File menu, then select your EPSON printer and click Properties. Make the following printer driver settings:

Click OK to print the barcode.

Note:

If there is an error in the barcode character string, such as inappropriate data, the barcode will be printed as it appears on the screen, but it cannot be read by a barcode reader.

Notes on inputting and formatting barcodes

Please note the following when inputting and formatting barcode characters:

• Do not apply shading or special character formatting, such as bold, italic, or underline.

• Print barcodes in black and white only.

• When rotating characters, only specify rotation angles of 90°, 180° and 270°.

• Turn off all automatic character and word spacing settings in your application.

• Do not use features in your application which enlarge or reduce the size of characters in only the vertical or horizontal direction.

• Turn off your application's auto-correct features for spelling, grammar, spacing, etc.

• To more easily distinguish barcodes from other text in your document, set your application to show text symbols, such as paragraph marks, tabs, etc.

• Because special characters such as Start bar and Stop bar are added when an EPSON BarCode Font is selected, the resulting barcode may have more characters than were originally input.

• For best results, use only the font sizes recommended in BarCode Font specifications for the EPSON BarCode Font you are using. Barcodes in other sizes may not be readable with all barcode readers.

Note:

Depending on the print density, or on the quality or color of the paper, barcodes may not be readable with all barcode readers. Print a sample and make sure the barcode can be read before printing large quantities.

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BarCode Font specifications

This section contains details on the character input specifications for each EPSON BarCode Font.

EPSON EAN-8

• EAN-8 is an eight-digit abbreviated version of the EAN barcode standard.

• Because the check digit is added automatically, only 7 characters can be input.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right margin

• Left/right guard bar

• Center bar

• Check digit

• OCR-B

Print Sample

EPSON EAN-8

EPSON EAN-13

• EAN-13 is the standard 13-digit EAN barcode.

• Because the check digit is added automatically, only 12 characters can be input.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right margin

• Left/right guard bar

• Center bar

• Check digit

• OCR-B

Print Sample

EPSON EAN-13

EPSON UPC-A

• UPC-A is the UPC-A standard barcode specified by the American Universal Product Code (UPC Symbol Specification Manual).

• Only regular UPC codes are supported. Supplementary codes are not supported.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right margin

• Left/right guard bar

• Center bar

• Check digit

• OCR-B

Print Sample

EPSON UPC-A

EPSON UPC-E

• UPC-E is the UPC-A zero-suppression (deletes extra zeros) barcode specified by the American Universal Product Code (UPC Symbol Specification Manual).

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right margin

• Left/right guard bar

• Check digit

• OCR-B

• The numeral "0"

Print Sample

EPSON UPC-E

EPSON Code 39

• Four Code 39 fonts are available, allowing you to enable and disable the automatic insertion of check digits and OCR-B.

• The height of the barcode is automatically adjusted to 15% or more of its total length, in conformance to the Code 39 standard. For this reason, it is important to keep at least one space between the barcode and the surrounding text to prevent overlapping.

• Spaces in Code 39 barcodes should be input as "_" underbars.

• When printing two or more barcodes on one line, separate the barcodes with a tab, or select a font other than a BarCode Font and input the space. If a space is input while a Code 39 font is selected, the barcode will not be correct.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right quiet zone

• Check digit

• Start/Stop character

Print Sample

EPSON Code 39	EPSON Code 39 CD
EPSON Code 39 Num	EPSON Code 39 CD Num

EPSON Code 128

• Code 128 fonts support code sets A, B, and C. When the code set of a line of characters is changed in the middle of the line, a conversion code is automatically inserted.

• The height of the barcode is automatically adjusted to 15% or more of its total length, in conformance to the Code 128 standard. For this reason, it is important to keep at least one space between the barcode and the surrounding text to prevent overlapping.

• Some application software automatically deletes the spaces at the end of lines or changes multiple spaces into tabs. Barcodes containing spaces may not be correctly printed from applications that automatically delete spaces from the ends of lines or change multiple spaces into tabs.

• When printing two or more barcodes on one line, separate the barcodes with a tab, or select a font other than a BarCode Font and input the space. If a space is input while Code 128 is selected, the barcode will not be correct.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right quiet zone

• Start/Stop character

• Check digit

• Change code set character

Print Sample

EPSON Code 128

EPSON ITF

• The EPSON ITF fonts conform to the USS Interleaved 2-of-5 standard (American).

• Four EPSON ITF fonts are available, allowing you to enable and disable the automatic insertion of check digits and OCR-B.

• The height of the barcode is automatically adjusted to 15% or more of its total length, in conformance to the Interleaved 2-of-5 standard. For this reason, it is important to keep at least one space between the barcode and the surrounding text to prevent overlapping.

• Interleaved 2 of 5 treats every two characters as one set. When there are an odd number of characters, EPSON ITF fonts automatically add a zero to the beginning of the character string.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right quiet zone

• Start/Stop character

• Check digit

• The numeral "0" (added to the beginning of character strings as needed)

Print Sample

EPSON ITF	EPSON ITF CD
EPSON ITF Num	EPSON ITF CD Num

EPSON Codabar

• Four Codabar fonts are available, allowing you to enable and disable the automatic insertion of check digits and OCR-B.

• The height of the barcode is automatically adjusted to 15% or more of its total length, in conformance to the Codabar standard. For this reason, it is important to keep at least one space between the barcode and the surrounding text to prevent overlapping.

• When either a Start or a Stop character is input, Codabar fonts automatically insert the complimentary character.

• If neither a Start nor a Stop character is input, these characters are automatically input as the letter A.

The following codes are inserted automatically and need not be input by hand:

• Left/right quiet zone

• Start/Stop character (when not input)

• Check digit

Print Sample

EPSON Codabar	EPSON Codabar CD
EPSON Codabar Num	EPSON Codabar CD Num

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