Density

The density of a barcode refers to how many characters can be encoded per inch. One factor that controls the density of a barcode is its symbology. Different symbologies require different numbers of bars and spaces to represent the same information. The density of a barcode is also affected by the width of the narrow and wide bars and spaces. The narrower the bars and spaces, the less room it takes to print out the barcode and the higher the density of the barcode in characters per inch.

ClosedTo change the density of a barcode by using the mouse

  1. Click the barcode that you want to modify.

  2. Drag one of the barcode's left or right sizing handles until the barcode is displayed at the density that you want.

ClosedTo change the density of a barcode by using the Symbology and Size property page

  1. Double-click the barcode that you want to modify to open the Barcode Properties dialog. Alternatively, right-click the barcode, and then click Properties.

  2. In the navigation pane, click Symbology and Size.

  3. In the Density box, use the arrows to select the density value that you want.

  4. Click Close.

As the character density of a barcode increases, the space that is required to print it decreases, which enables the barcode message to be smaller. Be aware that if the density is increased too much, the readability of the barcodes can decrease due to the following factors:

High-Density Barcode Limitations

When you print high-density barcodes on either dot matrix or laser printers, you might need a high-resolution optical scanner to read the codes. For a variety of reasons (such as the age of your dot-matrix printer head or toner specks from your laser printer), it is possible that the narrow white spaces between the bars can become too narrow to be detected by a low-to-medium resolution optical scanner. Also, it is possible for your laser printer to produce lines that are finer than the optical resolving capability of your optical scanner. Therefore, if you plan to print high-density barcodes, we recommend that you use a high-resolution optical scanner.

Low-Density Barcodes and Photo Reproduction

You can use low-density dot-matrix barcodes to produce high-quality camera-ready artwork. If a low-density barcode is photographically reduced, the individual dots from the dot-matrix printer disappear, making it appear as though it were produced by using a high-quality laser printer.