Welcome to our mini course in bar coding. If you are like most people you are now reasonably overwhelmed. Your company just landed a major account and you were informed that on the next production run everything must be bar-coded and now it is your responsibility to get the job done. Or you are just fed up with the time that it takes you to track inventory and you are looking for a quick efficient method to know exactly what comes in and goes out of your company. Many of our customers have found themselves in this situation and we have put together a brief summary of the questions they need to ask and the decisions they need to make. What is a Bar-code ? A Bar-code is simply machine readable language. It is letters and numbers put in a form that machines (computers) can then easily read. Software programs are written that translate data, usually numeric and alpha codes into bar-codes so that a scanner can read it and input it into a computer. Aren't there different types of Bar-codes ?
Yes. There are a number of different types of bar-codes, all of the
them accomplish the same task, converting data into a form that a
machine can easily recognize. The different formats are almost like
different languages. As the word "sun" can be said in French or German
or Spanish, so too different bar- code symbols can be used to represent
the same set of data. The different language are called "Bar-code
Symbologies . How do I now which type of Bar-code I need? Fortunately this part of the process is pretty straight forward. Software programs on the market today print almost all of the various bar-code formats. It is simply a matter of telling the software which symbology you want the bar-codes in, much like you would select a font on a word processing program. If you are producing bar-codes for an end user they will know which bar-code symbology they are using. If you are printing labels to scan internally, your software program will recommend one of a few symbologies to use. Can I create a Bar-code label with regular print on it? Most bar-code labels have both bar-code (machine readable) and human readable characters on it. The software program will allow you to print almost anything that you would want on a bar-code label. On your computer screen an image of a blank label will appear allowing you to create a label. You can then input your address, unit price, description or any other text you would want to appear on the label. For the bar-code itself, you would put in an alpha numeric code, and the software then converts that to a bar-code. I heard that there are two methods of printing used by Bar-code printers, which one do I want? Bar-code printers come in two basic forms, THERMAL DIRECT and THERMAL TRANSFER. Both use the heat of the printing element to form an image on the label. The difference is in the process. THERMAL DIRECT printers, use the heat of the print head to form an image on specially coated papers. Much like the old style fax paper, that was chemically treated and would react to the heat of the print head on an incoming fax. These labels have been processed to react to the heat of the printing element. THERMAL TRANSFER printers use the heat of the printing element to TRANSFER the resin from a ribbon onto a label. The image is crisper and longer lasting. Most printers come in either configuration, so you could order a particular printer in either the THERMAL DIRECT or THERMAL TRANSFER model. Which one do I need? The criteria to make that decision is your application. THERMAL DIRECT (no ribbon) is slightly cheaper, because there is no ribbon involved the cost per thousand labels tends to be less. However the disadvantage of THERMAL DIRECT is that the label will fade with time. Just like the old curly fax paper that would turn Gary and fade after about 6 months, so too thermal direct labels, since they are coated to react to heat they will fade with time. If your application involves the need for labels to last more than 6 months, we recommend using a THERMAL TRANSFER printer. How do I select which printer I need? There are a few questions you have to determine and then the decision is pretty straight forward. The first question is how many labels do you plan on printing? Bar-code printers are largely designed to handle a given work load. The most common method of measuring a printer's capacity is by the amount of "labels a day" it is rated for. A light duty printer will accommodate up to 200 labels a day. A medium grade printer will handle up to 500 a day. If your application requires you to print more than 500 labels a day then you would need a heavy duty printer. Finally if you find that your application demands printing more than 1000 labels a day you would need an industrial grade printer . Are there different speeds in printers ? Yes. Thermal bar-code printers are rated by how many inches per second (IPS) they print. The print speeds vary from 2" a second up to 10" a second. The actual speed of printing will be determined by the height of your label. If you are printing a 4" wide by 2" high label, then every label will consist of 2 print inches. Assuming that your printer was rated for 2 inches per second (IPS) then it would print one label every second. How do l determine the correct label size? The first question you have to ask yourself is how much room do I have'? Next you need to determine what you need the label to say. Generally an inch wide by an half inch high is enough to comfortably print a bar-code. Any other label space can be used for other coding. So if you need to print a bar-code, unit price and short description on a label. You will want to allocate about ½ inch of height for the bar- code, ½ inch for the unit price and ½ inch for the description. So a 2 inch wide by a 1 ½ high label would suffice. Can I put a company logo on my Bar-code label? Yes, This function that allows you to easily import graphics, position it where you want on the label and then print them besides getting pre-printed bar-code labels, which is more in practice to get exact logo, writing styles etc. in variable colours. Can my printer accommodate different size labels? Most printers can accommodate a variety of label sizes. Next to each printer you will see a Media width section this will tell you the maximum width that a printer can handle. The labels come out of the printer along the height of the label, so any printer can handle a label up to 6 inches high, most printers can print as long as 20". The variable is in the width of the label and each printer comes with its own set of parameters . Can these labels be applied with an applicator ? We carry two lines of applicators to easily apply labels. A roll of printed labels is loaded into the applicator and then affixed to the product or carton. The only detail that you must watch for is that these applicators can only take a core size of 1 ". To use the applicators you must have a rewinder that will rewind your labels as they come out onto a 1" core. Most printers come with optional rewinder (internal / external), that will take labels from printer and rewind them on to cores that can be used in these applicators. What software do I need to create Bar-codes ? The new GEMINI series of printers makes the design and printing of labels as easy as writing a letter ! All printing functions can be controlled under WindowsTM -special software is not required. Gemini is the new range of printers which has been developed by CAB for use under Windows TM. They allow labels to be simply produced using your Windows TM program. The additional software EASYLABEL for professional use. Serial numbers can be organized, characters and graphics can be rotated, squares and circles can be drawn, databases can be imported, etc. , Barcoding Applications There are various technologies comprising Automatic Identification. Bar Coding is, arguably, the best known and most widely used method of Automatic Identification. Let us now see how Bar Coding benefits us. Automatic Identification is now playing a major part in all aspects of our lives.
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