Bar Code Font?

[Peter Meacham]

Does anyone recognize the attached bar code and can advise me what I will need to engrave them on tablets. Sorry it is out of focus.

[Scott Shepherd]

Peter, that's not a font, it's created by a barcode program. CorelDraw has it built in. I can't tell you where, as I'm not in front of CorelDraw, but if you open the help and search for Barcode, you'll find out how to do it. There are various formats and you pick the one you want and enter the data and Corel will create it for you.

[Tony Lenkic]

As Scott pointed out in Corel under "EDIT" select "INSERT BAR CODE" than follow steps to create one.

[Peter Meacham]

Scott & Tony, thanks for your input. I don't know one bar code from another and Corel has a ton of them to choose from. So, I am hoping someone can chime in and advise what type of code I need.

[Tony Lenkic]

Peter, try code 39. It appears to be that one.

[matthew knott]

Youve done your very best to make it hard with the out of focus photo ;), but im pretty sure thats code 39 (code 3 of 9)
Our laser software creates bar codes and it seems to match, careful engraving bar codes, there are rules, like contrast and quiet zones
Check what you engrave reads on THEIR reader, dont use an iphone, they are excellent at reading barcodes and very forgiving and can give reading when a proper reader might fail.
273609

[Peter Meacham]

Thanks for the inputs. I took the photo at the school and then left, not realizing it was out of focus.

In any case, I recreated the 27013 tag in Corel and you are both correct, it appears to be Code 39. I will do a sample anodized tag tomorrow and go back to the school and see if they can read it.

Thanks again for the information.

[David Somers]

Peter,

If that is readable by their reader you might arrange to borrow one for the night. Then you could burn one and test it, rinse and repeat until you have what you want instead of schlepping samples back and forth each day. Should just be a plug and play reader.

Dave

[matthew knott]

You might have to engrave it in relief depending on the reader but i would try both for you sample to save a wasted trip, it should just be a case of drawing a rectangle around the barcode leaving space on the left and right, combine it, then fill it and engrave it. Good chance you wont need to as virtually all readers are quite capable of reading negative code these days.

[Randy Digby]

EDIT...Removed post.

[Peter Meacham]

Well, the sample anodized tag with the bar code did not scan at the school.

They probably have older scanners that do not scan negative (white lines) bar code.

And, Corel does not allow combining bar code with a surrounding rectangle to allow me to build a positive bar code.

I think somebody makes a bar code program for lasers, so I am going to look for something like that.

[Glen Monaghan]

You can convert the barcode to a bitmap (turn off aliasing, transparent background doesn't matter) and then use Effects/Transform/Invert. Place over a larger black rectangle if desired.

[Peter Meacham]

Glen, well that worked - what is it going to look like engraved on to a black anodized tablet case. I need to have black bars on a white background.

[matthew knott]

Can you not 'convert to curves' the bar code ? Then follow my instructions with combing with a box? You need effectively a large black box with white stripes inside in Corel , assuming the tablets are black ! Also next tip I forgot is print the bar code onto paper, if it can read a paper bar code then something else is wrong! Also if you have a smart phone use it to see if it reads, at least you know if your on the right track ! We're lucky our software automatically makes the codes and puts in quite zones and will automatically increment the code number, an iPad takes 12 seconds to barcode up, unboxing 4 times longer :(

[Glen Monaghan]

Inverting it will make the background engrave (bleach out the black anodization), leaving the bars and numbers black. Placing the inverted image over a larger black rectangle increases the size of the bleached area. So, you should wind up with black barcode in a white(ish) box. Turning off aliasing prevents lowering the contrast due to smoothing, keeping the edges crisp for best readability.

[Mike Lassiter]

Reading and repling from phone and only saw 1 barcode image; but if I am following you right you are engraving on black anodized aluminum.
The barcode needs to have black bars but the laser is burning then into the aluminum which is reverse of what you need. As already noted, you will have to invert in CD to laser away the black around the barcode bars to leave them black and remove the area surrounding them. That should give you black bars with lighter surrounding area for code reader to work.

[Mike Null]

I believe an earlier response will work. Make a white box, convert the bar code to curves and invert it. Position it on the white box.

[Peter Meacham]

Thanks all for your inputs. I will try the old bar code in the white box trick. I have ordered a bar code scanner as well

Well, the problem is that a bar code in Corel is very protected.

You can't edit or convert to curves for example. You can convert to a bitmap (which is pixelated and not suitable for scanning) and then put into a white box. But the thin lines are way too thin and are pixelated and the thick lines don't look healthy either!! Does not scan with my iPhone (Scan Life app).

[Tony Lenkic]

Do you have to use black anodized sheet?
If not, white LaserIt sheet will render black image for scanning. I have used silver that engraves black LaserIt sheet and it scanned perfectly every time.

[Mike Null]

Pete

I converted it to curves before I posted my response.

[Peter Meacham]

Mike

Thanks for your help. The convert to curves function on My X5 is grayed out when I select the bar code. And the keyboard shortcut does not work either.

Pete

[Mike Null]

Pete
You are correct. I had done it the wrong way. However following the steps in the bar code creator then save as pdf, open pdf as curves and following the other steps will get you there.

[Robert Silvers]

There are a gazillion free barcode generators online.

Search for: bar code creator

[Zlatko Kursar]

Here is my QR code on black anodized aluminium.
273894

[Dewey Schramm]

You are getting lots of good advice in this thread (I never would have known that was Bar Code 39!), but it sounds like at this point that you are "fighting the tool". Yes, corel has it built in, but if the limitations or protections around it are making use of it difficult, then perhaps finding an alternative is useful. This site (barcodesinc dot com/free-barcode-font/ (http://www.barcodesinc.com/free-barcode-font/)) offers a free TTF (windows compatible) Bar Code 39 font. I personally would download it (or something similar), type the number of the bar code you need, set the color to what you need, create a box around it the color you need and try that. You'll need to experiment with sizing to get what corel produced "natively", but you would then have something that worked in your 'normal' work flow.

Just my two cents...

Edit to add: I acknowledge that a font is what you asked for initially. I guess I am saying, going back to your original thinking now that you have more knowledge might be the path of least resistance. Often on these 'quests to make something work' I learn a lot, and then in hindsight realize that the smoothest method was a simplified version of where I ended up.