Magnifying Bar Code Fields; Specifying Data For Fields - Intermec EasyCoder 3240 Developer's Manual

Chapter 2 — Designing Bar Code Labels

Specifying Data for Fields

18

Magnifying Bar Code Fields

You can also use height and width commands to modify bar code fields, but
the commands are defined differently for use with bar codes.
For bar code fields, the height magnification is the actual dot height of the
bar code. If you set a height magnification of 20, the height of the bar code
field will be 20 dots.
Printing narrow bar codes conserves space on each label as well as media;
however, if you plan to scan bar codes from a distance, you may need to
magnify the bar code widths.
The width magnification factor for bar code fields refers to the width of the
narrowest element of the bar code. When you specify a narrow element
width of 3, the width of the narrowest element in the symbology is 3 dots
wide. The spaces and large element widths are magnified according to
preset ratios for each symbology.
Note: You can only print a bar width of 1 if you are printing in drag mode
(bars perpendicular to the print head). If you select a width of 1 in picket
mode (bars parallel to the print head), the printer defaults to 2.
The default height for bar code fields is 50 dots, and the default width for
narrow elements is 1 dot.
Note: If you are using the POSTNET symbology, follow the rules for
magnifying fonts.
After you design a format for a bar code label, you need to provide the data
to be printed in human-readable or bar code fields.
For human-readable fields, you can specify data in two ways:
• You can add the data to the command string that defines that field. This
is a good choice for text that is constant from label to label.
• You can add command strings after the label format that include the
data to be printed. This is a good choice for text that may change from
label to label, such as incremental numbering. You need to place the
printer into Print mode before adding these command strings.
For bar code data, you place the printer into Print mode, and then add
command strings that include the data to be printed.
Intermec Printer Language (IPL) Developer's Guide