Barcode Fonts (fontware) - The Wrong Tool for the Job
Neodynamic is an expert in barcode technologies. In the development of our barcode product-line, when we read and analyzed all the official specifications from ISO/IEC, AIM, GS1, EAN, etc.; we never considered a font as a solution to create high-quality, accurate, scannable, readable and verifiable barcode symbols! All official specifications talk about graphic-based software algorithms, not about fonts!
Barcode Professional product-line features a graphic-based engine which renders high-quality & high-precision barcodes by using all .NET Drawing APIs (GDI+ for Windows Forms/ASP.NET/SSRS, Vector Drawing for WPF/Silverlight/XAML-WinRT, etc.) and SkiaSharp for Cross-platforms Frameworks
Reasons against Barcode Fonts in .NET Apps
Here are some reasons and facts about why we think that barcode fonts are not suitable for .NET projects and the industry or market they target.
High Precision
Many organizations and companies in the Health, Postal, Electronics, Food, etc. fields; require barcode generation at high precision sizes that are not possible to get right by using simple fonts.
Sizing & Scaling
In some scenarios, you are required to generate barcodes that must fit inside an area or scale it by some ratio. A barcode font does not support those features.
Bar Width Adjustment
Depending on the printing technology you use to print barcodes, sometimes you will require to apply
BWA to pass verification process.
BWA applies to both Linear & 2D barcodes. You are out of lack if using fonts.
Bar Width Ratios
Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF), and other barcodes allows you to specify a bar wide-to-narrow ratio that affects the whole barcode width. You are limited if using fonts.
AIM/ISO Verification
UPS, FedEx, USPS, and many others require your barcodes to pass the ANSI/ISO Verification process. The
SRP may require you to fine-tune the barcode symbol by using BWA, BR, etc. Fonts are useless here.
Human Readable Text
In some situations, the
HRT needs to be formatted appending extra chars, adding gaps, separating parts of the code, applying some text alignments like justify; etc. Barcode Fonts do not support them.
"Free Barcode Font!"
You'll find many barcode fonts on the web which claims to be "free". The fact is that some of them do not allow you to distribute it within or as part of an app.
High Licensing Costs
Most barcode fonts are licensed per end user installations. When you calculate the total licensing cost for your app, you may get surprised by the final number.
Avoid headaches and go for the right barcode tool
Barcode Professional (Writer, Encoder, Generator)
Barcode Professional product-line generates high-quality
GS1, ISO/IEC & AIM-compliance Linear (1D), Postal & 2D barcodes that can be integrated into any .NET projects.