There are many types of barcodes—and each brings unique opportunities and challenges to the table. With such a range of options to choose from, it can be tough to determine which barcodes will best suit your products, inventory or assets. Should you invest in 1D or 2D barcodes? Which barcode variants work best for your specific industry? And, most importantly, which barcodes will provide the highest efficiency and business value for your enterprise?

At Mindware, we are proud to help businesses capitalize on the advantages of barcode scanning. Perhaps your products have less than one square inch of printing space, or maybe you need to print extra-secure codes on corrugated cardboard. No matter what barcode dilemmas your team faces, we can give you the information you need to get started. Today, we’ll be walking through the 13 major 1D and 2D barcode types to help you find the right solution for your processes. We’ll highlight the common uses for each one, as well as their limitations, to help you narrow down your options.

Note: If you need more information related to specific barcode scanning use cases and industry benefits, then check out our free eBook, Choosing the Best Barcode for your Business.

One-Dimensional(1D) Barcode Types

One-dimensional (or 1D) barcodes systematically represent data by varying the widths and spacing of parallel lines. These include some of the most traditional and well-recognized barcode types, such as the UPC and EAN codes.

UPC CODE

UPC barcodes are used to label and scan consumer goods at points of sale around the world—mainly in the UnitedStates, but also in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. The UPC-A variation encodes twelve numerical digits, while UPC-E is a smaller variation that encodes only six numerical digits.

Industry: Retail

Variations: UPC-A,UPC-E

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EAN CODE

EAN barcodes are also used to label consumer goods worldwide for point-of-sale scanning, primarily in Europe. They look very similar to UPC codes, and the main distinction is their geographical application. While EAN-13 (comprising 13 digits) is the default form factor, you’ll find EAN-8 (covering eight digits) barcodes on products where space is very limited, like small candies.

Industry: Retail

Variations: EAN-13,EAN-8, JAN-13, ISBN, ISSN

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CODE 39

Code39 barcodes (or Code 3 of 9)are used to label goods across many industries and are often found in the automotive industry and the U.S. Department of Defense. It enables the use of ofboth digits and characters, and its name originates in the fact that it could only encode 39 characters—though in its most recent version the character set has been increased to 43. It’s similar to, but not as compact as, the Code 128barcode.

Industry: Automotive and Defense

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CODE 128

Code 128 barcodes are compact, high-density codes used in the logistics and transportation industries for ordering and distribution. They’re geared toward non-POS products, like when supply chain applications label units with serial shipping container codes(SSCC). Because they support any character of the ASCII 128 character set, Code128 barcodes can store highly diversified information.

Industry: Supply Chain

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ITF (Interleaved 2 OF 5)

ITF (or interleaved 2 of 5) barcodes are used to label packaging materials across the globe. Since they can deal with high printing tolerances, they are ideal for printing on corrugated cardboard. ITF barcodes encode 14 numeric digits and use the full ASCII set.

Industry: Packaging

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CODE 93

Code 93 barcodes are used in logistics to identify packages in retail inventory, label electronic components, and even provide supplementary delivery information for the Canadian Post. Like Code 39, Code 93 barcodes come with full ASCII support. Along with enabling additional security within the code itself, the high density and compact size of Code 93s make them around 25% shorter than barcodes produced in Code 39.

Industry: Retail, Manufacturing, and Logistics

Learn more aboutCode 93 barcodes on the Blog.

CODABAR

Codabar barcodes are used by logistics and healthcare professionals, including U.S. blood banks, FedEx, photo labs and libraries. Their main benefit is that they’re easy to print and can be produced by any impact style printer—even a typewriter. Therefore, users can create many Codabar codes using consecutive numbers without the use of a computer. Codabar is a discrete, self-checking symbology that encodes up to 16 different characters with an additional 4 starts/stops characters.

Variations: Coda bar, Ames Code, NW-7, Monarch, Code 2 of 7, Rationalized Coda bar, ANSI/AIM BC3-1995, USD-4

Industry: Logistics, Healthcare, and Education

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 DATABAR

DataBar barcodes(formerly known as Reduced Space Symbology) are used by retail outlets to identify consumer coupons, produce and perishables, as well as small objects in the healthcare industry. They are more compact than typical consumer-facingbarcodes.  Data Bar was introduced in2001 and has become the mandated barcode type for retail coupons in the U.S.

Variations:  DataBar Omnidirectional, Truncated, Stacked, Stacked Omnidirectional, Expanded, Expanded Stacked

Industry: Retail and Healthcare

Learn more about  Databar barcodes on the Blog.

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MSI PLESSEY

MSI Plessey (or modified Plessey) barcodes are used for inventory management in retail environments, such as labeling supermarket shelves.
Industry: Retail

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Two-Dimensional(2D) Barcode Types

Two-dimensional, (or 2D) barcodes systematically represent data using two-dimensional symbols and shapes. They are similar to a linear 1Dbarcode but can represent more data per unit area. 2D barcodes include some newer barcode types, such as the QR Code and PDF417.

QR CODE

QR codes are most often used in tracking and marketing initiatives, such as advertisements, magazines, and business cards. They are flexible in size, offer high fault tolerance and have fast readability, though they can’t be read with a laser scanner. QR codes support four different modes of data: numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and Kanji. They are public domain and free to use.

Industry: Retail, Entertainment, and Advertising

Learn more about QR codes on the  Blog.

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DATAMATRIX CODE

Datamatrix codes are usually used to label small items, goods, and documents. Their tiny footprint makes them ideal for small products in logistics and operations. In fact, the U.S.Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) recommends that they be used to label small electronic components. Similar to QR codes, they have high fault tolerance and fast readability.

Variation: Micro-Datamatrix

Industry: Electronics, Retail, and Government

Learn more about Datamatrix codes on the Blog.

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PDF417

PDF417 codes are used for applications that require the storage of huge amounts of data, such as photographs, fingerprints, and signatures. They can hold over 1.1kilobytes of machine-readable data, making them much more powerful than other2D barcodes. Like QR codes, PDF417 barcodes are public domain and free to use.

Variation: Truncated PDF417
Industry: Logistics and Government

You Can Buy Software and Printing machines for these barcodes, Please visit our Website-

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AZTEC

Aztec codes are commonly used by the transportation industry, particularly for tickets and airline boarding passes. The barcodes can still be decoded even if they have a bad resolution, making them useful when tickets are printed poorly or presented on a phone. They can also take up less space because they don’t require a surrounding blank“quiet zone,” unlike some other 2D barcode types.

Industry: Transportation
Learn more about Aztec codes on the Blog.

You Can Buy Software and Printing machines for these barcodes, Please visit our Website-

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Finding the Best Barcode for your business

Now that you have a better understanding of the most common 1D and 2D barcode types and how they’re being used today, here are five questions you can ask yourself to find the right barcode for your enterprise.

1. Will the product be scanned at the point of sale in retail stores? -> UPC, EAN
2. Which character set needs to be supported? Alphanumeric characters? -> Code39, Code128, and QR Code.
3. How much space is available on the product packaging? -> EAN8, UPC-E, Code128 & Datamatrix have small form factors.
4. Which material will you print the barcode on? -> ITF is great for printing barcodes on corrugated cardboard.
5. Which barcode type supports the largest amounts of data? -> PDF417 codes are great for storing huge amounts of data.

Whether you’re looking into one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes for your business, organization or personal use, the information we’ve provided should serve as a great tool to help you select the appropriate types of barcodes for your needs.

Optimize Your Scanning OperationsWith Mindware

Once you settle on a barcode type, download the  Barcode Scanner for your mobile application to begin scanning all major one-dimensional and two-dimensional barcodes with unrivaled speed and accuracy from iOS or Android devices today. You can also take a look at our Barcode Symbology Library to review all the types of barcodes and their variations.

Have questions about our BarcodeScanner SDK or leveraging  Products for your business? Then be sure to contact a member of our team today for support. We’re always here to help.

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