Help with bar code fonts/software

December 14, 2007 9:06 AM

Please recommend a program that would create Interleaved 2 of 5 barcodes.

It's come up at work that we absolutely need to be able to create barcodes in the interleaved 2 of 5 format. (Read: obscure, can't just use a barcode font, induces tears). If anyone has used software (preferably in the around $100 range) that would generate these barcodes, please please post recommendations here!

Also, if anyone knows where to pick up an inexpensive bar code scanner, that would be awesome too. (Plan B: going to Whole Foods and begging.)

posted by kalimac to technology (6 comments total)

The free one here will do them, so I would assume their commercial product will.
posted by bondcliff at 9:11 AM on December 14, 2007

Also, there is Azalea's offering but it's $200.00. From there, going up on the price scale is Seagull Scientific's Bar Tender which, I imagine, supports I2of5 as they seem to support everything.
posted by bz at 9:59 AM on December 14, 2007

If you don't have a scanner yet, why are you tied to barcode standard? Do you have a bunch of existing ones? Depending on volume, you might be better off using an easier standard (3 of 9?) and a barcode font.

I can't vouch for any particular cheap barcode scanners for you though, but make sure it'll read 2 of 5 before dropping any money in the bucket (if that's the way you're headed.)
posted by Nodecam at 10:07 AM on December 14, 2007

Interleavened 2 of 5 is hardly obscure -- it's a standard case code, used on corrugated shippers. Depending on how many codes you need, either buy SymArt from Fineline or use their pay per code service. (You email them the encodstion, they send you the barcode)
posted by nathan_teske at 1:19 PM on December 14, 2007

Another free (and open source) bar-code generating page here:

http://www.ashberg.de/php-barcode/

As for your scanner, it's incredibly rare to encountered a scanner that can't read Interleaved 2of5, if you Google "barcode scanner" a series of cheap-ish options come up.

I personally use this and find it to work just fine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bar-Code-Scanner-Unitech-MS210-1-with-cable-ps2-Recond_W0QQitemZ270195930414QQihZ017QQcategoryZ46706QQcmdZViewItem
posted by oblio_one at 4:00 PM on December 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Last week while looking for sign generators like the old original church sign generator, I stumbled across this barcode generator page:

http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php

Obviously they sell barcode stuff; you might find something of interest there.
posted by intermod at 8:51 PM on December 14, 2007