What Are the Required Steps to Print Labels on My Thermal Label Printer?
The steps for setup Barcode Studio for thermal label printing are as following:
- Adjust the label size correctly in the Windows printer driver (most important step).
- Set your label printer as the default printer (under Windows¹), otherwise the label size is not recognized correctly.
- Open Barcode Studio and change to the Labels tab, adjust the following label settings.
- The column width and row height you enter must match the label size.
- Open the print menu and click Preferences and verify the label size + click Apply.
- Click the Page Setup button (see screenshot above).
- Select the label size you have adjusted in the printer driver – if it is a custom size you should
see “Custom”.
- After that the preview should change and you see one bar code on one label only.
My Barcodes Are Displayed Much Too Large in Excel
When inserting the barcodes into the Excel spreadsheet, the size of the exported barcodes does not match the preset size. This can have two causes:
- GIF export format instead of JPG or PNG:
GIF does not save the DPI in the file (Excel can only estimate the resolution). JPG and PNG, however, save the DPI - this can make a difference when importing.
- Data list contains other data than used for the barcode configuration:
If the barcode is configured with less demo data than is later encoded in the data list, the barcode may become larger when exported. To prevent this, configure the barcode with the data that will later be encoded in the data list - then the size in the precalculation is also correct. Also make sure to export the file as JPG or PNG .
The bar code add-in
TBarCode/Office works more comfortably directly in Excel. No diversions via image files (but it is a different product = different licence).
EPS Font Not Found (Acrobat Distiller and Other Programs)
Our EPS format has some dependencies on the available fonts. Technical background is that we use a font selection command (font reference), but we don’t embed the font directly.
Thus the font must be installed and available for the PostScript / EPS renderer. Font naming may be an issue here – more about that below.
Example Error Message: “Error: KnowledgeRegular not found”
- The font must be installed on the local hard drive.
- It must be a suitable font type.
- The font must be in the search path of the renderer (e.g. Distiller).
- And also the font name in the EPS export must be correct.
One of the most common issues is the font name. In order to fix “font not found” or font replacement problems, you need to identify the correct font name for PS, then enter it as substitution font in the Barcode Studio options. Background: The font selection dialog in the GUI is using a TTF font, but the font name required for a PS file often differs from the displayed font name (especially if it contains spaces).
The font name in the sample above may be changed to “Knowledge-Regular” to avoid the error. If the name of the font is already correct, it is now a matter of finding the correct search path for the font and ensuring that the required font type is installed.
More information about PostScript Fonts (Acrobat Distiller):
Font embedding is currently available in Barcode Studio with the PDF export.
Font for EPS and AI Is Replaced or Not Displayed
For EPS export, a standard font is chosen unless you set an appropriate PostScript font in the options (you can also set a TrueType font as long as the name is EPS-compliant). The reason for this is that we do not embed the font directly, but only "reference" it - and here a valid font name must be ensured in the EPS.
What should I bear in mind regarding font selection for AI and EPS export?
By default, only certain standard fonts (e.g. Helvetica, Times New Roman, Courier etc.) can be referenced in the EPS/AI export - this ensures that the font is supported by the printer and/or can be rendered by the PostScript engine. In certain cases, the font name is replaced by Helvetica (EPS) or ArialMT (AI) in the export - namely if the font name cannot be referenced (e.g.: if it contains a space).
Barcode Studio font replacement options:
- If font substitution is disabled in the options, either a default font (compatible with the output format) or the set font (if it does not contain a space) is chosen as the font. The EPS/AI renderer then tries to load the specified font. If the font is not found, it is either replaced or not rendered.
- When replacing the font in Barcode Studio, the valid (complete) font name is required, this can be e.g. "GothamBold" or "Gotham-Bold" (often different from the name displayed in the dialogue). It is necessary to find out the correct font name for EPS or AI, especially if you use a TrueType font: The name displayed differs from the actual font name in the font file and there are also different names for the PostScript variant. For some fonts it is even impossible to refer to them, namely if they contain spaces in the font name.
The reason for these limitations is that Barcode Studio does not embed the fonts completely, but only references them. The reference name to the font must fulfil the criteria prescribed by the respective format (EPS, API).
AI - Trouble Shooting:
If you open the exported AI file with a text editor, you can see under which name the font is actually referenced (towards the end of the file). For example, Arial is referenced as ArialMT. This is because Arial exists under Postscript as ArialMT. See also: Difference between Arial and Arial MT.
Certain font names are automatically converted to PS-compatible names, but only the common ones (as we do not know and cannot cover all fonts on the market). This is exactly why there is the font setting in the options where you can specify the actual font for the export file (important - EPS compatible name, no spaces).
How to Create a Swiss QR Code?
Use the following instructions to create a Swiss QR Code 2.2 in Barcode Studio:
- Download the Excel document for Swiss QR Bills. The worksheet contains calculated columns that create the data format for the QR Code used in the Swiss Payment Standard 2.2.
- Enter the payment information in the columns A - Q.
Note the calculated column SwissQRCodeFull, which prepares the data format for import. To the right are other calculated columns that serve to validate the entries. Line feeds are inserted into the barcode via the escape sequence \n.
- Save the Excel sheet as CSV and then import it with BCStudio.
- Assign the field SwissQRCodeFull to the barcode data (in the import dialog).
- The escape sequences must be switched on in the barcode itself.
- A suitable BC template file where the Swiss QR Code is already correctly configured (46 x 46 mm, escape sequences activated) can be found in the download above.
Error Occurring When Exporting Images Containing Special Characters
Such an error can be caused by a file name containing characters that are already reserved in the system.
More information here: Reserved characters and words.
- Try to set the required file name in the tab Data List instead of using the setting Same as Data in the export dialog.
- When importing data from a CSV file, add a column to a CSV file that can be used as the file name. Watch this Barcode Studio - Explainer video to learn how the data mapping works.
- Alternatively, you can use Barcode Studio's option to generate a filename. Set Serial number (1, 2, 3...) and uncheck the option Keep custom file names.
How to Space Out a Barcode Data?
Barcode Studio creates a Human Readable Text (or HRT) under the barcodes, which does not take the spacing into account. To change this, please follow the next steps:
- Disable the HRT:
Click on the Barcode (Alt+1) table bar and set No Text in the Text Placement area under the option Show Text.
- Activate a caption below:
Go to the Captions subbar and activate the Caption below option, which is then displayed in the template. Set the spacing to 0 mm and the letter spacing to Standard.
- Create a column with the barcode data and a separate column with the caption data (which includes the space). The spacing can easily be added using an Excel formula (see picture below).
- Then create a CSV data file and import it into Barcodes Studio and assign the appropriate fields during the data import.
Error: “No Valid Printer Installed”?
To fix this error, check your installed printers and set one of them as the default printer.
How to Create a Label with a Data Matrix Placed Next to the Text?
Follow the instructions below to create a label with Data Matrix next to the text:
- Go to Settings and add a quiet zone (empty area) by clicking on Adjust Quiet Zones.... Make sure the quiet zone (left/right) is large enough to cover the length and width of the text.
- Activate the options Caption top + Caption top 2 in the menu bar Captions. Then change the distance of caption2 with a negative value and caption1 with a positive value until the desired position is reached. The font size and alignment can then be adjusted.
- When importing into the data list, the CSV file needs one column for the barcode data, one column for caption 1 and another for caption 2.
- In the Data Import Wizard there is an assignment dialog where you can assign CSV columns to the barcode data and captions.
Adobe Illustrator: PDF Document has a Missing Font
Problem: You can't open a PDF document, created with Barcode Studio, in Adobe Illustrator (or a similar graphic application). You receive the following error message:
The document can be opened but the system default font is used!
Solution: Change the font engine of Barcode Studio to generate PDF documents correctly. There are two possibilities to do this:
How Can I Obtain a Fixed QR Code Size During Export?
By default, the bar code size depends on the module width (dot size) and the size of the selected matrix (symbol version). The matrix size is automatically chosen depending on the amount of data for each bar code.
- First identify the record with the maximum data length (and data complexity).
- Copy the data into the Data text box in the General tab and adjust the desired size (use Optimize and your output DPI).
Then you have two options:
Limit the Matrix Size
Use a fixed size for the matrix. The capacity is then limited. The matrix size (version) must be large enough for the maximum occurring data length.
- In the QR Code tab set the matrix size (symbol version) to the smallest version without error.
The exported bar codes will have the same size. The matrix version and dot size is constant.
Lock the Total Size
Lock the total size. Don’t use a fixed matrix size (version), the capacity is not limited.
- In the data list there is a check box Lock bar code size at the bottom of the list. Once checked, the export will use the size from the General tab for all bar codes.
A constant symbol size is maintained during export, but the matrix version and dot size may vary due to the amount of encoded data. Since the dot size is not constant it may become too small if the overall size is not large enough.
With both options you have to test scan/read the barcode with the maximum data amount. If it is difficult to read, increase the module width in the General tab. If the bar code becomes too large, you can also reduce the error correction level in the QR Code tab, then the matrix size will be a bit smaller.