Question

How to Create a Dynamic Barcode in PDF

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Updated May 15, 2018

asked on May 17, 2015 • Show version history

Hi all,

I have a PDF form and am adding the content with Workflow. I'd the PDF form to have a barcode which is dynamically generated based on a value of a field on the form.

I've been using Acrobat Pro XI to create the forms with static barcodes (Datamatrix and QR) without any trouble but creating a dynamic barcode seems to require Live Cycle Barcode for Forms. Neither I nor the customer has Live Cycle. I'm not wedded to Adobe so will consider any other PDF Forms generation tool. I'd like to hear form you experiences as well as solutions.

I've tried using barcode created with the Code39 font but these barcodes are not reliable enough or robust against poor scanning.

I'm trying to store the document type (static for all documents) and a transaction number (different for each document) in a barcode. My fallback is OCR-A.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

-Ben

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replied on May 18, 2015

Ben - I have used tools from InLite in the past to generate and read barcodes for Laserfiche integrations. Their tools support many different formats and provide functionality to both generate and read barcodes . The most recent integration I did used the datamatrix format.

That integration allowed users to create a new blank document in Laserfiche, key metadata from the original document, apply a pre-printed datamatrix barcode, then bulk scan the documents. The workflow component of the integration then read the datamatrix barcode, unbundled the bulk scan, and merged the appropriate scanned pages with the empty document that was keyed in earlier.

The URL is http://www.inliteresearch.com/

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replied on May 15, 2018

I have an open source barcode generator...

Just thinking how this might work:

Create a PDF using LF Workflow
Use SDK script in WF to call the barcode software, generate a barcode, store it in a memory stream
In the same script in WF, use an open source PDF API to insert the barcode image into the PDF.
save and celebrate.

Is that the method you use? The barcode font method works in a pinch but is restricted to 3-of-9.

-Ben

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replied on May 18, 2015

You might be able to get away with embedding a barcode font into your field in the PDF Form. You would have to install it on the WFServer as well and specify it in the Fill PDF activity's advanced properties.

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How to Create a Dynamic Barcode in PDF

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