NCR 7883 manual Determining Label Quality, 01234 5 678 9

NCR RealScan 7883 Installation and Owner Guide

Determining Label Quality

Many labels in a typical retail environment are unreadable. The following illustration shows some of the common problems. Vendors and printers regularly supply products to the market with bar codes that are overprinted, underprinted, or truncated. Some labels have missing margins. Others may be printed around the corners of packages, or on media not likely to remain flat when picked up.

0 01234 5 678 9 6

Bar Code Scratched

0	01234 5 678 9	6
	Bar Code Torn

0 01234 5 67 8 9 6

Bar Code Folded

001234 5 678 9 6

Poor Color Contrast

00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 6

Bar Code Truncated

0 01234 5 678 9 6

Red Bar Code On

Red Background

R0026

The readability of a label depends on variables such as size, placement, color, paper type, ink viscosity, and package coatings. The middle of a printing run can yield erroneous labels due to the many variants involved. In particular, poor color contrast and marginal print quality can make a label hard to read.

UPC bar code requirements are identified in the UPC Symbol Specification Manual that is published by the Uniform Code Council, Inc. Contact the following for a copy of this document.

Uniform Code Council, Inc.

8163 Old Yankee Road, Suit J Dayton, OH 45458 Phone: 513-435-3870

Contact the following for information on Code 39 or "3 of 9" bar code labels.

AIM – USA

634 Alpha Dr.

Pittsburgh, PA 15238-2802

Phone: 412-963-8588

EAN bar code requirements are identified in General Specification for Article Symbol Marking, Copyright EAN-1977.

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