The table below shows the characters per inch for Code 128. The table shows the values for numeric data, and for alphanumeric data at each of the three densities available on the printer. The characters per inch for your bar code will be somewhere between these two values, depending on the mixture of numeric and alphabetic characters. For a precise calculation of the width of your bar code, refer to the specification for the Code 128 bar code.
Density | Numeric Data | |
|
|
|
1 | 17.48 | 8.74 |
2 | 11.66 | 5.83 |
3 | 8.74 | 4.37 |
Q u i e t Z o n e
When you estimate the area you’ll need for the bar code, remember to add the length of the quiet zone. The quiet zone is an area of white space required at the beginning and end of each bar code. The minimum size of the quiet zone is 0.10, or 10 times the width of the narrowest bar code element, whichever is greater. The tables below show the minimum size of the quiet zone at each density. For wand scanning, the quiet zone should be 0.25 to 0.35 inch.
Density | Quiet Zone |
10.10 inch
20.15 inch
30.20 inch
