Barcode printing in a production environment

[Murray Elliot]

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to solve a particular
problem. A client wants to print barcode labels from their (web/php
based application). The barcode labels are very small, so I'm guessing
that doing a screendump via a standard inkjet isn't going to work
(i.e. might need somehow to print to a barcode printer!)

Any ideas where to start?

Thanks in advance.

[Jim Ley]

Re: Barcode printing in a production environment

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 15:40:32 GMT, Murray Elliot
<too_much_spam@ blueyonder.co.u k> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to solve a particular
>problem. A client wants to print barcode labels from their (web/php
>based application). The barcode labels are very small, so I'm guessing
>that doing a screendump via a standard inkjet isn't going to work
>(i.e. might need somehow to print to a barcode printer!)[/color]

I know of (but can't remember details right now) an SVG solution that
does this, creating barcodes in SVG is really easy, and they just
print. Generating them client-side with javascript is also easy - so
all you need is an SVG viewer installed, for the described situation,
that should be no worries.

Cheers,

Jim.

[Mighty Krell]

Re: Barcode printing in a production environment


If the printer has a standard Windows driver, that aspect of your project is
not a problem. I recently did a contract project that use a special printer
to print mailing addresses onto sticky labels that come one after another on
a roll. To do this I used CSS to create a web page that was correctly sized
for the labels. The little printer jacked into a USB port and handled page
feeds (i.e. rolling to the next label) automatically. It was easy.

I have never used barcodes, but I am aware of two potential solution paths
for you. One is to use a barcode font (they exist for Windows). The other
is to use an application that creates barcodes for you as images (gif, jpg,
whatever) and then you print the images. There are Perl modules that do
that sort of thing.

MK




"Murray Elliot" <too_much_spam@ blueyonder.co.u k> wrote in message
news:fbtu0115rk 0f994hk8n83u6ed 1stobr7bp@4ax.c om...[color=blue]
> Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to solve a particular
> problem. A client wants to print barcode labels from their (web/php
> based application). The barcode labels are very small, so I'm guessing
> that doing a screendump via a standard inkjet isn't going to work
> (i.e. might need somehow to print to a barcode printer!)
>
> Any ideas where to start?
>
> Thanks in advance.[/color]

[Colin McKinnon]

Re: Barcode printing in a production environment

Murray Elliot spilled the following:
[color=blue]
> Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to solve a particular
> problem. A client wants to print barcode labels from their (web/php
> based application). The barcode labels are very small, so I'm guessing
> that doing a screendump via a standard inkjet isn't going to work
> (i.e. might need somehow to print to a barcode printer!)
>
> Any ideas where to start?
>
> Thanks in advance.[/color]

Generate a PDF serverside? AIR there is a Gnu barcode thingy that speaks
[e]ps and PDF....and there are a couple of good PHP tools for working with
PDFs

HTH

C.

[Murray Elliot]

Re: Barcode printing in a production environment

Thanks guys.
I'm pretty confident in terms of generating barcodes either as PDF or
images or using Fonts (I prefer the second option), but main worry was
based around the practical issue of how to ensure the page output
aligns with the labels such that when printing (say) 200 labels, I
don't end up with problems whereby the output doesn't align properly.

A specific printer which could handle page feeds sounds like an
interesting (and perhaps) necessary way to go in this respect... would
you be able to post more details, or email me?

Many thanks.
-------
name: murrayelliot
domain: blueyonder co uk



[color=blue]
>If the printer has a standard Windows driver, that aspect of your project is
>not a problem. I recently did a contract project that use a special printer
>to print mailing addresses onto sticky labels that come one after another on
>a roll. To do this I used CSS to create a web page that was correctly sized
>for the labels. The little printer jacked into a USB port and handled page
>feeds (i.e. rolling to the next label) automatically. It was easy.
>
>I have never used barcodes, but I am aware of two potential solution paths
>for you. One is to use a barcode font (they exist for Windows). The other
>is to use an application that creates barcodes for you as images (gif, jpg,
>whatever) and then you print the images. There are Perl modules that do
>that sort of thing.[/color]

[Mighty Krell]

Re: Barcode printing in a production environment


My client used a printer called a "Dymo - LabelWriter 330". I have never
seen or used it. I used the Print Preview feature of IE to ensure that my
HTML and CSS were valid. The client confirmed it using his printer.

MK



"Murray Elliot" <too_much_spam@ blueyonder.co.u k> wrote in message
news:058111l6p4 p285ei3kioclhql 0ur6fcm6q@4ax.c om...[color=blue]
> Thanks guys.
> I'm pretty confident in terms of generating barcodes either as PDF or
> images or using Fonts (I prefer the second option), but main worry was
> based around the practical issue of how to ensure the page output
> aligns with the labels such that when printing (say) 200 labels, I
> don't end up with problems whereby the output doesn't align properly.
>
> A specific printer which could handle page feeds sounds like an
> interesting (and perhaps) necessary way to go in this respect... would
> you be able to post more details, or email me?
>
> Many thanks.
> -------
> name: murrayelliot
> domain: blueyonder co uk
>
>
>
>[color=green]
> >If the printer has a standard Windows driver, that aspect of your project[/color][/color]
is[color=blue][color=green]
> >not a problem. I recently did a contract project that use a special[/color][/color]
printer[color=blue][color=green]
> >to print mailing addresses onto sticky labels that come one after another[/color][/color]
on[color=blue][color=green]
> >a roll. To do this I used CSS to create a web page that was correctly[/color][/color]
sized[color=blue][color=green]
> >for the labels. The little printer jacked into a USB port and handled[/color][/color]
page[color=blue][color=green]
> >feeds (i.e. rolling to the next label) automatically. It was easy.
> >
> >I have never used barcodes, but I am aware of two potential solution[/color][/color]
paths[color=blue][color=green]
> >for you. One is to use a barcode font (they exist for Windows). The[/color][/color]
other[color=blue][color=green]
> >is to use an application that creates barcodes for you as images (gif,[/color][/color]
jpg,[color=blue][color=green]
> >whatever) and then you print the images. There are Perl modules that do
> >that sort of thing.[/color]
>[/color]

[Joakim Braun]

Re: Barcode printing in a production environment

"Murray Elliot" <too_much_spam@ blueyonder.co.u k> skrev i meddelandet
news:fbtu0115rk 0f994hk8n83u6ed 1stobr7bp@4ax.c om...[color=blue]
> Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to solve a particular
> problem. A client wants to print barcode labels from their (web/php
> based application). The barcode labels are very small, so I'm guessing
> that doing a screendump via a standard inkjet isn't going to work
> (i.e. might need somehow to print to a barcode printer!)
>
> Any ideas where to start?
>
> Thanks in advance.[/color]

From the rest of this thread I see that there are alignment and other
issues. But you can dynamically generate (non-vector) pictures, using line
calls, at arbitrary resolutions with the php image functions. Section XLI of
the PHP manual may be a useful read.

--
Joakim Braun