Technical

Data can range from a simple, consecutive number through to the complex mashing of data, images, barcodes and evaluations. For jobs that contain data, getting it correct from the start is a key difference between a smooth flowing job and a nightmare. Quite often, the requirements of the data will dictate the artwork, and as such, the data requirements should be one of the first things that is established.

If you're new at this, don't panic. It's a new way of printing and requires a slightly new way of thinking about projects. If you have any questions, don't heistate to get into contact with us to discuss your project and the best way to go about acheiving it. What might appear to be a daunting amount of work may, in fact, be quite simple with a bit of pre-planning.

By itself, a plain consecutive number is easiest of data, and is usually sufficient for most applications. Easy to create, easy to set-up, the main thing to watch for is that you've allowed enough room in the artwork for the number.

Step 1

Open up your favourite spreadsheet package. Feel free to use Excel, OpenOffice, Numbers, whatever. At the end of all this, we're going to require only a tab delimited text file. We also try to make sure that we can open pretty much any format you send us.

Once you've got a need spreadsheet, enter cardNum in the first cell (A1), as above. This is our field header. In your artwork, you'll also have a line of text with cardNum. This lets us know where you want your data to go.

Step 2

Select the next cell below (A2), and enter your starting number. In this case we're going to start with 501, but it can be any number. 1 is a popular choice here.

Step 3

Down to the next cell, and this time enter =A2+1 into it. This is a simple equation that takes cell A2 and adds 1 to it, giving you your sequential number.

Once you move out of this cell (hit TAB), it will look like below.

Step 4

Now to populate the rest of the numbers. There's two options here, one works well for small ranges (<1,000 numbers) and one works well for larger ranges (>1,000).

For smaller ranges, select the last cell (A3) that you entered the formulae into. You'll notice that in the cell has a thick border all the way around, except for the bottom right hand corner where there is a small square. Click-and-hold on that small square and drag it down the spreadsheet. As you do, you'll notice the number incrementing as you go. Keep going until you're up to the number you want it to finish at. This might take a bit of practice to sort out how fast it all goes.

For larger ranges, select the last cell (A3) that you entered the formulae into and hit ctrl+C (for Windows) or cmd+C (for Mac OS) to copy that cell. Select the next cell underneath (A4). Now for the tricky(ish) bit. Towards the top of the screen, just to the left of the formulae bar, you'll notice a small box that will have your current selected cell in it. It should read A4. Select that box and replace what's in it with A4:A2001 where the last number is the total number of numbers you need, plus one (makes up for the field header that plus one does). Now, type ctrl+V (for Windows) or cmd+V (for Mac OS) to paste that formulae into all those cells. Done.

Step 5

You've got your numbers, so now it's time to save it in a format for us.

Ideally, we'd like a tab-delimited text file along with the date file in it's native format. First up, just save the spreadsheet in it's native format, *.xls for Excel, *.ods for OpenOffice. Give the filename something that we'll understand, 3cs6ehsnw.xls isn't too helpful to us. If your project is the Whroo Public Library membership cards, then WhrooLibrary.xls is.

If you can, also send us the file in a tab-delimited text format, too. The way to do this changes from package to package, version to version. If the words "tab-delimited text format" leave you a bit blank, then don't worry too much, we should be able to open the native format file.

All to do now is to send us the data, usually along with that artwork if you can. That way, we can make sure the artwork fits the data before we get too far along.

Barcodes. You know them as those black bar things that get scanned at the supermarket. That's one type. At last count, there was a ridiculous number of different barcode types, and a number of variants of those barcode types, too. Sound daunting? We're here to hold your hand on this one.

When you break it all down, there's only a few types of barcodes that regularly get used out in the world. If you're getting cards from us to integrate into a new or existing system, then it's probaby even easier to work out which one you need as the type has been specified by the system.

For detailed information on barcodes, head here. In the meantime, let's have a quick look at a few of the common types.

Code 39

This is the simplest barcode of them all. Unless specifically disabled, practically all barcode readers can decode a Code 39 barcode. This makes it a very popular choice. It does have a number of drawbacks, however.

A standard Code 39 barcode can only encode A-Z, 0-9 and a few special characters. It also has a very low data density, which makes it a longer barcode than other types. There is a variant called Full ASCII Code 39 which adds a-z and some more special characters. This lowers the data density, making it longer still. This low data density is it's greatest weakness, reducing it's ability to be used in small areas on cards and keytags.

EAN-13 & EAN-8

These two barcodes are probably the most ubiqutious barcodes out there. Those barcodes that get scanned at the supermarket? They're one of these two.

We'd only recommend using these in a retail environment, and even then with a few caveats. Firstly, don't expect to encode someones names or alphanumeric member number with one of these, the only do 0-9. The EAN-13 only encodes 13 numbers, the EAN-8, 8-numbers. And then it's 12 numbers + check digit, 7 numbers + check digit. And you have to have the right number sequence to ensure that it doesn't clash with stock you already have.

Having said that, many existing retali systems leverage the fact that they are setup for EAN barcodes already and that there is scope in the EAN system for internal barcodes, and use this for membership cards. Be aware of potential problems though if the system and the numbering for the barcodes isn't set up with care.

Code 128

A very versatile, high density barcode with a number of subformats that can be swapped between within a barcode. Code 128 is a popular choice because of it's flexability.

This is usually the one we recommend for most purposes. It's main drawback is it's high data density, shorter numbers can make the barcode look, well, way too short and a bit odd. It's main trick is to be able to swap between 3 different sub-formats, each optimised for a different type of data, enabling it to be as small as possible. Some systems can become a bit unstuck because of this trick, but newer systems should be able to decode it fine.

Interleaved 2 of 5

One of the toughest barcodes out there. Good data density, but with a bit of a drawback.

Interleaved 2 of 5 get used a lot in quite demanding areas like external box packaging, ticketing and the like. It's got a high data density, is simple to decode and does nothing but numeric characters. Got letters in your member number? This one's not for you. You've got a card that needs to be processed quickly and reliably and your system is happy with numeric characters only? This is your barcode.

QR Code

Need a lot of data (and I mean a lot) in a small space? QR Code is the go.

QR Codes are becoming a lot more prevalent out in the world, being used mainly for mobile phones to capture web and email addresses off business cards, posters, buildings and so on. They're used a lot in the manufacturing world as a highly reliable barcode for marking parts. Very high density, but special scanning equipment is required.

Feature Matrix

	A-Z	a-z	0-9	! etc	Density
Code 39
EAN-8 & EAN-13
Code 128
Interleaved 2 of 5
QR Code