What Can a Barcode Scanner Read and Not Read

• Identification Solutions
• Barcodes

Having Bug Reading Your Barcodes? Hither's How to Ready It

Barcodes are integral to your daily workflow, whether you're a business, laboratory, or healthcare institution. For many businesses, they help rail and trace inventory; for labs, they're also necessary to identify samples and patient specimens. But what happens when you have problems reading your barcodes, or they neglect to browse? Here are some reasons (and solutions) that might help you navigate through this unwanted situation.

Poor label placement

The near obvious culprit of an unreadable barcode is poor characterization placement. Imagine wrapping a 1D barcode label around the circumference of 15 mL tube. Now take a scanner and try reading the barcode. There'southward no way the laser emitting from the scanner can read all the lines of the barcode if information technology's wrapped around the tube. Unfortunately, samples that are labeled by 1 user are frequently analyzed by another afterwards down the road (a nurse who takes a blood sample and delivers it to a medical lab to be processed, for example), making it difficult for lab personnel to control how samples are labeled.

Solution: The best way to avoid a poorly placed barcode is to have a standard operating protocol (SOP) in place that specifies an appropriate methodology for each container that requires labeling, including the type of label, barcode, and characterization placement. When designing your SOP, be sure to include pictograms that brand it clear how each blazon of tube is supposed to be labeled.

Poor barcode/scanner position

A failed barcode scan can be caused past a few things related to the position of the barcode or scanner:

• The barcode might be likewise close or also far from the scanner, depending on the scanner's optimal focal distance (the distance at which the barcode comes into focus).
• The barcode might be located at a poor angle relative to the scanner. Mounting a scanner perpendicularly to the barcode can cause specular reflection, where calorie-free is reflected direct back at the scanner, blinding information technology to the bespeak of the barcode.
• The orientation of the barcode might non exist compatible with the scanner. For example, laser barcode scanners must be placed such that the laser line is perpendicular to the bars of the barcode for it to be read.

Solution: For applications requiring challenging scanning conditions, using readers with congenital-in autofocus is ideal, as they tin can conform to a range of variable barcode distances, angles, and orientations. Employing barcode imagers instead of barcode scanners, which apply cameras to read images of codes rather than the signal of the reflective laser, may too exist helpful every bit they are less liable to suffer interference from the reflecting laser and can often read barcodes no matter the orientation.  Correct-angle mirrors tin also reflect the light of the barcode towards the scanner; notwithstanding, when using right-angle mirrors, information technology's important to take a scanner that can read flipped images.

Damaged barcodes

Barcodes can be exposed to many harsh conditions, such as extreme temperatures and chemic exposure. This can make your barcodes fade or smudge, causing them to become unreadable. Barcodes tin can also suffer from mechanical impairment, like scratches, tears, or crinkling.

Solution: Here is where choosing the correct label is crucial. Using a label that's appropriate for your application will non just make sure that it stays affixed to your container, but it will also foreclose impairment to the characterization (and barcode) from the harsh surround(s) it encounters. Recall, prevention is ever worth more than a cure, especially when it comes to physically damaged labels. This also applies to the printout; not all types printouts volition protect your barcodes. Thermal-transfer printers provide your labels with the greatest resistance against farthermost temperatures likewise every bit organic solvents and other chemic substances, ensuring your barcodes won't smudge or fade over time. For the times where physical damage is unavoidable, some high-functioning readers can utilize symbol reconstruction technology, which allows them to reform the original barcode from the scan lines that are still intact. Varnishing or laminating your labels volition also help protect your barcodes from scratches and other damage.

Bereft contrast

To properly read a barcode, the scanner must be able to differentiate between the light and nighttime features of the symbol. Withal, the contrast between these two elements can vary depending on the type of material the barcode is printed on (e.thousand. thermoplastic film labels might provide more contrast than printing on metal). The contrast might likewise exist affected if the printed confined—or the surface they're printed on—aren't compatible across the unabridged barcode. If in that location isn't plenty contrast, the scanner won't be able to properly distinguish the marking of the barcode, making it impossible to read. Low-contrast barcodes will besides reduce the distance at which a barcode can be read.

Solution: Adjusting your printer settings to ensure that ink is distributed evenly across your label (or other surface) is a good first step to avoid depression contrast barcodes. It'southward usually the surface, though, that'southward the trouble. Enhancing the brightness/contrast of the barcode is the all-time fashion to deal with low contrast due to uneven or noisy surfaces. Some barcode readers are designed with extra lighting features that, depending on the surface, can apply either diffused lighting (for sleeky, flat surfaces) or nighttime-field lighting (for embossed or engraved barcodes) techniques to read barcodes.

Quiet zone infractions

The quiet zone, or no-print zone, is the area around the barcode that's completely free of markings. This zone makes it possible for the reader to verify the boundaries of the barcode and scan information technology in its entirety. The quiet zone has specific requirements that depend on what kind of barcode you're using. For 1D barcodes, the quiet zone should be at least x times the width of the smallest bar on both the correct and left ends of the barcode. For 2d barcodes, each type has its ain requirement, but it's usually recommended that the tranquility zone on each side of the barcode exist at to the lowest degree 10% of either the height or width (whichever is smallest) of the symbol. On many occasions, still, markings can bleed into the quiet zone, making the scanner fail to read the barcode accordingly.

Solution: Adjusting the settings of your printer to ensure that the quiet zone requirements for your barcodes are met is the simplest solution. Because there is no maximum amount of space for quiet zones, you can always increase their space by the minimum requirements to brand sure the barcode is read properly. If the printout frequently bleeds into the quiet zone, you'll want to ensure your printout isn't smudging. Over again, using a thermal-transfer printer for your barcodes is ideal, no matter the environment.

Inconsistent printout

There are many reasons your printer isn't reliably rendering barcodes. For digital printers (inkjet and laser), low ink and toner levels are the main cause of barcode inconsistency. If the ink or toner levels are too depression, your barcodes will suffer, as the intensity can first to fluctuate (some printers will even stop you from press if the ink is as well low, but this is undesirable likewise, since at that place could exist up to 40% of the cartridge left over. You might as well have whatever number of problems, from your ink not sticking to your label to printer jams and air bubbles in the cartridge.

Solution: Using a thermal-transfer printer solves many of the issues related to inconsistent printouts from digital printers. They employ wax and/or resin ribbons, giving a more uniform printout right until the very end of the ribbon. With that said, it's important to continuously verify the settings of your printer and to properly maintain it. The distance between the printhead and your labels, as well as the integrity of the printheads and the nozzles, should exist checked regularly. For those using laser printers, a simple trick is to switch the "Media/Paper Blazon" in your print settings to "Label" or "Thicker Paper" instead of "Plain Paper" in cases where the ink isn't adhering to your labels.

Inappropriately programmed scanner

When programming your scanner, limiting the number of acceptable digits in the information field can make whatsoever barcode neglect to scan.

Solution: Bank check your scanner and the requirements of the type of barcode you're using! Some symbologies, such as Code 39 and Interleaved Two-of-Five (ITF), encode 13 digits, non 12, and may require some toggling for your scanner to properly read them.

Other considerations

A few other points to consider is the density of the barcode and the software that you use to impress them. Trying to encode as well much information volition issue in a high-density barcode, where the narrow white spaces between confined get too narrow to exist detected. Using a barcoding software volition help to avert this issue, while also ensuring you print high-quality customizable barcodes.

It's crucial that barcodes are read in a timely and consistent fashion, no matter where you work. Unreadable barcodes tin grind your workflow to a halt, especially for industries with regulations on inventory and product, including pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. Unreadable barcodes can likewise result in the loss of information associated with patient samples. When employing barcodes, it's of import to utilise ones that have been verified and adapt to ISO standards. Verification means assessing and grading your barcodes before they're employed in your operations. Using verified barcodes will make it much more likely that they'll be read consistently and volition aid salve yous precious time and money fixing ones that don't scan.

LabTAG past GA International is a leading manufacturer of loftier-performance specialty labels a nd a supplier of identification solutions used in research and medical labs too as healthcare institutions.

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Source: https://blog.labtag.com/having-problems-reading-your-barcodes-heres-how-to-fix-it/

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