MSI

MSI is one of the types of barcodes that can be added to a template; see Barcode.

The barcode can be added either using the Barcode toolbar button or through selecting Insert > Barcode on the menu; see Adding a Barcode.

Initially the barcode will have the barcode type's default properties. To change those properties, such as the scale and color, open the Barcode properties dialog: right-click the barcode (on the Design tab in the Workspace) and select the Barcode... option in the context menu.

Note that this type of barcode processes tilde characters (~) in the data as special characters. See the Java4less Barcodes Guide to learn what the tilde character can be used for.

Barcode properties

This topic lists the properties of the barcode type MSI. For the properties of other barcode types, see Barcode type and properties.

Module width

Specifies the width of the narrow bars in centimeters. Changing this value to a higher value will make the barcode bigger when Scale is set to None.

Scale

Defines if and how the rendered barcode is scaled in relation to the parent element:

  • None: The barcode is rendered based on the module width.

  • Fit to box: The barcode is stretched to fit the parent box in both width and height.

Add Checksum

When checked, PlanetPress Connect will calculate a Checksum character and add that to the result of the Barcode script. If the value to be encoded is longer than 10 digits, a second check character will be calculated.

Checksum Type

The Checksum type can be MSI10, MSI11, MSI1010 or MSI1110; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSI_Barcode.

Human Readable Message

When this option is checked, PlanetPress Connect shows a human readable text below or above the barcode, as defined using the Text Position, using the specified font and font size. The font size is given in points (pt).

Color

The Color group allows you to choose a different Barcode color (instead of black) and Background color (instead of white), by typing a hexadecimal color value (see for example w3school's color picker).

When black is a composite of CMYK or RGB values, it may incur a color click charge on some printers. Check the Output in Grayscale option to make sure that pure black is used.

Output format

Defines how the barcode is output on the page. There are two possible formats:

  • SVG: Vector format. This is usually of higher quality, but may take longer to generate and is not compatible with Email output.

  • PNG: Binary rasterized format. This has a slightly lower quality than SVG but is usually generated faster and will display properly in Email output.