QR Code

A QR Code 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.

To change a barcode's 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.

Instead of using the Script wizard (see Adding a barcode) you could write your own script to get the data for the QR Code.

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

Barcode properties

Preferred version

There are 40 sizes of QR codes. Select the preferred version for the QR code.

Auto configure

When this option is checked, the barcode generator overwrites the selected Preferred version (the previous selection) and defines the barcode version based upon on the supplied data.

Module size

Enter the size of the square modules in pixels.

Encoding

This option defines the encoding of the barcode. When Auto is selected, the barcode generator determines the encoding based on the supplied string. The other options are:

  • Numeric: 10 bits per 3 digits, with a maximum of 7089 numerical characters.

  • Alphanumeric: 11 bits per 2 characters, with a maximum of 4296 alphanumerical characters.

  • Byte: 8 bits per character, with a maximum of 2953 characters.

  • Kanji: 13 bits per character, with a maximum of 1817 characters.

Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI)

This setting enables data using character sets other than the default set. Select Latin-1, Latin-2, Shift JIS or UTF-8, or select None to disable extended channel interpretation.

Correction level

Part of the robustness of QR codes in the physical environment is their ability to sustain 'damage' and continue to function even when a part of the QR code image is obscured, defaced or removed. A higher correction level duplicates data within the QR Code to that effect, making it larger.

FNC

Use the drop-down to either disable FNC or select a FNC option:

  • No: No FNC option.

  • First: This mode indicator identifies symbols encoding data formatted according to  the UCC/EAN Application Identifiers.

  • Second: This mode indicator identifies symbols formatted in accordance with specific industry or application specifications previously agreed with AIM International. You must then set a value for the Application Indicator property.

Application Indicator

Enter the desired Application Indicator value here; either one character (a-z or A-Z) or a 2-digit number (00 - 99).

This option is only enabled when the FNC property is set to Second.

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.

  • Proportional: The barcode is stretched up to where it fits either the width or height of the parent box, whichever requires the less stretching.

Tilde processing

Check this option to process tilde (~) characters in the data as special characters. (See the Java4less Barcodes Guide to learn what the tilde character can be used for.)
The tilde is expected to be followed by the 'd' character and 3 digits representing an ASCII character: ~dNNN . For example, ~d013 represents a carriage return.
Note that with this option checked, any tilde that needs to be included in the output must be escaped by adding another tilde: ~~.

Barcode output

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.

Barcode Data

QR Codes can have many different types of data, which determines how the code will be generated. On top of just straightforward data, special data structures are used to trigger actions on the device that reads them. This can include contact cards, phone numbers, URLs, emails, etc.

To learn more about the specifications of the different QR code types, see the ZXing Project barcode contents page.