We have a certain customer that sends us Corel Draw files with bar codes in them and sometimes the bar codes appear as fonts when I open the files, but sometimes other files come across as bar codes. What causes the bar codes to come across as fonts on some files? Is it something the customer is doing that makes the bar codes come across as fonts?
Thanks,
George
I think your customer is probably using a font to generate the barcode and is sometimes, but not always, using "convert to curves".
They would probably be better off sending you a PDF, which with the default prepress setting will embed enough of the font in with the PDF. Or EPS if you cannot use PDF with your output device.
When you say "using a font to generate the barcode" what specifically do you mean? Do you mean they did not use the bar code generating tool in Corel Draw to make the bar code? Is there a way to make bar codes in Corel Draw without using the bar code generating tool in Corel Draw? Is there a "font" that has barcode elements as the letters and numbers? If so, if I had that font would the bar code open as a bar code when I open the file (even if they did not save the font as curves)? When I open the file, Corel Draw substitutes a font for the missing font, and I don't remember the exact name of the font that was missing, but I think it's something like "normalONE...".
Yes, there are many barcode fonts. I've not used any myself, but there's an example at http://www.barcodesinc.com/free-barcode-font/
That particular example displays only the bars of the barcode, but there are probably others which display the numeric too.
Perhaps if you can find a file that gives the font substitution message you can do a google search for the exact string of the missing font and it will probably identify its source.
Thanks, I did a google search for the missing font - Code39One (Western) and could not seem to locate the exact font, got any suggestions?
Code 39 is one of the common barcode formats. Its special merit is that it includes uppercase alpha characters. Most barcodes only support numerics. The "39" represents the number of characters in the character set -- 26 alpha, 10 numerics and 3 special characters.
The width and spacing of the stripes have to correspond to the Code 39 barcode rules, which prevents the person implementing the font from doing anything artistic. Consequently I would expect it possible to substitute any other barcode font which claims to be Code 39 and get the same printout.
Of course, the main test is not what it looks like but whether it scans when printed. That definitely needs testing beforehand. Barcode errors are not always easy to spot visually.
Thanks, Harry. I'll download a free Code 39 barcode font if I can find one and try it out as a substitute font.
G