Checking barcodes in PDF Proofs

[Vee]

I'm investigating a solution for reading/checking barcodes in PDF proofs from our printing vendors. I know Enfocus has InstantBarcode that will create & check in Illustrator, but this will not suffice. I need something that will work with PDFs. Looking for the following requirements to be met:

1) Software application that will read/verify barcodes inside PDF docs, and create/generate some type of report (html, pdf, etc) I can attach to a batch record for each job.

2) Must be able to read/verify at a minimum the following code types: 128C, UPC A & E, 2D, PharmaCodes, DataBar (RSS) 14, Limited & Expanded, QR Codes, UCC, SCC... Code 39 at a minimum.

3) Mac or PC, either platform is fine

Does anyone currently use an application that can support these requirements? I haven't found anything of much value to date. Thanks in advance for any info you can offer.

Vee

 

[Vee]

I guess I should add we currently check all barcodes w/ a handheld reader on hardcopy proofs. Confirming the human readable matches what the barcode is programmed to read.

Just because the human readable portion of a barcode says "12345", doesn't mean the code reads that when scanned.

Thank again,
Vee

 

[Al Ferrari]

Do you have contacts at any mail houses? They probably know of such software.

Al

 

[M. R. Horton]

Interesting...

Do you really experience inconsistent bars/image and human readable characters, and do you know what applications introduce these errors?
We've been generating and printing barcodes for many years and I've never heard of that before now.

If the print vendor is generating the bar codes via a database and template structure then there shouldn't be an internal inconsistency, if the bar codes are handled via an operator in an editable graphics application then that seems more likely to have inconsistency between the human readable characters and the bars/image.

Just to clarify:
Are you wanting to check against the client database to insure that even the valid codes are on the correct item/label/page?

Also, are you wanting to check bar widths for print quality in the proofs?

 

[Vee]

Interesting...

Do you really experience inconsistent bars/image and human readable characters, and do you know what applications introduce these errors?
We've been generating and printing barcodes for many years and I've never heard of that before now.

If the print vendor is generating the bar codes via a database and template structure then there shouldn't be an internal inconsistency, if the bar codes are handled via an operator in an editable graphics application then that seems more likely to have inconsistency between the human readable characters and the bars/image.

Just to clarify:
Are you wanting to check against the client database to insure that even the valid codes are on the correct item/label/page?

Also, are you wanting to check bar widths for print quality in the proofs?

No, we don't normally experience the wrong human readable vs/ the barcode. However, I have seen it more than once. Further, it is a required part of our process/sop to read and confirm the barcodes are:
1) correct type of code (eg:128, I25, etc)
2) Pass ANSI grade of B or better
3) correct data is encoded into the barcode when read w/ a reader, as would be done in a pharmacy, hospital, etc.

With regards to your second question, we know what the barcodes should read - we just have to confirm that they actually do read what we expect. So, no -- we don't cross reference any database.

Lastly, yes, checking the codes for bar widths, ANSI grades, etc is desired.

Vee