php 128 barcode font to use with PDFlib

Question

Iv been looking for a font for 128 format barcodes to place inside of a PDF using PDFlib. Iv looked everywhere and cant seem to find one that will work with my scanner. Doesn't seem to recognize the barcode when trying to scan it.

Iv used code128.tff, ADVC128C.TFF and ADVC128B.ttf fonts and while they do seem to be outputting a barcode none of the scanners seem to recognize it. Has anyone had any luck with this or do you know where i can find more fonts to try out.

The following is my code.

$p = new PDFlib();

$p->set_option("errorpolicy=return");
$p->set_option("stringformat=utf8");

if ($p->begin_document($outfile, "") == 0)
throw new Exception("Error: " . $p->get_errmsg());

/* Start page */
$p->begin_page_ext(0, 0, "width=300 height=300");

$p->set_option("FontOutline={Code128bWin=/data/Code128bWin.ttf}");

$font = $p->load_font("Code128bWin", "unicode", "");
if ($font == 0)
throw new Exception("Error: " . $p->get_errmsg());

$p->setfont($font, 20);
$p->fit_textline("B546546546546", $x, $y-=20, "");


$p->set_option("FontOutline={Code128bWinLarge=/data/Code128bWinLarge.ttf}");
$font = $p->load_font("Code128bWinLarge", "unicode", "");
if ($font == 0)
throw new Exception("Error: " . $p->get_errmsg());

$p->setfont($font, 20);
$p->fit_textline("B546546546546", $x, $y-=60, "");

/* Finish page */
$p->end_page_ext("");

$p->end_document("");

$buf = $p->get_buffer();
$len = strlen($buf);

header("Content-type: application/pdf");
header("Content-Length: $len");
header("Content-Disposition: inline; filename=font_resource.pdf");
print $buf;

This actually outputs a barcode but isnt readable by a scanner

Answer 1

Are you getting the Start (104), Checksum (75) and Stop (106) codes out to the page? Your barcode should look like the one produced by the following HTML, if you are using Code 128B.

<img alt="104,{Start B}" title="104,{Start B}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/AC3gAT0BDuLeG4IAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 34,A:{B},B:{B}" title=" 34,A:{B},B:{B}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/AHTgAcsBVYSvxaMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" title=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ACNgAKkAhD/i5lYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" title=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADYgAI8AVxcQlAsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" title=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADFgAMUAksTlwtMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" title=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ACNgAKkAhD/i5lYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" title=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADYgAI8AVxcQlAsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" title=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADFgAMUAksTlwtMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" title=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ACNgAKkAhD/i5lYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" title=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADYgAI8AVxcQlAsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" title=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADFgAMUAksTlwtMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" title=" 21,A:{5},B:{5}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ACNgAKkAhD/i5lYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" title=" 20,A:{4},B:{4}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADYgAI8AVxcQlAsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" title=" 22,A:{6},B:{6}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADFgAMUAksTlwtMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt=" 75,A:{VT},B:{k}" title=" 75,A:{VT},B:{k}" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAsAAAABAQMAAAAy+cYDAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/AD2gAR0A3h5+5CUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30"><img alt="106,{Stop}"title="106,{Stop}"src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAA0AAAABAQMAAAA/57ZEAAAABlBMVEUAAAD///+l2Z/dAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAADklEQVQIHQEDAPz/ADigARMA2dpJzT8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" width="15" height="30">