This page has the answers to many common questions about using Azalea Software’s barcode software and fonts. It contains links to other files and resources here on our site. Please use this page to answer your own questions and to locate solutions to problems you may have.
If you do not find the answer you’re looking for here, please contact us at technicalsupport at azalea dot com or 206.336.9559. Our regular office hours are 9 to 5 Pacific Time (12 noon to 8pm Eastern or 1700-0100 GMT). Because of the visual nature of our products, email is always the best way to contact us.
Getting Started
The Barcode FAQ
UPC barcode basics
What kind of barcode do I need?
What kind of barcode is this?
Badges, ID cards, Shipping, Distribution
How To Make Barcodes
How do I make a barcode?
Why fonts not graphics?
Why do I need to use the wizard or sample code to make barcodes?
Installing Your New Product
System requirements
What printers are supported?
Where was my product installed?
Where’s the documentation?
How do I use your fonts with my Mac’s font manager (Suitcase or FontAgent)?
How Do I Use the Wizard?
I get a string of garbled text when I paste a bar code from the Wizard into a document.
I’ve changed my string of text into a bar code font but now it looks like a tiny black box.
My barcodes don’t display on another computer!
How Do I Use It With Excel?
Code 128 barcodes in Excel
UPC barcodes in Excel
Code 39 barcodes in Excel
Interleaved 2 of 5 barcodes in Excel
How Do I Use It With Crystal Reports?
Code 128
UPC
Code 39
Interleaved 2 of 5
Undocumented Exception in Code39 with CrystalReports
How Do I Use It With InDesign?
Macintosh InDesign settings
How Do I Make A UPC Barcode?
UPC barcodes on the Mac
UPC barcodes in Windows
UPC barcodes in Quark XPress
calculating UPC check digits
putting UPC barcodes on existing items
Other Questions
How do I order a replacement for my lost software?
How can I make the new 13-digit ISBN barcodes?
How do I make a UCC/EAN128 barcode in Crystal Reports?
Who is Azalea Software?
Why do I need to use the wizard or sample code to make a barcode?
your input --> our encoder --> format the output in our fonts --> barcode symbol
You cannot simply format a chunk of text in our fonts and make a scannable barcode; it won’t include the necessary start and stop bars, have the needed check digit(s), or use the correct characters in our fonts. Most of our products ship with a bundled wizard utility and, in many cases, sample code which can use our encoder to add the necessary start and stop bars, calculates any necessary check digit(s), and maps the result into our fonts’ character set.
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System requirements
Our Windows products run on: Windows XP (any version), Windows Vista (any version), Windows 2000, and Windows NT 4.0.
All of our Macintosh products run on MacOS X version 10.2 or better.
We offer many products that run on Linux (pSeries, zSeries, Red Hat, and others) or UNIX (various flavors).
(Windows 98 and MacOS 9.x products are available by special order…please contact us to find out what is currently supported on these platforms.)
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What printers are supported?
Any printer you have a full, non-font-dependent driver for can be used with Azalea’s barcode fonts. This includes almost every HP, Epson, Lexmark, Digital/Compaq, Apple, Brother, or Okidata laser or inkjet printer made since 1998. Azalea’s fonts ship in TrueType and Type 1 PostScript formats. We also have them available in OpenType PS, PCL, and BDF format by special order; contact us if you need another format.
We recommend laser printers over inkjet printers because of their higher resolution. Customers have reported mixed success in using thermal printers, especially if the printer does not allow you to load commonly available TrueType fonts. Contact your printer vendor if you have questions on installing common TrueType fonts.
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Where was my product installed?
Windows users will find their products installed in a directory named /Program Files/Azalea/[product name]
You can start using your barcode software by clicking on Start/Programs/Azalea/[product name] to launch the bundled wizard utility on most Windows versions of our software.
Macintosh users will find software installed on their default hard drive, generally called MacintoshHD, or whatever location you specified when you installed it.
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Where’s the documentation?
All of Azalea’s products have documentation in Acrobat PDF format. For Windows users, the files are located in the same directory as the rest of the software: Program Files/Azalea/[product name]. On a Macintosh, consult the readme packaged with the software.
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How do I use your fonts with my Mac’s font manager (Suitcase or FontAgent)?
1. Be sure the Azalea fonts are in the Library/Fonts folder. To function properly, all Azalea fonts *must* be in this folder, no matter where you normally keep your other fonts.
2. Open the font management software and go to “Manage system fonts” in the tools menu. Be sure the Azalea fonts are checked.
3. Select “Activate managed fonts” (Suitcase) or “Use managed fonts” (FontAgent).
4. You’ll then need to restart your computer.
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I get a string of garbled text when I paste a bar code from the Wizard into a document.;
Select the string of what looks like junk text and format it into one of our barcode fonts; generally, when you paste the font characteristics transfer but this is beyond our control if it doesn’t; nevertheless, the barcode is unharmed, just change it back to the appropriate Azalea barcode font. The point size you use determines the height of the bars. The various fonts within a given program have different characteristics. For details about each font, read the product’s documentation.
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I’ve changed my string of text into a bar code font but now it looks like a tiny black box.;
Highlight the whole string of text and increase the point size. The point size you use will determine the height of the bars.
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My barcodes don’t display on another computer!
You’ll need to either purchase or license the fonts and have them locally represented on a machine opening a file, or you’ll need to “flatten” the file somehow. Most people use PDF and EPS files to help avoid this.
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UPC barcodes on the Mac
Our UPCTools utility will add the guard bars, calculate the necessary check digit, and map the output into our fonts’ character set. All you need to do is enter your UPC number.
To make a UPC version A symbol, type in your 11-digit number (your company prefix and the item number that you determine) or a 12-digit number (company prefix, item number, and check digit).
Copy the string of text that you get as a result to the Clipboard using Edit/Copy Barcode, switch to your target application, and paste the text into a text box
Change the font if necessary to one of the other UPC fonts by using the Bar height, Readables, and Bar Width functions. Read the UPCTools documentation to determine which font size you should use.
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UPC barcodes in Windows
Our UPCTools utility will add the guard bars, calculate the necessary check digit, and map the output into our fonts’ character set. All you need to do is enter your UPC number.
TTo make a UPC version A symbol, type in your 11-digit number (your company prefix and item number) or a 12-digit number (company prefix, item number, and check digit).
Click Preview to view the barcode.
Click Copy to copy the barcode to the Clipboard, switch to your target application, and paste the text into a text box.
Click Copy to copy the barcode to the Clipboard, switch to your target application, and paste the text into a text box. If you get what looks like junk, change the font to one of the UPC fonts. Read the UPCTools documentation to determine which font you should use.
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Undocumented Exception in Code39 with CrystalReports
This means there’s some sort of input that the Code39 encoder can’t handle, generally lowercase letters or symbols not included in the font set. Please see our Code39 documentation for more assistance with what may be included; if you have lowercase letters, you may want to try Code39 Full ASCII.
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UPC barcodes in Quark XPress
Use the UPCTools utility to create a barcode from your 11- or 12-digit number. Switch to Quark XPress, select the text tool, and paste the string from the UPCTools utility. Highlight the text and change the font to one of Azalea’s UPC fonts. Keep in mind that the size of a UPC must remain above 60 points to be scannable, and read the product’s documentation to learn which font is best for your particular application. If you notice odd spacing on your barcodes when using Quark XPress, please read
this tech note.
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How do I make a UCC/EAN128 barcode in Crystal Reports?
C128Tools can help you create UCC/EAN128 barcodes. UCC/EAN128 barcodes simply require a FNC1 character at the beginning of the barcode. The FNC1 is mapped to Chr(238) in our fonts, so all you need to do is add it to the beginning of your formula. Here’s an example of a properly formatted GS1-128 (aka UCC/EAN-128) barcode.
Barcode128Auto(Chr(238)+"0108412345678905") or Barcode128Auto(Chr(238)+{database.field})
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Macintosh InDesign settings
The following applies to the Macintosh version of InDesign. The Macintosh preferences were slightly different than the Windows preferences. Be sure that the Macintosh settings specify Paste Text Only when pasting from other applications.
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