Barcode formats

Every value accepted by BarcodeObject.format is listed below. The public BarcodeFormat union is exported from @burnmark-io/designer-core and covers 44 formats from five categories.

For usage patterns (size, colour, validation, QRContent helpers) see the Barcodes guide.

For advanced per-format options not exposed through BarcodeOptions, consult the bwip-js BWIPP documentation — core serialises BarcodeObject.options directly to bwip-js's internals, so any BWIPP option is reachable by setting the field in the serialised .label JSON.

1D (linear) barcodes

Format	Category	Typical use
code128	1D	General-purpose shipping, asset tagging. Auto-selects the most efficient subset.
code128a	1D	Code 128 forced to subset A (uppercase + control chars).
code128b	1D	Code 128 forced to subset B (uppercase + lowercase + digits).
code128c	1D	Code 128 forced to subset C (pairs of digits).
code39	1D	Older industrial; uppercase letters, digits, -. $/+% only.
code39ext	1D	Code 39 Extended — escape sequences for lowercase + ASCII punctuation.
code93	1D	Denser than Code 39. Mixed case and more symbols.
code11	1D	Telephony; digits + dash. Two checksums.
codabar	1D	Library systems, blood banks.
ean13	1D	Retail EAN-13 — GTIN encoding. Always 13 digits.
ean8	1D	Short EAN-8 — small retail items.
upca	1D	US UPC-A — 12-digit retail.
upce	1D	Compressed UPC-E — 8-digit.
itf14	1D	Shipping carton ITF-14 — outer-pack GTIN.
interleaved2of5	1D	Warehousing, cardboard labelling. Even digit count required.
pharmacode	1D	Pharma package verification.
msi	1D	Shelf-edge retail labels.

2D barcodes

Format	Category	Typical use
qrcode	2D	URLs, Wi-Fi, contacts, ticketing. See QRContent.
microqr	2D	Small-payload QR variant — fits in ~10 × 10 modules.
datamatrix	2D	Industrial marking, small parts. Square default.
datamatrixrectangular	2D	Same algorithm, rectangular symbol shapes.
pdf417	2D	Boarding passes, ID cards, dense alphanumeric payloads.
micropdf417	2D	Compact PDF417 variant.
azteccode	2D	Transport ticketing (SNCF, Deutsche Bahn), boarding passes.
aztecrune	2D	Aztec Rune — short fixed-length 2D code.
maxicode	2D	UPS shipping labels. Fixed module pattern.
dotcode	2D	Direct-part marking on cylindrical items.
hanxin	2D	Chinese Han Xin code — denser Chinese-character support.
hibccode128	2D	HIBC (healthcare industry barcode) on Code 128.

GS1 family

Format	Category	Typical use
gs1_128	GS1 / 1D	FNC1-led Code 128 with application identifiers. Shipping, logistics.
databar	GS1 / 1D	GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional.
databarexpanded	GS1 / 1D	GS1 DataBar Expanded — longer alphanumeric payloads.
gs1qrcode	GS1 / 2D	QR with GS1 FNC1 structure — pharma, medical.
gs1datamatrix	GS1 / 2D	Data Matrix with GS1 FNC1 structure.
gs1_cc	GS1 / 2D	GS1 Composite Component — two-stacked combinations.

GS1 formats accept application identifiers written in parentheses: (01)03012345678900(17)260401(10)BATCH42. Core passes them through to bwip-js, which expands them to the FNC1-separated wire format.

Postal barcodes

Format	Category	Typical use
postnet	Postal	USPS POSTNET — legacy 5/9/11-digit ZIP.
royalmail	Postal	UK Royal Mail 4-state customer code.
kix	Postal	PostNL KIX — Dutch delivery sorting. Alphanumeric postcode + house number.
onecode	Postal	USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB).
auspost	Postal	Australia Post 4-state.
japanpost	Postal	Japan Post Customer Code.
leitcode	Postal	Deutsche Post Leitcode — routing.
identcode	Postal	Deutsche Post Identcode — tracking.

Specialised

Format	Category	Typical use
isbt128	Medical	ISBT 128 — blood and tissue labelling.
pzn	Medical	Pharmazentralnummer — German pharmaceutical identifier.

BarcodeOptions

Passed as BarcodeObject.options. Core forwards these to the underlying bwip-js renderer:

interface BarcodeOptions {
  scale?: number;
  rotate?: 'N' | 'R' | 'L' | 'I';
  padding?: number;
  includetext?: boolean;
  textsize?: number;
  textyoffset?: number;
  eclevel?: 'L' | 'M' | 'Q' | 'H';
  version?: number;
  rows?: number;
  columns?: number;
}

• scale — multiplier for bar width / module size. Default is chosen by bwip-js to fit the bounding box.
• rotate — 'N' (none), 'R' (90° CW), 'L' (90° CCW), 'I' (180°). Combines with BaseObject.rotation; most use cases want one or the other, not both.
• padding — quiet-zone size around the symbol, in module widths.
• includetext — show the human-readable text alongside the symbol. 1D only; 2D barcodes ignore.
• textsize, textyoffset — fine-tune the human-readable text.
• eclevel — error-correction level. Applies to qrcode, microqr, azteccode, gs1qrcode. 'L' (7%), 'M' (15%, default), 'Q' (25%), 'H' (30%).
• version — force a specific QR / Data Matrix / PDF417 size. Most callers should omit and let bwip-js pick.
• rows, columns — PDF417 and Data Matrix layout hints.

For any option not listed here, set it directly in the serialised .label JSON's options object — core passes unknown keys through. The bwip-js option reference lists every knob per format.

Colour routing

Barcode colour follows the same rules as every other object. color is a CSS string; the render pipeline routes the barcode to a printer plane via PrinterCapabilities.cssMatch. Practical guidance:

• Keep barcodes #000000 on white background unless you've tested with your target scanner. Red-on-white has measurably lower scanning reliability than black-on-white.
• Avoid opacity < 1.0 on barcodes — the dithering in the 1bpp pipeline will break most scanners.
• 2D barcodes (QR, Aztec, Data Matrix) tolerate imperfect rendering better than 1D — built-in error correction absorbs a few damaged modules.

See Colour model for the full matching rules.