Barcode Label Solutions Blog

Barcode 101: Elements of a Barcode

Posted by Susan Fields

Barcode 101 Continued...Elements of a Barcode

Bar/Space Patterns
These are the wide and narrow black bars and whites spaces contained in the bar code.

Bar and Space Pattern

Inter-Character Gap
In some bar codes, like Code 39 (same as Code 3 of 9), each character is printed independently of other characters. These characters are not meant to be read as one coherent line and are therefore separated by what's called an inter-character gap.


Intercharacter Gap

When exaggerated, you can see the elements for each character and the inter-gap that separates the characters.


Exaggerated Intercharacter Gap 

Tags: barcodes, barcode 101, barcode symbologies