Zint: Manual

Table of Contents

1: Introduction 2: Installation 3: Using GUI 4: Using CLI 5: Using API 6: Symbologies
6.1: One-Dimensional symbols 6.2: Stacked symbologies 6.3: Composite symbols (ISO 24723) 6.4: Two-Track symbols 6.5: 4-State Postal Codes 6.6: Two-Dimensional symbols 6.7: Other Barcode-Like Markings
7: Legal & Version Info A: Character Encoding B: Footnotes

7. Legal Information

7.1 License

Zint, libzint and Zint Barcode Studio are Copyright © 2022 Robin Stuart. All historical versions are distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later. Versions 2.5 and later are released under a dual license: the encoding library is released under the BSD (3 clause) license whereas the GUI, Zint Barcode Studio, and the CLI are released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later.

Telepen is a trademark of SB Electronic Systems Ltd.

QR Code is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated.

Mailmark is a registered trademark of Royal Mail Group Ltd.

Microsoft, Windows and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

Mac and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The Zint logo derived from “SF Planetary Orbiter” font by ShyFoundary

Zint.org.uk website design and hosting provided by Robert Elliott.

7.2 Patent Issues

All of the code in Zint is developed using information in the public domain, usually freely available on the Internet. Some of the techniques used may be subject to patents and other intellectual property legislation. It is my belief that any patents involved in the technology underlying symbologies utilised by Zint are ‘unadopted’, that is the holder does not object to their methods being used.

Any methods patented or owned by third parties or trademarks or registered trademarks used within Zint or in this document are and remain the property of their respective owners and do not indicate endorsement or affiliation with those owners, companies or organisations.

7.3 Version Information

The current stable version of Zint is 2.11.0, released on 24th May 2022.

See "ChangeLog" in the project root directory for information on all releases.

7.4 Sources of Information

Below is a list of some of the sources used in rough chronological order:

  • Nick Johnson’s Barcode Specifications
  • Bar Code 1 Specification Source Page
  • SB Electronic Systems Telepen website
  • Pharmacode specifications from Laetus
  • Morovia RM4SCC specification
  • Australia Post’s ‘A Guide to Printing the 4-State Barcode’ and bcsample source code
  • Plessey algorithm from GNU-Barcode v0.98 by Leonid A. Broukhis
  • GS1 General Specifications v 8.0 Issue 2
  • PNG: The Definitive Guide and wpng source code by Greg Reolofs
  • PDF417 specification and pdf417 source code by Grand Zebu
  • Barcode Reference, TBarCode/X User Documentation and TBarCode/X demonstration program from Tec-It
  • IEC16022 source code by Stefan Schmidt et al
  • United States Postal Service Specification USPS-B-3200
  • Adobe Systems Incorporated Encapsulated PostScript File Format Specification
  • BSI Online Library
  • Libdmtx Data Matrix ECC200 decoding library

7.5 Standards Compliance

Zint was developed to provide compliance with the following British and international standards:

7.5.1 Symbology Standards

  • ISO/IEC 24778:2008 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Aztec Code bar code symbology specification
  • ANSI/AIM BC12-1998 - Uniform Symbology Specification Channel Code
  • BS EN 798:1996 Bar coding - Symbology specifications - ‘Codabar’
  • AIM Europe ISS-X-24 - Uniform Symbology Specification Codablock-F (1995)
  • ISO/IEC 15417:2007 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Code 128 bar code symbology specification
  • BS EN 12323:2005 AIDC technologies - Symbology specifications - Code 16K
  • ISO/IEC 16388:2007 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Code 39 bar code symbology specification
  • ANSI/AIM BC6-2000 - Uniform Symbology Specification Code 49
  • ANSI/AIM BC5-1995 - Uniform Symbology Specification Code 93
  • AIM Uniform Symbology Specification Code One (1994)
  • ISO/IEC 16022:2006 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Data Matrix ECC200 bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 21471:2020 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Extended rectangular data matrix (DMRE) bar code symbology specification
  • AIM TSC1705001 (v 4.0 Draft 0.15) - Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Bar code symbology specification - DotCode (Revised 28th May 2019)
  • ISO/IEC 15420:2009 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - EAN/UPC bar code symbology specification
  • AIMD014 (v 1.63) - Information technology, Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Bar code symbology specification - Grid Matrix (Released 9th Dec 2008)
  • ISO/IEC 24723:2010 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - GS1 Composite bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 24724:2011 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - GS1 DataBar bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 20830:2021 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Han Xin Code bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 16390:2007 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Interleaved 2 of 5 bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 16023:2000 Information technology - International symbology specification - MaxiCode
  • ISO/IEC 24728:2006 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - MicroPDF417 bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 15438:2015 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - PDF417 bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 18004:2015 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - QR Code bar code symbology specification
  • ISO/IEC 23941:2022 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques - Rectangular Micro QR Code (rMQR) bar code symbology specification
  • AIMD/TSC15032-43 (v 0.99c) - International Technical Specification - Ultracode Symbology (Draft) (Released 4th Nov 2015)

A number of other specification documents have also been referenced, such as MIL-STD-1189 Rev. B (1989) (LOGMARS), USPS DMM 300 2006 (2011) (POSTNET, PLANET, FIM) and USPS-B-3200 (2015) (IMAIL). Those not named include postal and delivery company references in particular.

7.5.2 General Standards

  • AIM ITS/04-001 International Technical Standard - Extended Channel Interpretations Part 1: Identification Schemes and Protocol (Released 24th May 2004)
  • AIM ITS/04-023 International Technical Standard - Extended Channel Interpretations Part 3: Register (Version 2, February 2022)
  • GS1 General Specifications Release 22.0 (Jan 2022)
  • ANSI/HIBC 2.6-2016 - The Health Industry Bar Code (HIBC) Supplier Labeling Standard