We earn commission when you buy through affiliate links.
This does not influence our reviews or recommendations.Learn more.
Want to track your inventory efficiently and in an error-free way?
Wish to automate your businesss procurement system?
In fact, technology businesses are developing new versions of it by referencing the basic ones.
yo continue reading to find more on barcodes, their usage, and more.
What Is a Barcode?
A barcode, consisting of bars and spaces, is a machine-readable representation of numerals and characters.
These images contain black lines and white spaces.
The black lines are usually parallel with pre-programmed white spaces between them.
Such placement of black and white colors could resemble the concept behindMorse Codes.
The fact is, Morse Codes were the basis for the invention of barcode technology.
Barcodes usually contain digits and alphabets.
The length of the data depends on its convention.
For example, the Industrial 2 of 5 barcode systems can have 2 to 30 characters.
How Does Barcode Work?
The working principle behind barcodes is the shape and width of the black parallel lines.
Different width of black bars generally represents the numerics 1 and 0.
The pattern of the black bars and their corresponding data depends on the convention of the barcode system.
Now, all you should probably do is scan the barcode.
For scanning, specialized equipment is fixed with laser light, usually red and green.
Inside the scanner is an optical to a digital signal converter that reads incoming laser.
When you flash the laser on a barcode, the signal converter scans a reflected part of the laser.
Google Sheets come with the related formulas, fonts, and printing properties to produce mass barcodes.
Excel Barcodes
Excel Barcodes are similar to any other barcodes that businesses use.
Many businesses make robust barcoding systems with Excel.
Invoices come with pre-printed barcodes.
At every checkpoint of a mail article movement, postpersons scan the barcode.
Thereby, you get article tracking information.
Businesses often use barcodes in amail mergeto send bulk product information emails to vendors or clients.
The hospital revenue cycle management system generates a barcode when you admit a patient.
The hospital staff then gives a wristband with the barcode to the patient.
The RCM will then automatically manage the ledger of the patient.
When carefully created and tagged, Excel barcodes are highly accurate for tracking and managing physical articles.
You do not need to train the employees separately on a new app.
When you use an Excel barcode system, scanned data instantly becomes available in your Excel file.
Employees do not need to invest time in importing scanned data to Excel.
However, if there are no such fonts, you’re able to download one fromDafont.
Feel free to use any other website you like.
You may want to purchase a barcode font with business licensing for commercial purposes.
Once downloaded, go through this:
#1.Open Excel and create two column headers:Product IDandBarcode.
Copy this cell (B2) and paste it below up to 10 to 20 rows per your requirement.
#6.Increase the font size of the Barcode column to get printable barcodes.
So far, you have learned about barcodes and the manual creation of Excel barcodes.
you’re free to download the add-in for free.
Once downloaded, drop in the add-in to Excel and Word for barcoding tasks.
In Word, it will help you generate barcodes for mailing and mail merges.
you’re able to also print out barcodes in Word and paste them as stickers on products.
In Excel, the same add-in lets you generate barcodes in bulk and print.
The add-in is suitable for Microsoft Office 2007 and later versions.
you might use the add-in on both Windows 32-bit and Windows 64-bit computers.
However, the add-in is not compatible with non-Windows desktops or laptops.
The SDK also supports programming automation with Microsoft Access.
ActiveBarcode: Add-In for Excel
Yet another popular barcode add-in for Excel isActiveBarcode.
ActiveBarcode is good for backward compatibility for Microsoft Office.
you’re able to set up the add-in to Microsoft Office versions as old as 2000.
All the latest Microsoft versions are also supported.
Also, you will need a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows PC.
The add-in is not compatible with macOS computers.
Key features of this add-in are:
The barcoding add-in easily integrates with various types of Excel tables.
you’re able to also automate the barcode production by linking it to cells.
When the cell data changes, the barcode changes as well.
Barcode Software: ConnectCode
Barcode Softwareis a standalone app for Windows 10 and 11 computers.
Microsoft Store hosts the app for free downloading.
The app runs as any other Windows app that you use regularly.
But, the principal difference is Barcode Software app will send the barcode data to an Excel file.
Hence, you will need Excel software to use this app.
The barcoding app comes with 3 built-in barcode fonts.
These are:
Therefore, you could only create barcodes of the above 3 standards.
you’ve got the option to not create barcodes in other formats likeUPCor EAN.
Hence, this is a good app if your business supports the above three barcode standards.
Once set up correctly, you’re able to generate barcodes in bulk with a single click.
The tool comes in different types of commercial licenses.
Therefore, if you want a licensed tool for unlimited commercial usage, you may look at this app.
Key tool highlights are:
The tool has been compatible with any version of Microsoft Office from 2007 onwards.
Moreover, you’re free to export your barcodes to the Microsoft Word app.
Sometimes, tech-savvy people find it a way of data communication in codes that simple eyes can not understand.
you’re able to use Excel barcodes or Google Sheets barcodes by creating them manually.
Suppose you do not want any commercial apps.
Since you liked this article, you may findExcel Add-Ins for SMBsand Google Sheets add-ons interesting.