DataMatrix PCL Scalable Font (V5) User Guide

This is excerpt. For the full text, download PCL datamatrix kit and open the PDF file included.

The design of DataMatrix font was substantially changed in version 5. The font is not compatible with early version encoders. Always use the encoder that comes with the fonts in the same package.

In order to print a valid barcode, you must call DataMatrix encoder to get the barcode string and output the barcode string, not the number itself. You should also select a font size optimal to your printer. This guide assumed that you already understand the topic. See the product manual for the detailed information on this topic.

The PCL scalable font, like its true type cousin, scales linearly at both horizontal and vertical dimensions. For example, mrvdatamatrix5.sft produces symbols with X dimension at 20 mils when printed at 6 points. It will produce barcodes twice larger at 12 points.

For applications to use a soft font, the font must be sent to the printer first. This process is called downloading. The font only needs to be sent once, and will reside in the printer for all the time until a power recycle happens. When your application needs to print the barcode, it sends a special command to switch from the default font to the barcode font. This is called selecting font. After the font is selected, you send the full barcode string (which includes start character, data, checksum and stop character) to printer. At last, you send a PCL command to tell printer to switch back to the default font.

For more information, download the PCL kit and try the test files under included.

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This article applies to product DataMatrix Fonts & Encoder 5.
The current version is 5.2.2.

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