Why You Should Add 2D Barcodes to Your Forms & Labels

Barcodes are like snowflakes. They’re pretty, they’re unique, but it’s probably not a good idea to get one tattooed anywhere on your body. But, you should definitely add 2D Barcodes to forms & labels for your business.

Now, 2D barcodes – those are really cool. Barcodes like the QR code and the PDF417 have been growing in popularity over the last five years or so. They are most commonly found on assembly lines, packages & shipments, and even the occasional marketing campaign. There are several kinds of 2D barcodes for many different applications, and you’d be surprised what kinds of problems 2D barcodes can solve.

2D barcodes aren’t just for high value items and business cards. If you’ve needed to add more data to your forms and labels, a 2D barcode could be the solution. Here are three reasons why you should add 2D barcodes to your business’ forms and labels.

1. 2D Barcodes Encode More Data than 1D Barcodes

1D barcodes can only hold 20-25 characters. That may work in some instances, but If you wanted to encode more information onto a form or label, a regular 1D barcode is not going to cut it. When designing a label or form, it doesn’t take long to run out of space. When you need to add more information to your business documents, but space is at a premium, a little 2D barcode is often the perfect solution.

Some 2D barcodes can hold over 3,000 characters. That’s enough to fit the entire Gettysburg address! But, there are several kinds of 2D barcodes, and every barcode’s data capacity varies. Here are four of the more popular barcodes and their character thresholds.

Here are three reasons why you should consider adding 2D barcodes to your labels and forms.

Aztec Code

The Aztec code is another public domain barcode. The Aztec is useful for forms because it uses less space than other matrix barcodes as it does not require a surrounding blank “quiet zone”.

Data Capacity
3830 characters

2. 2D Barcodes Have Better Scanning Capabilities

Where do your forms and labels go every day? it can be extremely easy for labels and forms to get torn, rained on, or damaged in some irreparable way. Fora standard barcode, a little a damage is a death sentence. And that can cause hiccups in your company’s day to day operations. Customer service may need to find the right form and resend. Or they’ll need to mail another return label to a customer. They may be small tasks, but they can add up. And, all those problems can be alleviated by replacing 1D barcodes with 2D barcodes.

2D barcodes are much more durable. Versus regular barcodes, 2D barcodes can be scanned even if they’ve been partially torn, crumpled, or warped from being rained on. Unfortunately for regular barcodes, if just one bar gets removed, or if a mark winds up on the barcode, the barcode is unscannable. This can cause a plethora of issues including data entry errors,