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All you need is a barcode font. This article explains about the different fonts available. Yes, crazy as it sounds, barcodes come in a variety of fonts.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/free-barcode-generator/" rel="ugc">http://www.online-tech-tip<wbr />s.com/comp<wbr />uter-tips/<wbr />free-barco<wbr />de-generat<wbr />or/</a>
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Hi folks,<br />
Thanks for response.<br />
The saga goes on!<br />
<br />
I installed barcode fonts from two of the above suggested sites.<br />
I create a word document and put a barcode in it. &nbsp;I printed the word document.<br />
So far so good.<br />
However, my scanner will NOT recognise these newly printed barcodes.<br />
<br />
MY scanner works fine on a separate barcode that was on a nearby household item.<br />
<br />
<b>WHY won't these barcodes get recognised?</b>
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What type of barcode scanner are you using? If it's an app on your phone, they may be using an industrial database of registered UPC codes (which is what is printed on household items). If your intent is to print a barcode on a product package, book, etc., you've got to go beyond just printing in barcode font.<br />
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You might want to start here: <a href="https://www.gs1us.org/" rel="ugc">https://www.gs1us.org/</a>
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Hi folks,<br />
Just an update from the raiser of the query.<br />
I needed to surround the data with asterisks or exclamation marks in order for the scanner to recognise the barcode.<br />
<br />
All works fine now.
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Thanks, all works well now.
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Glad you got the issue resolved, Padraig. I apologize for providing too much information.
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I use Microsoft Word<br />
I want to print a barcode which represents a simple 8 digit number.<br />
<br />
I appreciate that there are multiple protocols with barcode but I just want a very mainstream ordinary - out of the box - barcode.<br />
<br />
<b>Is it necessary (or easiest) for me to BUY additional software to achieve this?</b>
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I use Microsoft Word
I want to print a barcode which represents a simple 8 digit number.

I appreciate that there are multiple protocols with barcode but I just want a very mainstream ordinary - out of the box - barcode.

Is it necessary (or easiest) for me to BUY additional software to achieve this?

Microsoft Word - Barcodes - Do I need to buy additional software.

Microsoft Word is a commercial document editing program that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. It features numerous text-editing tools for creating richly formatted documents, along with tools for the use of macros in Word documents. Word's native file formats are denoted either by a .doc or .docx file extension. Plugins permitting the Windows versions of Word to read and write formats it does not natively support, such as the OpenDocument format (ODF) are available. Word can import and display images in common bitmap formats such as JPG and GIF. It can also be used to create and display simple line-art.