Konica Minolta Darwin VDP Software - Manual (Page 12)

Page 12 of 92
T EC - I T B a r c o d e So f t w a re R e f e re n c e
Figure 7: Quiet Zone
4.4 Print Ratio and Ratio Format
The print ratio (the bar/width ratio) is the width relationship of all elements of a barcode – with
respect to the smallest element. TEC-IT Software allows fine-tuning of the print ratio by supporting
three parameters:
 Print ratio
The read/write property
Ratio is used to adjust the print ratio. The value of this property has
to comply with the ratio format.
 Format of ratio
The read-only property
RatioHint shows the format (syntax) of the print ratio setting. It is
intended as a hint for the programmer or user.
 Default print ratio
The read-only property
RatioDefault contains the default print ratio for the selected barcode
symbology. It most cases the default ratio is the best choice for printing the barcode.
Figure 8: Print Ratio
Example:
The picture above shows a barcode with 4 different bar widths and 4 different space widths.
Because TEC-IT software maintains the print ratio of bars and spaces separately, the ratio format is
composed as follows:1B:2B:3B:4B:1S:2S:3S:4S.
The first four values (1B:2B:3B:4B) refer to the 4 different widths of the B ars, the second four values
(1S:2S:3S:4S) refer to the 4 different widths of the S paces. The numbers in the ratio hint (e.g. 1B
stands for the smallest bar, 2B for the bar with the next larger width and so on) are only used to
denote the order
– they have no meaning with respect to the ratio itself.
Now set a new print ratio value. This string must be formatted according to the ratio format, but
without the letters: A value of “1:3:5:
7.3 :1:3:5:7.3” for the Ratio indicates that the width of the widest
bar ( 4B ) is 7.3 times the width of the smallest bar (7.3:1).
Ratio Format Specifier Description
nB The ratio of bar-width n with respect to the width of the smallest bar (bar-width 1)
nS The ratio of space-width n with respect to space-width 1 (smallest space)
1T This is specific to the symbology “Plessey Bidirectional”. It denotes the ratio of the width of
the terminator bar 1 to bar-width 1
nC This is specific to the symbology “Pharmacode”. It denotes the ratio of the width of color-bar n
to the width of the smallest bar
Table 3: Print Ratio Adjustment