Using a barcode font to generate barcodes

EasyCatalog supports EAN13 and EAN8 barcodes through the use of a free barcode font. The latest version of EasyCatalog now offers a barcode field type, which is now the preferred method for generating barcodes.

EasyCatalog that can take the 7/8 or 12/13 character EAN code and convert it into the necessary glyphs for the font, using a custom field:

  • Right click in the centre of the panel
  • Use the โ€œNew Custom Fieldโ€ menu option
  • Give the new field a name at the top of the dialog that appears
  • In the โ€˜Contentsโ€™ area, enter

EAN13 barcodes:

EAN8 barcodes:

(replace โ€˜myfieldnamehereโ€™ with the name of the field that contains the EAN8 or EAN13 code)

  • OK the dialog

Your EasyCatalog panel should now contain a new field: insert this field into the document and apply the EanBwrP36Tt font, which can be downloaded from here.

NOTE

Presentation of the barcode requires that attributes that can affect character spacing are not applied to the barcode glyphs in the document.ย  Ensure that the following attributes are not applied to the barcode text:

  • Kerning (ensure โ€˜Metricsโ€™ kerning type is used)
  • Tracking
  • Horizontal Scale
  • Stroke weight on the glyphs should also be set to 0pt

Ensure that the โ€˜languageโ€™ applied to the characters in the document is set to โ€œ[No Language]โ€. This is to prevent single quotes that may appear in the barcode glyph sequence being converted to typographerโ€™s/smart quotes. This setting can be found on InDesignโ€™s โ€œCharacterโ€ panel.