C# Barcode How-to Tutorials
PM > Install-Package OnBarcode.Barcode.Generator
C# How to: Get Started
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Data Encoding
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Color & Image Setting
Barcode Properties
Create Barcode through URL
Tutorials for .NET Projects
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QR Code Generator
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2D Barcode in C#
Data Matrix
PDF-417
1D Barcodes (23) in C#
Code 39
Code 128
EAN-13
GS1-128
UPC-A

C# QR Code Generator Library SDK

How to create, print QR Code in C# ASP.NET, MVC, Windows applications?

Generate 2d barcode QR Code images in Visual C# .NET with complete sample C# source code

In this C# tutorial, you will learn how to generate, encode QR Code barcode images in ASP.NET, WinForms, WPF applications using C#.NET.

Support ISO / IEC 18004 standard
Easy to convert numbers, ASCII chars, Unicode text and GS1 business message to QR Code using C#
Generate QR Code barcode with customizable dimension size
Customized color setting on QR Code and support full transparent background color
Simple to split large data message, and encode them into multiple QR Code barcodes
Quick to encode international text characters using byte array or ECI encoding
Easy to create and embed QR Code barcode in web pages, Windows image controller, Crystal Reports, SSRS reports and RDLC reports
Support .NET 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, .NET Standard 2.0, .NET Core 3.1, 2.1, and .NET Framework 4.x, 3.x, 2.x
Easy to integrate into your ASP.NET Core, MVC, ASP.NET Framework, WinForms, WPF

How to create QR Code barcodes in ASP.NET and Windows application using C#

Download .NET QR Code Barcode Generator SDK
Install C# library to create QR Code images in .NET projects
Step by Step Tutorial

QR Code barcode, also known as Denso Barcode, QRCode, Quick Response Code, is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The "QR" is derived from "Quick Response", as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

C# QR Code Generator library is one of the supported barcode formats in OnBarcode's C# Barcode library Generation Controls, which supports generating & printing QR Code and 20+ other linear & 2D bar codes for C# applications.

Download & Install QR Code Generator Library

Before we start our tutorial, you need download and install OnBarcode C# QR Code Generator library.

You can easily install the library through NuGet

PM > Install-Package OnBarcode.Barcode.Generator

Or download the free trial package with QR Code library DLLs into your computer. Click here to start download.

Quick to Generate QR Code using C#

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Using C# Barcode Generator library, you can easily generate QR Code symbols in your ASP.NET, MVC, WinForms, WPF .NET web and desktop applications. After you have installed the C# barcode library into your .net project, you will quickly generate a QR Code in the C# code.

Create a new QRCode object
Set the QR Code data message to property Data
Call method drawBarcode() to draw and print QR Code to a PNG image file

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();
            barcode.Data = "https://www.onbarcode.com";
            barcode.drawBarcode("C://Output//qrcode-sample.png");

Print QR Code in MemoryStream object

Call method drawBarcode() to export, print QR Code to a MemoryStream object. You can further process the memory object in your C# application.

            Stream barcodeInStream = new MemoryStream();
            barcode.drawBarcode(barcodeInStream);

Now we have generated the first QR Code in the C# program successfully. Here we will learn more about QR Code generation in C#.

QR Code data encoding and data mode
QR Code dimension width and height customization
QR Code advanced text encoding (including ASCII non-printable chars, Unicode text)
QR Code advanced data format encoding (GS1 data elements)

How to Convert Text Characters to QR Code using C#?

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QR Code encodable character set

QR Code supports the following data formats :

Numbers (digits 0-9)
ASCII characters (plain text). View details here: ASCII table
Unicode text
Byte data (default: ISO/IEC 8859-1; or other sets as otherwise defined)
Kanji characters. Kanji characters in QR Code can be compacted into 13 bits.

QR Code Data Mode

To encode the QR Code data text efficiently, QR Code will analyze the input data string, and select the right data modes combinations.

In QR Code generator C# library, there are five data mode options: Auto, Numeric, AlphaNumeric, Byte, Kanji.

QRCodeDataMode.Auto : The data modes will be automatically selected by barcode library
QRCodeDataMode.Numeric : For numbers (digits 0 - 9)
QRCodeDataMode.AlphaNumeric : alphanumeric data (digits 0 - 9; upper case letters A -Z; nine other characters: space, $ % * + - . / : )
QRCodeDataMode.Byte : byte data (default: ISO/IEC 8859-1; or other sets as otherwise defined)
QRCodeDataMode.Kanji : Kanji characters. Kanji characters in QR Code can be compacted into 13 bits.

In C# class, if you set the DataMode property value to QRCodeDataMode.Auto, C# QR Code generator sdk will choose the best data encoding modes for you.

            /*
                QRCodeDataMode.Numeric: for numeric QR Code data
                QRCodeDataMode.AlphaNumeric: for alphanumeric QR Code data
                QRCodeDataMode.Byte: for byte array QR Code data
                QRCodeDataMode.Kanji: for Kanji characters QR Code data
             */

            barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Auto;

Maximum data length in QR Code

Maximum data characters per QR Code symbol with Version 40-L

numeric data: 7,089 characters
alphanumeric data: 4,296 characters
byte data: 2,953 characters
Kanji data: 1,817 characters

How to Create QR Code with various Text formats using C#?

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Create QR Code with ASCII non-printing characters using C#

When we are creating QR Code with ASCII text data, there are several special (control) characters which do not have character labels. Here we will instruct how to encode these non-printing ASCII characters into QR Code using C# QR Code Generator library.

Key property settings to encode non printable characters '[CR]' (Carriage Return) using QR Code C# barcode generator library:

ProcessTilde : Set value to true, to enable '~' in data message.

DataMode: It should be QRCodeDataMode.Auto

Data: The non printable character should be converted to three digits (in ASCII value)

Sample C# source code to encode non printable chars '[CR]' (Carriage Return) in QR Code

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();

            //  It could encode non-printable chars by converting char ascii value to THREE digits, in format "~ddd",
            //  Set ProcessTilde to true to enable this feature.
            barcode.Data = "~013"; // char '[CR]' or carriage return   
            barcode.ProcessTilde = true;

            barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Auto;

            barcode.drawBarcode("W://Projects//Test-Output//OnBarcode.com//csharp-qrcode-mode-non-print.png");

Encode Unicode text in QR Code barcode using C#

QR Code barcode does not support international text (Unicode text) by default. If you need encode Arabic, Greek, Thai text. There are two solutions for you.

Convert internation text to byte array using UTF-8 encode, and generate QR Code using byte mode
Use ECI to encode international text in QR Code barcode

Here we will explain how to create QR Code with Unicode text encoded using C# QR Code library.

Key property settings to encode international characters in QR Code C# barcode generator library:

ProcessTilde : Set value to true, to enable '~' in data message.
DataMode: It should be QRCodeDataMode.Byte
Data: The non-English text should be converted to byte array using UTF8 encoding.

Sample C# source code to encode Thai Text in QR Code barcode

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();

            //  It may encode any Unicode characters after converting them to bytes in UTF-8 encode.
            //  And then, use Byte encodation to encode these byte data.
            String message = "สวัสดี";
            byte[] bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(message);
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            foreach (byte b in bytes)
                sb.Append("~" + b.ToString().PadLeft(3, '0'));
            barcode.Data = sb.ToString();
            barcode.ProcessTilde = true;

            barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Byte;

            barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Test-Output//OnBarcode.com//csharp-qrcode-mode-thai.png");

Generate GS1 QR Code images with GS1 data message encoded using C#

GS1 QR Code barcode is a standalone, two-dimensional matrix symbology that is made up of square modules arranged in an overall square pattern, including a unique finder pattern located at three corners of the symbol.

In QR Code generator C# library, there are two key properties to create GS1 QR Code.

FNC1: Value should be "FNC1.FNC1_1ST_POS"
Data: GS1 data should be pair of Application Identifier code (AI code) and data message (AI data), and AI code should be surrounded by parentheses.

Sample C# source code to encode GS1 QR Code barcode

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();

            //  It could encode GS1 element(s) by inserting a FNC1 symbol before all data characters.
            //  Each element contains a GS1 prefix (in parentheses) and fixed (or variable) length data content.
            //  Set FNC1 to FNC1.FNC1_1ST_POS to enable this feature.
            barcode.Data = "(17)050101(10)ABC123";
            barcode.FNC1 = FNC1.FNC1_1ST_POS;

            barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Auto;


            barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Test-Output//OnBarcode.com//csharp-qrcode-mode-gs1.png");

Create QR Code with binary data encode using C#

Most of the 2d barcode symbologies (including QR Code) supports binary data encoding. Using C# Barcode library, you can easily create QR Code images with binary data encoded using C#.

You can find the detailed C# sample code here How to create 2d barcode with binary data encode using C#?

Encode Japanese (Kanji) text in QR Code barcode using C#

Key property settings to encode Kanji characters in QR Code C# barcode generator library:

ProcessTilde : Set value to true, to enable '~' in data message.

DataMode: It should be QRCodeDataMode.Kanji

Sample C# source code to encode Japanese (Kanji) text in QR Code barcode.

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();

            //  Kanji mode encodes Kanji characters defined in JIS X 0208 and valid character values are in the ranges
            //  0x8140 ~ 0x9FFC and 0xE040 ~ 0xEBBF. Each character (SJIS value) should be represented in format "~9ddddd",
            //  which "ddddd" is a decimal number in ranges 33088 (0x8140) ~ 40956 (0x9FFC) and 57408 (0xE040) ~ 60351 (0xEBBF).
            //  ProcessTilde must be enable to support this feature.
            barcode.Data = "~937727~958538";    //  0x935F0xE4AA - "点茗"
            barcode.ProcessTilde = true;

            barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Kanji;


            barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Test-Output//OnBarcode.com//csharp-qrcode-mode-kanji.png");

Create and Customize QR Code Image Dimension Size in C#

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QR Code image dimension size in C#

Using C# QR Code Generator library, you can print QR Code with customized dimension size through property BarcodeWidth

Set property BarcodeWidth to create a square QR Code with width size applied.

QRCode barcode = new QRCode();
barcode.Data = "https://www.onbarcode.com";
barcode.BarcodeWidth = 200;
barcode.drawBarcode("C://Output//qrcode-dimension-size.png");

Quiet Zone

Four sides on the QR Code barcode should be surrounded by quiet zones.

View details at About QR Code quiet zone

Using C#, you can set quiet zones for QR Code using the following four properties:

LeftMargin
RightMargin
TopMargin
BottomMargin

            barcode.LeftMargin = 50;
            barcode.RightMargin = 50;
            barcode.TopMargin = 50;
            barcode.BottomMargin = 50;

How to print QR Code with customized Colors and Image options using C#?

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Using C# QR Code Generator library, you can easily create, print QR Code with colors, image options customized in C# program.

Create a new QRCode object
Customize QR Code bar and space colors through ForeColor (bar color) and BackColor (space color) properties in C# class.
Call drawBarcode() method to draw and print QR Code to an image file or in memory

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();
            barcode.Data = "OnBarcode.com";

            barcode.ForeColor = Color.Red;
            barcode.BackColor = Color.White;

            barcode.drawBarcode("C://Output//qrcode-colors.png");

You can also easy to create high resolution QR Code images for printing, or create QR Code image with tranparency background in C#.
You can find all details here : How to create, customize QR Code and barcode images in C# ASP.NET, Windows applications?

How to create, print QR Code with options in C# ASP.NET, Windows project?

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QR Code error correction mode using C#

Four levels of Reed-Solomon error correction (referred to as L, M, Q and H in increasing order of capacity) allowing recovery of the QR Code barcode data.

L: 7% (default)
M: 15%
Q: 25%
H: 30%

Using QR Code generator C# library, you shall set QR Code error correction mode through property "ECL". The default value is QRCodeECL.L. Here is the sample C# source code.

            QRCode barcode = new QRCode();

            barcode.Data = "QR Code";
            barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Auto;

            /*
             QRCode Error Correction Level. Default is QRCodeECL.L (0).
                    QRCodeECL.L (0)
                    QRCodeECL.M (1)
                    QRCodeECL.Q (2)
                    QRCodeECL.H (3) 
             * 
             */
            barcode.ECL = QRCodeECL.M;

QR Code Version in C#

There are forty sizes of QR Code barcode referred to as Version 1, Version 2 ... Version 40.

View details at How to set QR Code Versions

Using C# QR Code generator, you shall set property Version with 40 options, from QRCodeVersion.V1 to QRCodeVersion.V40.

            //  Selecte format mode
            //  from V1 to V40
            barcode.Version = QRCodeVersion.V3;

QR Code Structured Append mode using C#

A large QR Code data message can be divided and stored in up to 16 QR Code barcodes in a QR Code structured format mode.

In QR Code generator C# library, to implement Structured Append feature, you should apply the following property options :

StructuredAppend: Set value to true, to enable Structured Append mode in QR Code
SymbolCount: Total number of symbols for one QR Code data message
SymbolIndex: The position of current symbol in the sequence (The first symbol index is 0)

            barcode.StructuredAppend = true;
            barcode.SymbolCount = 3; // The data message will be stored in three QR Code barcodes
            barcode.SymbolIndex = 0; // This symbol is the first one

QR Code FNC1 in first position

This QR Code FNC1 mode indicator identifies the current QR Code encoding data formatted according to the GS1 Application Identifiers standard.

To enable this mode using C# QR Code generator library, you need apply the following property in the C# source code.

Set property FNC1 with value FNC1.FNC1_1ST_POS

QRCode barcode = new QRCode();
barcode.FNC1 = FNC1.FNC1_1ST_POS;

QR Code Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI) mode in C#

The Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI) protocol defined in the AIM Inc. ECI allows the output data stream to have interpretations different from that of the default character set.

The default interpretation for QR Code is ECI 000003 representing the ISO/IEC 8859-1 character set.

In QR Code generator C# library, to change encoding character set using ECI, you need apply the following property:

ECI: Six digits ECI value for the new character set defined by the AIM. For example: 000013 for ISO/IEC 8859-11

ProcessTilde: Set the ProcessTilde property to true. You need convert new character data to byte array.

Complete C# sample code to encode Thai text in QR Code barcode, using ECI.

QRCode barcode = new QRCode();
//  Set to Byte mode
barcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.Byte;

//  Use ECI 000013 (ISO/IEC 8859-11) for 8-bit data bytes.
barcode.ECI = 13;

//  Set flag to enable '~' in data message.
barcode.ProcessTilde = true;

//  ISO/IEC 8859-11 Latin/Thai alphabet
//  Byte values from 0xA0 to 0xFF are used for Thai characters.
//  Eg. ก - 0xA1 - 161
barcode.Data = "~161";

barcode.drawBarcode(@"C:\QRCode_ECI000013.png");

Tutorials: How to Create, Print QR Codes in C# .NET Projects?

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Creating QR-Code barcode in C# class example

   using System;
   using System.Collections.Generic;
   using System.Text;
   using OnBarcode.Barcode;
   using System.Drawing.Imaging;
   using System.Drawing;


   QRCode qrcode = new QRCode();

   // Barcode data to encode
   qrcode.Data = "ONBARCODE";
   // QR-Code data mode
   qrcode.DataMode = QRCodeDataMode.AlphaNumeric;
   // QR-Code format mode
   //qrcode.Version = QRCodeVersion.V10;

   /*
   * Barcode Image Related Settings
   */
   // Unit of meature for all size related setting in the library. 
   qrcode.UOM = UnitOfMeasure.PIXEL;
   // Bar module size (X), default is 3 pixel;
   qrcode.X = 3;
   // Barcode image left, right, top, bottom margins. Defaults are 0.
   qrcode.LeftMargin = 0;
   qrcode.RightMargin = 0;
   qrcode.TopMargin = 0;
   qrcode.BottomMargin = 0;
   // Image resolution in dpi, default is 72 dpi.
   qrcode.Resolution = 72;
   // Created barcode orientation.
   //4 options are: facing left, facing right, facing bottom, and facing top
   qrcode.Rotate = Rotate.Rotate0;

   // Generate QR-Code and encode barcode to gif format
   qrcode.ImageFormat = System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Gif;
   qrcode.drawBarcode("C:\\qrcode.gif");

   /*
   You can also call other drawing methods to generate barcodes
             
   public void drawBarcode(Graphics graphics);
    
   public void drawBarcode(string filename);
    
   public Bitmap drawBarcode();
    
   public void drawBarcode(Stream stream);
             
   */

Creating QR-Code barcode in ASP.NET MVC web applications

Under demo package, copy barcode folder and its contents to your IIS, and create a new virtual directory.

Restart IIS, navigate to http://YourDomain:Port/barcode/qrcode.aspx?DATA=0123456789.

To create barcode QR-Code image in html or aspx pages, you can insert a image tag (img) into your page.
For example, <img src="http://YourDomain:Port/barcode/qrcode.aspx?DATA=0123456789" />

We have also provided a complete step by step tutorial on How to create QR Code in C# ASP.NET Core web app?

Creating QR-Code using ASP.NET Barcode Controller

Add OnBarcode.Barcode.ASPNET.dll to asp.net project reference.

Add .NET Barcode to .NET Visual Studio Toolbox.

Right click .NET Visual Studio Toolbox, select menu Choose Items...

In "Choose Toolbox Items" form, click button "Browse...", and select dll OnBarcode.Barcode.ASPNET.dll.

After selection, you will find four items under "Components" section: LinearWebForm, DataMatrixWebForm, PDF417WebForm, and QRCodeWebForm.

Creating QR-Code in C#.NET WinForms Windows Application

Add OnBarcode.Barcode.WinForms.dll to .net project reference.

Add .NET Barcode to .NET Visual Studio Toolbox.

Right click .NET Visual Studio Toolbox, select menu Choose Items...

In "Choose Toolbox Items" form, click button "Browse...", and select dll OnBarcode.Barcode.WinForms.dll.

After selection, you will find four items under "Components" section: LinearWinForm, DataMatrixWinForm, PDF417WinForm, and QRCodeWinForm.

QR Code Barcode Property Settings in C#.NET

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QR Code Data Options

Category

Properties

Value

Comments

Basic

Property: Data
URL: DATA

Type: string
Default: "QRCode"

Barcode value to encode

QRCode Valid Data Char Set:

numeric data (digits 0 - 9);
alphanumeric data (digits 0 - 9; upper case letters A -Z; nine other characters: space, $ % * + - . / : );
byte data (default: ISO/IEC 8859-1);
Kanji characters

QRCode
Special

Property: ProcessTilde
URL: PROCESS-TILDE

Type: bool
Default: true

Set the ProcessTilde property to true, if you want use the tilde character "~" to specify special characters in the input data. Default is true.

1-byte character: ~0dd/~1dd/~2dd (character value from 000 ~ 255); ASCII character '~' is presented by ~126
Strings from "~256" to "~299" are unused
2-byte character (Unicode): ~6ddddd (character value from 00000 ~ 65535)
Strings from "~665536" to "~699999" are unused
for GS1 AI Code:
~ai2: AI with 2 digits
~ai3: AI with 3 digits
~ai4: AI with 4 digits
~ai5: AI with 5 digits
~ai6: AI with 6 digits
~ai7: AI with 7 digits
ECI: ~7dddddd (valid value of dddddd from 000000 to 999999)
SJIS: from ~9ddddd (Shift JIS 0x8140 ~ 0x9FFC and 0xE040 ~ 0xEBBF)

Property: DataMode
URL: DATA-MODE

Type: QRCodeDataMode
Default: QRCodeDataMode.Auto (0)

QRCodeDataMode.Auto: It allows encoding all 256 possible 8-bit byte values. This includes all ASCII characters value from 0 to 127 inclusive and provides for international character set support
QRCodeDataMode.AlphaNumeric: It allows encoding alphanumeric data (digits 0 - 9; upper case letters A -Z; nine other characters: space, $ % * + - . / : ).
QRCodeDataMode.Byte: It allows encoding byte data (default: ISO/IEC 8859-1).
QRCodeDataMode.Numeric: It allows encoding numeric data (digits 0 - 9).
QRCodeDataMode.Kanji: It allows encoding Kanji characters.

Property: ECL
URL: ECL

Type: QRCodeECL
Default: QRCodeECL.L (0)

QRCode Error Correction Level. Default is QRCodeECL.L (0).

QRCodeECL.L (0)
QRCodeECL.M (1)
QRCodeECL.Q (2)
QRCodeECL.H (3)

Property: FNC1
URL: FNC1

Type: FNC1

Default: FNC1.
FNC1_NONE (0)

To encode GS1 compatible QR-Code barcode, you need set FNC1 value to FNC1.FNC1_1ST_POS (1).

Property: StructuredAppend
URL: STRUCTURED-APPEND

Type: bool
Default: false

Set StructuredAppend property to true, then Structured Append is enabled.

Property: SymbolCount
URL: SYMBOL-COUNT

Type: int
Default: 0

the number of total symbols which make the sequence.

Property: SymbolIndex
URL: SYMBOL-INDEX

Type: int
Default: 0

the position of current symbol in the secuence (Start with 0).

Property: Parity
URL: PARITY

Type: int
Default: 0

Property: Version
URL: VERSION

Type: QRCodeVersion
Default: QRCodeVersion.V1 (1).

Valid values are from V1 to V40.

Property: Logo

Type: System.Drawing.Bitmap
Default: null

A Bitmap object containing logo image

Property: LogoActualSize

Type: System.Drawing.SizeF

Logo displayed area on QR Code

QR Code Image Dimension Size, Color, Image related options

You can click here to view the QR Code image dimension size, color, Image related option in C#

Summary

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OnBarcode C# Barcode Generator makes it easy to generate, create QR Code and other linear & 2d barcodes in Microsoft Word.

OnBarcode provides several QR Code Generator components and software, including QR Code .NET, QR Code Java, QR Code VB.NET, QR Code ASP.NET, QR Code Excel, QR Code Word, QR Code Generator, Online QR Code Barcode Generator. This page is providing a detailed C# source code about generating QR Code barcodes in C# class using C# Barcode generation component.

In this page

Start with free trial package: