Download & install C# Barcode Generator library to .NET projects
TopInstall through NuGet
For .NET Core (Class library, Console, Windows Forms, WPF) apps on Windows
PM > Install-Package OnBarcode.Barcode.Generator
Download DLL
OnBarcode C# Barcode Generator Suite SDK trial version is free to download. You can manually download it here:
Download C# Barcode Generator Suite SDK trial version
Download C# Barcode Generator Suite SDK trial version
Install DLL
For .NET Core apps on Windows
You can view more detailed install guide here
How to install C# barcode nuget package or dll on your .NET 5+, Framework web and desktop applications?
We also have provided step by step barcode library setup tutorials for .NET projects.
- Add OnBarcode.Barcode.Common.dll and OnBarcode.Barcode.ASPNETCore.dll (for ASP.NET Core web streaming only) from folder "{downloaded package}/dll/NetStandard2.0/" to .NET project reference.
- You need manually add System.Drawing.Common from "NuGet Package Manager" to .NET Core project reference.
You can view more detailed install guide here
How to install C# barcode nuget package or dll on your .NET 5+, Framework web and desktop applications?
We also have provided step by step barcode library setup tutorials for .NET projects.
How to create barcodes in C# class using C# Barcode Generator library?
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Using C# barcode library, you can easily create, customize the barcode and save to a hard-copy of the image file, or print to memory for further processing.
Print a QR Code to an image file
Here we will see how to quickly generate a simple QR Code image file with 3 lines of C# code using OnBarcode C# Barcode Suite.
Here is the QR Code generated using the above C# codes.
Using C# Barcode library, you can easily generate and customize barcode and output to raster (PNG, Bitmap, JPEG) and vector (SVG, EPS) images.
View more details here: Create barcode in PNG, BMP raster images and SVG, EPS vector images
- Firstly, create a new QRCode object, which allows you to create a QR Code barcode image with customized settings.
- Set the QR Code encoding data as "QR Code"
- Call method drawBarcode() to create a new QR Code image file using C# code
QRCode barcode = new QRCode(); barcode.Data = "QR Code"; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Output//qrcode-quick-create.png");
Here is the QR Code generated using the above C# codes.
Using C# Barcode library, you can easily generate and customize barcode and output to raster (PNG, Bitmap, JPEG) and vector (SVG, EPS) images.
View more details here: Create barcode in PNG, BMP raster images and SVG, EPS vector images
Create a Code 128 barcode in Stream object
The following C# source code example shows how to quickly create a simple Code 128 barcode with digits and text content
using 4 lines of C# code in your .NET project.
Here is the Code 128 generated using the above C# codes.
- Create a new Linear object, which allows you to create any 1d/linear barcode type
- Set the barcode data as "ABC-123-abc"
- Set the barcode object's barcode type as "BarcodeType.CODE128"
- Create a new Stream object, which will store the Code 128 barcode image data
- Call method drawBarcode() to create a new Code 128 barcode and save the barcode to the Stream object
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Data = "ABC-123-abc"; barcode.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; Stream barcodeInStream = new MemoryStream(); barcode.drawBarcode(barcodeInStream);
Here is the Code 128 generated using the above C# codes.
Create a barcode, and draw to a Graphics object
You can also easily create a barcode and paint the barcode to an existing Graphics object.
You also use the following API to print barcode on the specified position (float x, float y) on the Graphics object.
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Data = "Code 128"; barcode.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; barcode.BarcodeWidth = 200; barcode.BarcodeHeight = 150; Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(200, 150); Graphics barcodeInGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap); barcode.drawBarcode(barcodeInGraphics); bitmap.Save("C://Output//barcode-sample.png");
You also use the following API to print barcode on the specified position (float x, float y) on the Graphics object.
public void drawBarcode(Graphics graphics, float x, float y)
Create a barcode, draw barcode in byte array object in C#
You can also quickly create a barcode and encode the barcode data in a byte array object using C#.
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Data = "Code 128"; barcode.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; byte[] barcodeInBytes = barcode.drawBarcodeAsBytes();
C#.NET Barcode Generation Guides & Tutorials for Each Barcode
TopBarcode Control for C#.NET - Bar Code Type Generation
- C#.NET 1D / Linear Barcodes:
- C#.NET 2D / Matrix Barcodes: Data Matrix, PDF-417, QR Code, Micro PDF-417, Micro QR Code
How to create barcode with various data formats using C#?
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Barcode may need encode data with various data formats, such as
- Numeric digits (0-9)
- AlphaNumeric (0-9; Upper case letters, and some special characters)
- ASCII characters
- Extended ASCII characters
- Unicode text
- Some standards with specific requirements (Such as GS1 system)
- Byte data to store data in special formats (Such as store an image file into QR Code barcodes)
How to generate barcode with digits, upper, lower case letters using C#?
You can easily use C# code to create barcode with simple data formats (such as digits, upper case, lower case letter,
and other printable characters from ASCII, extended ASCII character sets).
In the C# codes below, you can directly provide the printable characters to the barcode object Data property, and the C# barcode generator library will automatically create the barcode from the input numeric text using C#.
However you could also need generate QR Code or 1d barcodes from some special characters (such as non-printable characters, Unicode text), the C# barcode generator library has provided C# API to support it.
In the C# codes below, you can directly provide the printable characters to the barcode object Data property, and the C# barcode generator library will automatically create the barcode from the input numeric text using C#.
Linear code128 = new Linear(); code128.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; code128.Data = "ABC-123-abc"; code128.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Barcode-OnBarcode//Output//code128-simple-data.png");
However you could also need generate QR Code or 1d barcodes from some special characters (such as non-printable characters, Unicode text), the C# barcode generator library has provided C# API to support it.
How to create barcode with specified dimension width, height using C#?
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You can easily create a QR Code barcode with specified image width and height in C# using barcode library.
You can view more options and functions to customize barcode size here
How to create and customize barcode width and height in C# ASP.NET, Windows apps?
- Set AutoResize to true. When the property is true, the barcode library will automatically draw the whole QR Code barcode on the specified area.
- Set BarcodeWidth to the value of printed barcode image width
- Set BarcodeHeight to the value of printed barcode image height
QRCode barcode = new QRCode(); barcode.Data = "QR Code"; barcode.AutoResize = true; barcode.BarcodeWidth = 250; barcode.BarcodeHeight = 250; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Barcode-OnBarcode//Output//barcode-size.png");
You can view more options and functions to customize barcode size here
How to create and customize barcode width and height in C# ASP.NET, Windows apps?
How to customize 1d barcode text styles using C#?
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Using C# barcode generator, you can easily apply the 1d barcode text (HRI) styles with the following property settings:
- Text font style. Property "TextFont" allows you to customize the text font family, size, and style using object Font.
- Text color. Property "TextColor" allows you to set the printed text color.
- Text space with the bar modules. Property "TextMargin" to set the space (in dpi) between barcode modules and the printed text label.
- Show or hide the text. Property "ShowText" to display or hide the barcode text.
- Show or hide the check sum character, if any. Property "ShowCheckSumChar" to display or hide the barcode text.
Barcode text font size, style, color settings using C#
The C# code and barcode image below explains how to customize the rendered barcode text using property "TextFont", "TextColor", and "TextMargin".
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; barcode.Data = "ABC-123-abc"; barcode.TextFont = new Font("OCR-b", 9f, FontStyle.Regular); barcode.TextColor = Color.Red; barcode.TextMargin = 10; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Barcode-OnBarcode//Output//barcode-text-styles.png");
Barcode text show or hidden using C#
You can easily hide the linear barcode printed text using property "ShowText" in your C# code.
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; barcode.Data = "ABC-123-abc"; barcode.ShowText = false; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Barcode-OnBarcode//Output//barcode-text-hidden.png");
Barcode check sum character show or hidden using C#
You can also choose to hide barcode check sum character in the printed barcode text using C# barcode generator library.
The following C# code will create a Code 39 barcode with check sum digit ('$') enabled and displayed in the barcode text using C# barcode generator.
Here we will add one line of code to hide the calculated barcode check sum digit. In the barcode image below the barcode still include checksum digit, but it is not displayed in the barcode text.
The following C# code will create a Code 39 barcode with check sum digit ('$') enabled and displayed in the barcode text using C# barcode generator.
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128; barcode.Data = "ABC-123-abc"; barcode.ShowText = false; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Barcode-OnBarcode//Output//barcode-text-hidden.png");
Here we will add one line of code to hide the calculated barcode check sum digit. In the barcode image below the barcode still include checksum digit, but it is not displayed in the barcode text.
barcode.ShowCheckSumChar = false;
GS1 barcodes text font
The GS1 System recommends to use OCR-B font for digits shown under the Linear barcodes (EAN/UPC, GS1-128, ITF-14, GS1 DataBar). C# Barcode Generator library provide
the property TextFont in class OnBarcode.Barcode.Linear to customize the barcode text style (human readable interpretation) using C#.
If you need download and install free OCR-B fonts, see here: How to download, install OCR-B font for GS1 barcode generation in C#?
The following C# code shows how to generate GS1-128 image with OCR-B font applied.
If you need download and install free OCR-B fonts, see here: How to download, install OCR-B font for GS1 barcode generation in C#?
The following C# code shows how to generate GS1-128 image with OCR-B font applied.
Linear barcode = new Linear(); barcode.Type = BarcodeType.EAN128; barcode.Data = "(00)395123451234567895(01)09501101530003"; barcode.TextFont = new Font("OCR-B", 12f, FontStyle.Regular); barcode.drawBarcode("C://Output//barcode-sample-gs1-128-text.png");
How to customize barcode image settings using C#?
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Using C# barcode generator library, you can find that it is really easy to customize the barcode image format, settings in the C# application.
- Image resolution
- Image colors (support transparent background image)
- Output to multple raster image formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF, Bitmap, TIFF)
- Output to vector image formats (SVG & EPS)
Here we will create a simple QR Code with 300 dpi resolution, bar module in red color, space module in blue color using C# codes.
You can find more information here: How to apply barcode image settings in C# using C# barcode generator library?
QRCode barcode = new QRCode(); barcode.Data = "QR Code"; barcode.Resolution = 300; barcode.ForeColor = Color.Red; barcode.BackColor = Color.Blue; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Projects//Barcode-OnBarcode//Output//barcode-image-setting.png");
You can find more information here: How to apply barcode image settings in C# using C# barcode generator library?
How to create customed QR Code with logo added using C#?
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Sometimes you need add logo to generated QR Code for marketing, you can easily create customed QR Code with logo added using C# barcode generator.
The C# source code here will add a logo image to the center of the created QR Code. You just set the property "Logo" and "LogoActualSize" to specify the logo image location and rendered size.
You can view more details about styled QR Code generation using C# barcode library here: How to create styled QR Code using C#?
The C# source code here will add a logo image to the center of the created QR Code. You just set the property "Logo" and "LogoActualSize" to specify the logo image location and rendered size.
QRCode barcode = new QRCode(); barcode.Data = "https://www.facebook.com"; barcode.Logo = new System.Drawing.Bitmap("C://Input//facebook_logo_2021.svg.png"); barcode.LogoActualSize = new System.Drawing.SizeF(600, 600); barcode.UOM = UnitOfMeasure.INCH; barcode.AutoResize = true; barcode.BarcodeWidth = 3; barcode.BarcodeHeight = 3; barcode.Resolution = 900; barcode.AutoResizePaddingTransparent = true; barcode.OutputFileFormat = FileFormat.PNG; barcode.drawBarcode("C://Output//barcode-styled-qrcode.png");
You can view more details about styled QR Code generation using C# barcode library here: How to create styled QR Code using C#?
Review and further customize the barcode options
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After you have created and customized the barcode, you can review the applied barcode options from GeneratedBarcodeInfo objects by calling method
getGeneratedBarcodeInfo().
Here are some important barcode properties, which you may need further change the option values in C# project. All information below are read only.
- IsValid: Indicates whether a barcode can be created normally; if any problem occurs, it returns false.
- TextFontFamily: You can view the linear barcode text rendering font family.
- FontSize: Font size will be used to print the 1d barcode text label.
- TextFontStyle: Text font style will be applied to draw the 1d barcode text.
Exception: Fail to Create Barcode using C#?
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After you have installed the barcode generator library successsfully in the .net project, you may fail to create a barcode with exception thrown.
Handle exception
The barcode software provide two methods to handle exception during barcode generation in C#. You can choose one of them through property
ExceptionMode
- ExceptionMode.ShowErrorImage (default value).
The barcode library will produce an empty image with "Invalid Barcode Settings" message printed.
The error image is in fixed width and height (273 pixels X 58 pixels).
- ExceptionMode.ThrowException. The software will throw the exception directly in the C# program, and you can handle it in your code.
Why fail to create barcode
The wrong barcode option settings will fail to generate a barcode. Here are the reasons why you cannot generate a barcode using barcode software
- Invalid barcode data length. Some barcode format needs fixed barcode data length. If you try to encode barcode with data in wrong length, the barcode generator will throw an exception.
For example, EAN-13 barcode includes 12 data digits and 1 checksum digit. In the C# code, you can provide 12 digits or 13 digits to the barcode generator library. Otherwise the barcode software will fail to create an EAN-13 barcode and throw an exception.
- The barcode format usually has its maximum data encoding capacity. If you try to encode a barcode with large data message, the barcode library will throw an exception.
For example, QR Code with Version 40-L and numeric data mode can encode upto 7,089 characters in a single QR Code symboloy. If you try to encode 7,090 characters into QR Code, the barcode library will throw an exception.
- If the encoding data message is not supported by the barcode format, the library will also throw an exception.
The following C# code will throw an exception. Because the Code 128 Set C supports digits encoding only.
linear.Type = BarcodeType.CODE128C; linear.Data = "Code 128";
- In Auto Resize mode, the barcode size settings may produce exception.
The C# code below, the option TextMargin is greater than the BarcodeHeight, and it will create a negative bar height (Bar height = barcode height - text margin - text height). It is invalid.
linear.AutoResize = true; linear.BarcodeWidth = 500; linear.BarcodeHeight = 100; linear.TextMargin = 500;
