When you purchase an item from a store, the parallel black stripes of varying widths on the item you purchase is called barcode. Barcodes are a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable format. Barcodes are used to store information about products for easy identification and tracking. Various industries use barcodes for inventory management.
Using Python you can generate barcodes, scan and read the content of a barcode.
How to Generate and Customize Barcodes
The following steps show how to generate barcodes using thepython-barcodelibrary.
1. Install the Required Library
Open your terminalor command prompt and run the following pip command to install the required library.Ensure you have pip installed on your machine.
2. Import the Required Modules
In your script, include the following import statements to import the modules needed for barcode generation.
Writershandle the generation and saving of barcode images in different formats. Thepython-barcodelibrary provides different barcode writers. Here you’re going to use theImageWriterclass which renders barcodes as images.
3. Code to Generate Barcode
Thepython-barcodelibrary offers various barcode formats, such as Code39, Code128, EAN13, and ISBN-10 for generating barcodes.
Thegenerate_barcodefunction generates a barcode based on the givendataand format (barcode_format) and saves the barcode image to a file,barcode.png. The file extension depends on the writer class you use.
4. Generate and Customize Barcode
To generate a barcode, call thegenerate_barcodefunction and pass the required parameters.
Writers take several options that allow you to customize barcodes. Customization options include modifying the size, font, color of the barcode, and so on. You can refer to thepython-barcodedocumentation to access the complete list of common writer options.
How to Scan and Decode Barcodes
The following steps show how to scan and decode barcodes using the Pythonpyzbarlibrary.
1. Install the Required Libraries
To scan and decode barcodes, you need to install the following libraries:
After installing the libraries, add the following import statements to your script to import the necessary modules.
3. Scan Barcodes From Images
To scan barcodes from image files:
The function takes animage_pathparameter, reads the image, decodes any barcodes present in the image, and prints the decoded data and barcode type for each detected barcode.
4. Scan Barcodes From Webcam Stream
You can also scan and read barcodes in real-time from a webcam stream with the help of the Python OpenCV library.
Thescan_barcode_from_webcamfunction continuously captures frames from the webcam, decodes any barcodes present in the frame, extracts information about the barcode, and prints the information. To quit press the letter q on your keyboard.
Generating Barcodes and QR Codes in Python
With Python, generating and reading barcodes becomes accessible and efficient. By following the steps outlined, you can generate a variety of barcodes to suit your needs.
QR codes (Quick Response codes) are two-dimensional barcodes that can be scanned and read by smartphones, tablets, or other devices equipped with a camera and a QR code reader application. Using the Python qrcode library you can generate, scan and read QR Codes efficiently.
