By Cyndie Shaffstall

Creating UPC barcodes used to be a long, drawn-out process that could take weeks or even months. Once you were assigned a UPC barcode by GS1 US, you then would hire a company to typeset it, output the film, and send the finished piece to you. For duplicate copies, you'd use a service bureau to make PMTs for pasting into place on your layout. Today, with extension technology, it's far easier. In fact, you could have added a barcode to your project in less time than it took you to read this paragraph.

BarCoder XT for QuarkXPress 4.0, 6.1, and 7.1

BarCoder XT for QuarkXPress	BarCoder XT for QuarkXPress

BarCoder XT for QuarkXPress creates PostScript® bar codes for within QuarkXPress projects. There are several different symbologies and many options for each bar code. The bar codes are Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files that provide high-resolution during output.

 

BarcodeMaker for InDesign CS, CS2, and CS3

BarcodeMaker for InDesign	BarcodeMaker for InDesign

Create customized barcodes with the BarcodeMaker Plug-in for InDesign. The process is simple and fast and includes versatile options that allow users to make up to 19 different types of barcodes in a single user-friendly palette. Fully customize each individual barcode by adding numbers, changing fonts and font size, controlling barcode height, and including or excluding checksum digits.

POSTools, a Stand-alone Application

POSTools is an easy-to-use, versatile solution for creating POSTNET barcode pieces designed for US mail delivery, such as a business-reply mail card. The flexibility of a stand-alone product means that you can use your favorite application — be it a desktop-publishing application, Excel® spreadsheet, or FileMaker® database — and POSTools generates POSTNET bar codes in just a few clicks.

POSTNET bar codes are used to encode ZIP codes on US mail. With POSTools, POSTNET bar codes can be created for both 11-digit delivery-point barcodes as well as 9-digit ZIP+4 codes. The United States Postal Service prefers the use of 11-digit ZIP codes and gives significant rate discounts for their use. With POSTools, it's a easy matter to create these and benefit from the discounts.

POSTools also includes graphics files that create the FIM (facing identification mark) bars, used on business reply mail.