Okapi Barcode

Okapi Barcode is an open-source barcode generator written entirely in Java, supporting over 50 encoding standards, including all ISO standards. Okapi Barcode is based on Zint, an open-source barcode encoding library developed in C, and builds on the years of work that have been invested in that project.

Supported Symbologies

• Australia Post variants:
  • Standard Customer
  • Reply Paid
  • Routing
  • Redirection
• Aztec Code
• Aztec Runes
• Channel Code
• Codabar
• Codablock F
• Code 11
• Code 128
• Code 16k
• Code 2 of 5 variants:
  • Matrix 2 of 5
  • Industrial 2 of 5
  • IATA 2 of 5
  • Datalogic 2 of 5
  • Interleaved 2 of 5
  • ITF-14
  • Deutsche Post Leitcode
  • Deutsche Post Identcode
• Code 32 (Italian Pharmacode)
• Code 3 of 9 (Code 39)
• Code 3 of 9 Extended (Code 39 Extended)
• Code 49
• Code 93
• Code One
• Data Matrix
• DPD Code
• Dutch Post KIX Code
• EAN variants:
  • EAN-13
  • EAN-8
• Grid Matrix
• GS1 Composite
• GS1 DataBar variants:
  • GS1 DataBar
  • GS1 DataBar Stacked
  • GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional
• GS1 DataBar Expanded variants:
  • GS1 DataBar Expanded
  • GS1 DataBar Expanded Stacked
• GS1 DataBar Limited
• Japan Post
• Korea Post
• LOGMARS
• MaxiCode
• MSI (Modified Plessey)
• PDF417 variants:
  • PDF417
  • Truncated PDF417 (Compact PDF417)
  • Macro PDF417
  • Micro PDF417
• Pharmacode
• Pharmacode Two-Track
• Plessey (UK Plessey)
• POSTNET / PLANET
• QR Code
• Royal Mail 4 State (RM4SCC)
• Swiss QR Code
• Telepen variants:
  • Telepen
  • Telepen Numeric
• UPC variants:
  • UPC-A
  • UPC-E
• UPN QR
• USPS OneCode (Intelligent Mail)

Library Usage (Java)

Okapi Barcode JARs are available for download from Maven Central.

To generate barcode images in your own code using the Okapi Barcode library, use one of the symbology classes linked above:

1. instantiate the barcode class,
2. customize any relevant settings,
3. invoke setContent(String), and then
4. pass the barcode instance to one of the available renderers (Java 2D, PostScript, SVG)

Code128 barcode = new Code128();
barcode.setFontName("Monospaced");
barcode.setFontSize(16);
barcode.setModuleWidth(2);
barcode.setBarHeight(50);
barcode.setHumanReadableLocation(HumanReadableLocation.BOTTOM);
barcode.setContent("123456789");

int width = barcode.getWidth();
int height = barcode.getHeight();

BufferedImage image = new BufferedImage(width, height, BufferedImage.TYPE_BYTE_GRAY);
Graphics2D g2d = image.createGraphics();
Java2DRenderer renderer = new Java2DRenderer(g2d, 1, Color.WHITE, Color.BLACK);
renderer.render(barcode);

ImageIO.write(image, "png", new File("code128.png"));

Library Usage (Android)

If you'd like to use Okapi Barcode on the Android platform, the easiest approach is to use the SVG renderer to render your barcode to SVG, and then use a library like AndroidSVG to draw the resultant SVG image on an Android Bitmap or Canvas:

Code128 barcode = new Code128();
barcode.setFontName("Monospaced");
barcode.setFontSize(16);
barcode.setModuleWidth(2);
barcode.setBarHeight(50);
barcode.setHumanReadableLocation(HumanReadableLocation.BOTTOM);
barcode.setContent("123456789");

ByteArrayOutputStream stream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
SvgRenderer renderer = new SvgRenderer(stream, 1, Color.WHITE, Color.BLACK, true);
renderer.render(barcode);

String content = new String(stream.toByteArray(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
SVG svg = SVG.getFromString(content);
svg.renderToCanvas(canvas);

GUI Usage

To use the Swing GUI, just run the OkapiUI class. The GUI allows you to explore the supported barcode symbologies and test them with different configurations and data.

Building

gradlew check: Compiles and runs all quality checks, including the unit tests.
gradlew fuzz: Runs barcode encoding fuzz tests using Jazzer.
gradlew jar: Builds the JAR file.
gradlew publish: Deploys to Maven Central (requires a modified gradle.properties file).

Recent Releases

Okapi Barcode 0.5.5

• Aztec Code: allow more fine-grained control over error correction percentage
• Aztec Code: deprecate setPreferredEccLevel (use setPreferredEccPercentage instead)

Okapi Barcode 0.5.4

• NVE-18: do not ignore user-provided bar height

Okapi Barcode 0.5.3

• Performance improvements for 2D matrix barcodes (Data Matrix, QR Code, etc)
• QR Code: fix bugs in mask evaluation

Okapi Barcode 0.5.2

• QR Code: add support for structured append

Okapi Barcode 0.5.1

• Japanese Postal Code: fix bug encoding some letters
• Japanese Postal Code: throw exception if input data is too long
• PDF417, MicroPDF417: improve error messages
• JavaDoc improvements

Okapi Barcode 0.5.0

• Update GS1 AI validations per 2025 specifications
• Include license in JAR file

Okapi Barcode 0.4.9

• Codablock F: allow user to customize row height
• Codablock F: allow user to customize module width
• Codablock F: improve check digit calculation
• Codablock F: fix encodation bugs in various corner cases
• Add optional rotation parameter to all renderers

Okapi Barcode 0.4.8

• MaxiCode: improve handling of partial and malformed postal codes (modes 2 and 3)
• Code 11: allow empty content, if user requests it
• Micro QR Code: allow empty content, if user requests it
• Micro QR Code: fix last data character ignored during encoding in some scenarios

Okapi Barcode 0.4.7

• Update build toolchain from Java 17 to Java 21 (minimum target runtime remains Java 8)
• SVG and EPS output: round up canvas dimensions when using decimal magnification factor
• MaxiCode: reduce memory use during encoding
• QR Code: reduce encode time by about 25%

Okapi Barcode 0.4.6

• QR Code: allow FNC1 escape sequences in user-provided content
• Code 39 Extended: allow empty content, if user requests it
• QR Code: allow empty content, if user requests it
• UPC/EAN: allow empty content, if user requests it
• Telepen: allow empty content, if user requests it

Okapi Barcode 0.4.5

• Code 128: allow user to restrict the code sets used to encode data
• First [reproducible build](https://github.com/jvm-repo-rebuild/reproducible