How to export barcodes as images?

[DaCo]

I have a field in a database which contains EAN barcodes (13 digits). I need to export/save barcodes as images for use in a PDF newsletter to our customers.

Do I need some kind of plugin?

[Karsten Wolf]

One of the many ways to do it is via the ScriptMaster plugin.

Have a look at thread Barcode generation for datamatrix, datamatrixrectangle, c...

[comment]

I have a field in a database which contains EAN barcodes (13 digits). I need to export/save barcodes as images

Your description is not clear. In what format are these barcodes now? Are you using a barcode font?

[DaCo]

Your description is not clear. In what format are these barcodes now? Are you using a barcode font?

Oooops, sorry. The barcodes is in a text field. No, I have never used a barcode font, but I will certainly do if that what it takes.

P.S. Thanks to Karsten; I will take a close look at it this evening.

[comment]

The barcodes is in a text field. No, I have never used a barcode font,

I don't understand. If you're not using a barcode font, then what makes the barcode a barcode?

[DaCo]

I don't understand. If you're not using a barcode font, then what makes the barcode a barcode?

Weeeeell, you're right in a way. It's actually not a barcode - its the 13 digits IN a barcode. Every week i have to copy these digits from the field, paste into af barcode generator and save as an image. That's why I ask the question in the first place.

If I can generate an image (barcode) from a field in FM. Ideally: I selct the records I need barcodes for, and push a button. Viola! Alle the barcodes are converted to images I can use for my news letters.

[comment]

There are several ways you could produce an image of the barcode. However, I'd suggest you rethink your workflow. Why not produce the newsletter PDF(?) directly from Filemaker? That way you could use a barcode font, and the barcode would be resolution-independent. Going through an image format reduces the quality (you can see what happens when you zoom in into the PDF).

[DaCo]

To generate a complete finished newsletter from FM is (for me) a wet dream, but as far as I can see through (see my skills in the colophon), it is to shoot sparrows with cannons and not realistic for several reasons.

I am grateful when talented and professional people take their time to answer me and overall I feel obliged to take all suggestions seriously. Although I'm immediately prepared to reject the idea, I would like to consider your proposal. To compensate for the lack of knowledge, I have to use many words and my post will be long. Sorry.

Starting point: We are a small 30 years old company, which unfortunately is currently financially pressed because of a big bankruptcy in the industry, where we lost a large sum of money and a frightening number of regular customers. Our financial resources and available man-hours for development of "wet dreams" is limited at the moment. However, the situation is slowly improving and we will survive, but I can not spend many hours on such projects.

It is no secret that the staff (5 including me + our commander in chief) are not highly trained specialists. Our greatest strength is our enthusiasm and commitment in what we do best: sell CDs with classical music. To use graphics software for print, database program for our goods etc. we develop as best as needs arise. The company survived for more than 30 years in that way now and we find no reason (and money) to change that radically.

When I create newsletters (which are transmitted in PDF format), I have the following available: a product image (CD cover) and - in most cases - a sheet with product information from vendor. The images from vendors vary widely in quality, but where they are available, I use high resolution images.

The following are registered in the database: Code, EAN-number (as text by 13 digits), price, etc. Our workflow in the creation of new products will probably make you laugh and it is also not logical, and far from optimal, but after a long sustained struggle I have had to abandon attempts to persuade the collegue responsible for the registration of new products to enter directly into FileMaker. She is very skilled and conscientious but conservative and suffer from fear of technology. Okay, it gives me - everything else being equal - the opportunity to correct mistakes before I import her data;-)

The newsletters contain exactly the (new) products contained in my colleagues Excel sheet. I have developed some routines and macros in Excel that places the raw product data in a table which I then place in a new layer in Quark Express. Product images are imported individually into Quark. Besides corporate logo, variable date in the header, backgrounds and other graphic adornments, the pages consists of products in a matrix with 4 x 5 product presentations. For each product I author an editorial text.

During the period we have used FileMaker (about one year), we have not spent one single piece of paper for printouts, as we have no need for printed reports etc. (which anyway only gets cut holes to be archived in a binder). So I know absolutely nothing about beautiful formatting of text, precise positioning of elements on a sheet for printing, etc. If you, despite the starting point, think and believe that I - with the help of this excellent forum - in a relatively short time will be able to design a FM template for this purpose, you are obviously very welcome to guide me.

[comment]

I don't know. How much work do you do (or have done) in Quark? It seems you have a some sort of a fixed layout there, that gets filled by new data each time. Why not have the same (or similar) layout in Filemaker?

[DaCo]

You make it sound obvious and easy. However, I have only worked with data processing in FM, and never with any kind of layout of the output to any media.

This topic is certainly comprehensive and thoroughly discussed in a tutorial somewhere, but where? If I read an article on the principles I can better evaluate whether it is affordable with the resources (time) I have available.

[comment]

There's not much to it - mainly because Filemaker is not a page layout application, and the options are rather basic. Still, you should know about the various layout parts, placing objects on a layout and printing in columns (all covered in the online help).

BTW, even if exporting to Quark, I think it would be much simpler to export the barcode payload (i.e.the 13-digit EAN-number), then set it to print in a barcode font.

[DaCo]

There's not much to it - mainly because Filemaker is not a page layout application, and the options are rather basic. Still, you should know about the various layout parts, placing objects on a layout and printing in columns (all covered in the online help).

Ok, I'll take at look at the possibilities.not

BTW, even if exporting to Quark, I think it would be much simpler to export the barcode payload (i.e.the 13-digit EAN-number), then set it to print in a barcode font.

Yeah, now we are back to my my original question. My native language is not english and I'm not sure what "export the barcode payload" means.

How can I "print" a selction of my barcode fields with a barcode font?

[comment]

I'm not sure what "export the barcode payload" means.

It means pass the 13 digits to Quark Express the same way you pass the name, price, etc.

[datsharris]

Hi, this site provides barcode plug-ins for generating EAN-13 as image with free trial version.

[DaCo]

Oh dear, I did'nt mention that I'm working on a Mac; a *.dll won't work :-(

Thanks for trying to help.

[dannyflorrick]

you have to export your data from your database then with those data, you can generate barcode images in PDF file.

 

here is a post which talks about how to generate barcode in PDF file, hope it can help you a little.

http://forums.adobe.com/message/4004858

[Dewar]

Hi, you mean saving barcode as a image? and what image format do you want to export the image to？if you wanna get more info, you can check this image barcode generating and scanning program, you can export generated barcode as any common image format.

[DaCo]

Hello "Newbie"

 

I allmost forgot this post and I no longer need this feature. Sorry, and/but thank you for your reply. ;-)