Table of Contents

Appearance and sizing

Beyond the data and symbology, TTMSFNCWXBarcode controls how the barcode looks: the bar and background colors, the scale, whether the human-readable text is shown, and finer rendering options. This chapter covers colors and the caption, then sizing and scale.

Colors and the caption

Set BarColor and BackgroundColor to theme the barcode, and IncludeText to show or hide the human-readable text beneath the bars. TextSize, HorizontalTextAlign, and VerticalTextAlign position and size that caption, while IncludeCheck / IncludeCheckInText control the check digit. This example selects a symbology and applies the common appearance options.

procedure TForm1.StyledBarcode(const AData: string);
begin
  FBarcode.BarcodeType := bciCode39;
  FBarcode.Text := AData;

  // Appearance: bar/background colors, scale factor, and the readable caption.
  FBarcode.BarColor := gcBlack;
  FBarcode.BackgroundColor := gcWhite;
  FBarcode.Scale := 2;
  FBarcode.IncludeText := True; // show the encoded text beneath the bars
end;

Sizing and scale

Scale enlarges or shrinks the rendered barcode, and DefaultSize controls the baseline dimensions. BarcodeBorder adds a quiet-zone border, and Inkspread (with HorizontalInkspread / VerticalInkspread) fine-tunes bar thickness for print fidelity. Increase Scale for high-DPI displays or print, and keep a border so scanners can find the quiet zone.

Pitfalls

  • Keep enough contrast and quiet zone. Very light BarColor or no border can make a barcode unscannable — keep dark bars on a light background.
  • Dotty is for 2D codes. The dotted-module rendering applies to matrix symbologies; it has no effect on linear barcodes.
  • Scale for the output medium. A barcode that looks fine on screen may be too small to scan in print — raise Scale for printed output.

See also