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This page lists all the issues of which we are aware. There are only two.

If you have any problems with our Fonts please tell us - we want to know

HP LaserJet Printers

Printers affected: Laserjet 4 Plus and Laserjet 4V. Other HP Laser printers may be affected also. HP inkjet/Deskjet printers seem to be ok.

• Question: The barcode shows correctly on the computer screen but when I print to the HP Laserjet the barcode is the wrong size (too small and the bars too thin). Changing the font size makes no difference to the printout size. Large font sizes sometimes work. Laser printers of other manufacture respond correctly.
• Answer: The problem may be corrected by changing the Printer Properties associated with this particular printer.
  1. From the Start Menu select: Settings... Printer...
  2. Make sure the correct printer is selected then select: File... properties...
  3. Select the 'fonts' tab and check the box 'Download TrueType fonts as bitmap soft fonts'
  4. Click the 'apply' button. Proper scaling of the barcode is now enabled

Microsoft Word

Applications affected: This issue is an inherent problem with the way the application works it affects all 'Code 39' barcode fonts - not just ours. Mainly Microsoft Word but may affect other Microsoft apps like Excel depending on how they are configured.

• Question: Code 39 Barcodes do not scan or scan with difficulty. Other symbologies seem to be ok.
• Answer: This problem is caused by the 'Automatic formatting' feature of Microsoft Word. If you intend to print Code 39 barcodes with Word this feature is dangerous because the problem is not usually apparent until after the barcodes are printed. This is what is happening.

  The Code 39 barcode symbology requires the star (asterisk) character at the start and end of the data string. This is nothing to do with the font. It is written into the specification of the barcode itself. Unfortunately Microsoft has chosen to introduce a 'special feature'. When text is surrounded with the star character it thinks you don't want the stars you want bold type instead! Try this experiment.

  Open Microsoft Word and start a new document. Type the following and watch the screen very carefully...

  *12345*

  When you hit the last star both stars disappear and the remaining text becomes bold. (if this doesn't happen then you have either already disabled this feature - or your version of Word is not the latest)

  Now if you notice this while typing you may decide to go back and re-enter the stars. But the text is still bold and when the barcode is printed the bars and spaces will have the wrong proportions. This will be enough to degrade the scanner's performance and may prevent scanning altogether.

  So if you don't notice the stars have vanished the barcode won't scan because it has no start and stop characters. If you do notice and make the correction then the barcode won't scan because it is printed in bold!

  It is possible by carefully entering the stars twice and then cancelling 'bold' to get the correct result. However any subsequent editing and the font flips back to bold and the stars disappear. Notice that by this time you have probably selected the barcode font making it doubly difficult to see the alterations.

  OK thats the problem. What is to be done?

  There's only one thing to be done. Disable this irritating 'Automatic Formatting feature' (did you really need it anyhow?)...

  1. From the toolbar select: Tools... Autocorrect... Autoformat...
  2. Uncheck 'bold and underline with real formatting'
  3. Similarly select: Tools... Autocorrect... Autoformat as you type...
  4. Uncheck 'bold and underline with real formatting'