The Aztec barcode is a variable-length, alphanumeric 2D barcode that can encode up to 1,914 bytes of information. Aztec barcodes employ Reed-Solomon Error Correction with user-selectable level of error correction (5% to 95%) with a recommended minimum of 23% (plus 3 codewords). 1
The following example barcode encodes the information "This is a sample Aztec Barcode"
as an Aztec barcode:
There are 3 formats of Aztec barcodes: Full, Compact, and Rune. The Rune format is not alphanumeric, it only encodes digits. 1
Aztec Barcode Variants | Full | Compact | Rune |
---|---|---|---|
Example Image | |||
Number of Symbols | 40 | 4 | 256 |
Module Size | 19x19 to 151x151 | 15x15 to 27x27 | 11x11 |
Text Capacity | 15-3067 | 12-89 | 0 |
Numeric Capacity | 18-3832 | 13-110 | 3 (0-255) |
Byte Capacity | 8-1914 | 6-53 | 1 |
Each variation of the barcode has possible symbol sizes which affect the amount of data that can be encoded, as seen below:
Number of Data Layers | Symbol Size (in x) | Codeword Count x Size | Symbol Bit Capacity | Digits | Text | Bytes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1** | 11 x 11 | 7 x 4 | 28 | 3 (0 - 255) | 0 | 1 |
1* | 15 x 15 | 17 x 6 | 102 | 13 | 12 | 6 |
1 | 19 x 19 | 21 x 6 | 126 | 18 | 15 | 8 |
2* | 19 x 19 | 40 x 6 | 240 | 40 | 33 | 19 |
2 | 23 x 23 | 48 x 6 | 288 | 49 | 40 | 24 |
3* | 23 x 23 | 51 x 8 | 1408 | 70 | 57 | 33 |
3 | 27 x 27 | 60 x 8 | 480 | 84 | 68 | 40 |
4* | 27 x 27 | 76 x 8 | 608 | 110 | 89 | 53 |
4 | 31 x 31 | 88 x 8 | 704 | 128 | 104 | 62 |
5 | 37 x 37 | 120 x 8 | 960 | 178 | 144 | 87 |
6 | 41 x 41 | 156 x 8 | 1248 | 232 | 187 | 114 |
7 | 45 x 45 | 196 x 8 | 1568 | 294 | 236 | 145 |
8 | 49 x 49 | 240 x 8 | 1920 | 362 | 291 | 179 |
9 | 53 x 53 | 230 x 10 | 2300 | 433 | 348 | 214 |
10 | 57 x 57 | 272 x 10 | 2720 | 516 | 414 | 256 |
11 | 61 x 61 | 316 x 10 | 3160 | 601 | 482 | 298 |
12 | 67 x 67 | 364 x 10 | 3640 | 691 | 554 | 343 |
13 | 71 x 71 | 416 x 10 | 4160 | 793 | 636 | 394 |
14 | 75 x 75 | 470 x 10 | 4700 | 896 | 718 | 446 |
15 | 79 x 79 | 528 x 10 | 5280 | 1008 | 808 | 502 |
16 | 83 x 83 | 588 x 10 | 5880 | 1123 | 900 | 559 |
17 | 87 x 87 | 652 x 10 | 6520 | 1246 | 998 | 621 |
18 | 91 x 91 | 720 x 10 | 7200 | 1378 | 1104 | 687 |
19 | 95 x 95 | 790 x 10 | 7900 | 1511 | 1210 | 753 |
20 | 101 x 101 | 864 x 10 | 8640 | 1653 | 1324 | 824 |
21 | 105 x 105 | 940 x 10 | 9400 | 1801 | 1442 | 898 |
22 | 109 x 109 | 1020 x 10 | 10200 | 1956 | 1566 | 976 |
23 | 113 x 113 | 920 x 12 | 11040 | 2116 | 1694 | 1056 |
24 | 117 x 117 | 992 x 12 | 11904 | 2281 | 1826 | 1138 |
25 | 121 x 121 | 1066 x 12 | 12792 | 2452 | 1963 | 1224 |
26 | 125 x 125 | 1144 x 12 | 13728 | 2632 | 2107 | 1314 |
27 | 131 x 131 | 1224 x 12 | 14688 | 2818 | 2256 | 1407 |
28 | 135 x 135 | 1306 x 12 | 15672 | 3007 | 2407 | 1501 |
29 | 139 x 139 | 1392 x 12 | 16704 | 3205 | 2565 | 1600 |
30 | 143 x 143 | 1480 x 12 | 17760 | 3409 | 2728 | 1702 |
31 | 147 x 147 | 1570 x 12 | 18840 | 3616 | 2894 | 1806 |
32 | 151 x 151 | 1664 x 12 | 19968 | 3832 | 3067 | 1914 |
* Aztec Compact Barcode
** Aztec Rune Barcode
The Aztec barcode consists of two primary components. There is the finder pattern component, the center of the barcode which looks like a bullseye. Around this, the data component starts from the top-left of the finder pattern and spirals around the barcode. Each spiral around the barcode adds a data layer (as seen in the table above). This data component encodes both the actual data bits as well as the error correction bits.
The Aztec barcode is managed by ISO/IEC 24778:2008. 1
The Aztec barcode has 3 variants: Full, Compact, and Rune.
The Aztec barcode is similar to the QR Code, except the finder pattern is in the center, rather than the corners. This allows encoding of more data, but makes preprocessing operations like deskewing more difficult.
For more information, see the Barcode Xpress SDK product page or try our online demos.