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Aztec
User Guide > Concepts > Barcode Specifications > Barcode Types > Aztec

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

Example Barcode

The following example barcode encodes the information "This is a sample Aztec Barcode" as an Aztec barcode:

Aztec

Details

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 Aztec: Full Aztec: Compact Aztec: Rune
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

Barcode Breakdown

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.

Managing Organization

The Aztec barcode is managed by ISO/IEC 24778:2008. 1

Similar Barcode Types

Barcode Variants

The Aztec barcode has 3 variants: Full, Compact, and Rune.

Related Barcodes

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.

References

  1. "Aztec Code Bar Code Symbology Specification." ISO/IEC 24778:2008, ISO/IEC, Feb. 2008, www.iso.org/standard/41548.html.



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