MicroPDF417 is a multi-row symbology utilized by applications to encode a moderate amount of data in a two-dimensional symbol (up to 150 bytes, 250 alphanumeric characters or 366 numeric digits) when minimizing the symbol size is a primary concern.

MicroPDF417 is similar to PDF417 in terms of its encodation modes, error correction method, and symbol character sets. However, MicroPDF417 replaces PDF417’s 17-module-wide start/stop patterns and left/right row indicators with a unique set of 10-module-wide Row Address Patterns, which were designed to reduce overall symbol width and to facilitate linear scanning at row heights as low as 2X.

Unlike PDF417, MicroPDF417 may only be printed in certain pre-defined combinations of number of rows, number of columns, and number of error correction codewords, up to a maximum of four data columns by 44 rows.

It is designed for applications requiring improved area efficiency, but lower data capacity than PDF417, and is used for Composite Codes in GS1 DataBar.

An example of MicroPDF417:

Basic Characteristics

• Encodable character set:
  • Text Compaction mode permits all printable ASCII characters to be encoded, i.e. values 32 to 126 inclusive in accordance with ISO/IEC 646, as well as selected control characters.
  • Byte Compaction mode permits all 256 possible 8-bit byte values to be encoded. This includes all ASCII characters with values from 0 to 127, inclusive, and provides for international character set support.
  • Numeric Compaction mode permits efficient encoding of numeric data strings.
  • Up to 811800 different character sets or data interpretations.
  • Various function codewords for control purposes.
• Symbol character structure:
  • (n, k, m) characters of 17 modules (n), 4 bar and 4 space elements (k), with the largest element 6 modules wide (m).
• Maximum possible number of data characters per symbol (for a maximum size MicroPDF417 symbol):
  • 125 data codewords which can encode
    • Text Compaction Mode - 250 characters (2 data characters per codeword).
    • Byte Compaction mode - 150 characters (1,2 data characters per codeword).
    • Numeric Compaction mode - 366 characters (2,93 data characters per codeword).
• Symbol Size:
  • Number of rows - 4 to 44 (available in defined combinations with number of columns).
    Valid values are:
    1x11, 1x14, 1x17, 1x20, 1x24, 1x28, 2x8, 2x11, 2x14, 2x17, 2x20, 2x23, 2x26, 3x6, 3x8, 3x10, 3x12, 3x15, 3x20, 3x26, 3x32, 3x38, 3x44, 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, 4x10, 4x12, 4x15, 4x20, 4x26, 4x32, 4x38, 4x44
  • Number of data columns - either one, two, three, or four.
  • Width in modules - 40X, 57X, 84X, or 101X including quiet zones.
  • Maximum codeword capacity - 176 codewords.
  • Maximum data codeword capacity - 125 codewords.
• Number of error correction codewords:
  • fixed for each available row/column combination, ranging from 7 to 50 codewords per symbol and reserving from 28% to 67% of codewords for error detection and correction, depending on symbol size.
• Non-data overhead:
  • per row:
    • 23 modules for the one- and two-column versions; 33 modules for the three or four-column version, including quiet zones.
• Code type:
  • continuous, multi-row bar code symbology.
• Character self-checking:
  • Yes.
• Bi-directionally decodable:
  • Yes.

Differences Between MicroPDF417 and PDF417

MicroPDF417	PDF417
Maximum possible number of data characters per symbol 125 data codewords which can encode: 1) Text Compaction Mode: 250 characters (2 data characters per codeword). 2) Byte Compaction mode: 150 characters (1,2 data characters per codeword). 3) Numeric Compaction mode: 366 characters (2,93 data characters per codeword).	Maximum possible number of data characters per symbol: 925 data codewords which can encode: 1) Text Compaction mode: 1 850 characters (at 2 data characters per codeword). 2) Byte Compaction mode: 1 108 characters (at 1,2 data characters per codeword). 3) Numeric Compaction mode: 2 710 characters (at 2,93 data characters per codeword).
Symbol Size: 1) Number of rows: 4 to 44. 2) Number of data columns: either one, two, three, or four 3) Width in modules: 40X, 57X, 84X, or 101X including quiet zones 4) Maximum codeword capacity: 176 codewords. 5) Maximum data codeword capacity: 125 codewords.	Symbol size: 1) Number of rows: 3 to 90. 2) Number of columns: 1 to 30. 3) Width in modules: 90X to 583X including quiet zones. 4) Maximum codeword capacity: 928 codewords. 5) Maximum data codeword capacity: 925 codewords.
Number of error correction codewords: fixed for each available row/column combination, ranging from 7 to 50 codewords per symbol and reserving from 28% to 67% of codewords for error detection and correction, depending on symbol size.	Selectable error correction: 2 to 512 codewords per symbol.

MicroPDF417 is based on the PDF417 standard and designed for maximum area efficiency, but without the PDF417’s maximum data capacity. It is the perfect candidate to use where PDF417 is applicable but there is a limited amount of space.