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:

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
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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