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Barcodes & QR Codes

TerraPDF generates Code128 barcodes and ISO/IEC 18004 QR codes from scratch — no raster image pipeline, no external dependency. Both render as vector-filled rectangles, matching the existing VectorCanvas rendering style, so they stay crisp at any zoom and can be placed anywhere an IContainer is exposed: Column, Row, a Table cell, header, or footer.

Barcodes — Barcode(...)

container.Barcode(data, ...) encodes data as a Code128 (Subset B) barcode, covering printable ASCII (0x20-0x7E).

// Auto-fills the available width
container.Barcode("TERRAPDF-2026");

// Explicit width/height, custom colour, and a caption below the bars
container.Barcode("SKU-00042-A", width: 260, height: 50,
    hexColor: "#1A3C5E", showCaption: true);

Parameters

Parameter Default Description
data — Text to encode. Must be printable ASCII (0x20-0x7E).
width null Total rendered width in PDF points, including the quiet zone. When null, fills the available width.
height 40 Bar height in PDF points (excludes the optional caption).
hexColor "#000000" Bar (and caption text) colour.
backgroundHexColor "#FFFFFF" Background colour behind the bars.
showCaption false When true, renders data as a centred caption below the bars.
quietZoneModules 10 Blank margin on each side, in barcode modules. The Code128 spec recommends at least 10.

QR Codes — QrCode(...)

container.QrCode(data, ...) encodes data (UTF-8 bytes, byte mode) as an ISO/IEC 18004 QR code, generated from scratch: automatic version selection (1-40), all four error correction levels, Reed-Solomon error correction, and full mask-pattern penalty scoring.

// Auto-fills the available width (capped by the available height, stays square)
container.QrCode("https://terrapdf.example/p/SKU-10231");

// Explicit size and a higher error correction level
container.QrCode("https://terrapdf.example/", size: 90,
    level: QrErrorCorrectionLevel.Q);

// Custom colours
container.QrCode("Brand-coloured QR", size: 100,
    hexColor: "#1A3C5E", backgroundHexColor: "#EAF1F8");

Parameters

Parameter Default Description
data — Text to encode as UTF-8 bytes.
size null Side length in PDF points. When null, fills the available width, capped by the available height so it stays square.
level QrErrorCorrectionLevel.M Error correction level — higher levels tolerate more damage/occlusion at the cost of a denser code.
hexColor "#000000" Module colour.
backgroundHexColor "#FFFFFF" Background colour (including the quiet zone).
quietZoneModules 4 Blank margin on each side, in QR modules. The spec recommends at least 4.

Error Correction Levels

Level Recovery capacity
QrErrorCorrectionLevel.L ~7%
QrErrorCorrectionLevel.M (default) ~15%
QrErrorCorrectionLevel.Q ~25%
QrErrorCorrectionLevel.H ~30%

Placing Barcodes and QR Codes Anywhere

Because both are ordinary IContainer extensions, they compose with the rest of the layout system — including inside a table cell, next to product data:

tbl.Row(row =>
{
    row.Cell().Padding(6).AlignCenter()
       .QrCode($"https://terrapdf.example/p/{sku}", size: 60);
    row.Cell().Padding(6).AlignMiddle().Column(c =>
    {
        c.Item().Text(name).Bold();
        c.Item().Text(sku).FontSize(8);
    });
    row.Cell().Padding(6).AlignMiddle()
       .Barcode(sku, height: 30);
});

Tips

  • Both symbologies render as one fill operation per contiguous run of dark modules via the PdfPage.AddFilledRects batch primitive — efficient even on QR codes with thousands of modules.
  • Barcode() throws NotSupportedException if data contains a character outside printable ASCII — validate or sanitize dynamic input (e.g. SKUs from external systems) before encoding.
  • QrCode() throws NotSupportedException if data is too long to fit any QR version at the requested error correction level — drop to QrErrorCorrectionLevel.L or shorten the payload (e.g. a short URL) for large inputs.
  • See the Barcodes & QR Codes sample for a full showcase including error correction levels, colours, and table placement.
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