Reading and decoding PDF-417 barcodes stored in an image or PDF file from within a .NET application

Question

I am looking for a .NET library that is able to decode data from a PDF-417 barcode that is embedded either in an image file or PDF. At this point, I have only been able to find a Java version and a C version.

Ideally, this library would be both open-source and free of charge, but I doubt such a decoder exists.

I am open to trying out demos of existing products that you may have had experience with - which leads me to the question - have you had any experience reading PDF-417 barcodes embedded in images or PDFs using .NET, and which of the available products would you recommend to do so?

Solution 1

We use components (not free) from IDAutomation for PDF417. They are very good. We use them for encoding, as opposed to reading and decoding.

Haven't used this component of theirs, but have a look it is C#, and you can obtain the source code, but again, not free.

http://www.idautomation.com/barcode-recognition/

Solution 2

The ClearImage Barcode Recognition SDK for .NET is probably the easiest way to decode PDF 417 and many other barcodes. I use it in many projects... although it is not free

         var bitmap = WpfImageHelper.ConvertToBitmap(_BarcodeCam.BitmapSource);

        _ImageEditor.Bitmap = bitmap;
        _ImageEditor.AutoDeskew();
        _ImageEditor.AdvancedBinarize();

        var reader = new BarcodeReader();
        reader.Horizontal = true;
        reader.Vertical = true;
        reader.Pdf417 = true;

        //_ImageEditor.Bitmap.Save("c:\\barcodeimage.jpg", System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Jpeg);

        var barcodes = reader.Read(_ImageEditor.Bitmap);

        if (barcodes.Count() > 0)

Solution 3

I've just successfully integrated the ZXing .Net port from java. It's not as powerful as other paid SDK's - for instance it couldn't detect barcodes in a rotated image. However, it's free and might work for you if you're on a budget. Generally you'll find the paid SDKs cost $400 and up. It has over a million downloads on Nuget, if that means anything.

https://github.com/micjahn/ZXing.Net

Solution 4

try this

http://platform.twit88.com/projects/mt-barcode

This is a zxing c# port

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Comments

[Summer Sun]

Thanks for the reply. I was looking at this earlier but I wasn't able to find a decoder for PDF417 on that site without the Unlimited Developer License. It's looking like it's going to be a lot cheaper just to buy a physical scanner and use that on the items before they're scanned in!

[Ant]

This isn't a library, it's an executable. Also, it's only free for personal use.

[Ant]

Fixed the link, but compared to the ClearImage library this is hopeless. I couldn't get it to recognise any images, whereas the ClearImage library had a very good success rate.

[Ant]

I put this library behind a web service and sent it cropped and scaled images of PDF417 barcodes (~40K JPEGs) from an iPad camera. As long as the images were in focus and had reasonable lighting levels it did a good job.

[J0e3gan]

Update: the link indicates that the component has been discontinued. IDAutomation's current barcode components all seem to address generation rather than decoding.

[Grijan]

is this a library file

[Savage]

I implemented this but it was highly sensitive and required crystal clear barcodes that were cropped already. I went with another ZXing port instead: github.com/micjahn/ZXing.Net