Barcodes Generator

Generate high quality barcode images. Supports QR Code, Datamatrix, Code 39, Code 128, PDF417 and many other barcode types.

Try it live: Barcodes Generator → API Tester — send a real request from your browser.

POST /v1/barcode/generate

Attributes

Attributes are case-sensitive and should be inside JSON for POST request. for example: { "url": "https://example.com/file1.pdf" }

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description
callback	string	No	-	The callback URL (or Webhook) used to receive the POST data. see Webhooks & Callbacks. This is only applicable when async is set to true.
name	string	No	-	File name for the generated output, the input must be in string format.
expiration	integer	No	60	Set the expiration time for the output link in minutes. After this specified duration, any generated output file(s) will be automatically deleted from PDF.co Temporary Files Storage. The maximum duration for link expiration varies based on your current subscription plan. To store permanent input files (e.g. re-usable images, pdf templates, documents) consider using PDF.co Built-In Files Storage.
inline	boolean	No	false	Set to true to return results inside the response. Otherwise, the endpoint will return a URL to the output file generated.
async	boolean	No	false	Set async to true for long processes to run in the background, API will then return a jobId which you can use with the Background Job Check endpoint. Also see Webhooks & Callbacks
type	string	Yes	QRCode	Set the barcode type to be used. See available barcode types in the Supported Barcode Types
value	string	Yes	-	Set the string value to encode inside the barcode, must be in a string format.
decorationImage	string	No	-	Set this to the image that you want to be inserted the logo inside the QR-Code barcode. To use your file please upload it first to the temporary storage, see the Upload Files section.
profiles	object	No	-	See Profiles for more information.
outputDataFormat	string	No	-	If you require your output as base64 format, set this to base64
Angle	integer	No	0	See profiles.Angle
NarrowBarWidth	integer	No	3	See profiles.NarrowBarWidth
CaptionFont	string	No	Arial, 12	See profiles.CaptionFont
DataEncryptionAlgorithm	string	No	-	Controls the encryption algorithm used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. The available algorithms are: AES128, AES192, AES256.
DataEncryptionKey	string	No	-	Controls the encryption key used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information.
DataEncryptionIV	string	No	-	Controls the encryption IV used for data encryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information.
DataDecryptionAlgorithm	string	No	-	Controls the decryption algorithm used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information. The available algorithms are: AES128, AES192, AES256.
DataDecryptionKey	string	No	-	Controls the decryption key used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information.
DataDecryptionIV	string	No	-	Controls the decryption IV used for data decryption. See User-Controlled Encryption for more information.

profiles.Angle

Specifies the barcode’s rotation angle as an integer in degrees.

Value	Description
0	0 degrees clockwise
1	90 degrees clockwise
2	180 degrees clockwise
3	270 degrees clockwise

{
 "profiles": "{'Angle': 3}"
}

profiles.NarrowBarWidth

Specifies the width of the narrow bars in the barcode in pixels.

{
 "profiles": "{'NarrowBarWidth': 3}"
}

profiles.CaptionFont

Specifies the font and size of the caption text displayed with the barcode.

{
 "profiles": "{'CaptionFont': 'Arial, 12'}"
}

Query parameters

No query parameters accepted.

Responses

Parameter	Type	Description
url	string	Direct URL to the final PDF file stored in S3.
outputLinkValidTill	string	Timestamp indicating when the output link will expire
error	boolean	Indicates whether an error occurred (false means success)
status	string	Status code of the request (200, 404, 500, etc.). For more information, see Response Codes.
name	string	Name of the output file
credits	integer	Number of credits consumed by the request
remainingCredits	integer	Number of credits remaining in the account
duration	integer	Time taken for the operation in milliseconds

QRCode Example

Example Payload

To see the request size limits, please refer to the Request Size Limits.

{
  "name": "barcode.png",
  "value": "abcdef123456",
  "type": "QRCode",
  "inline": false,
  "async": false,
  "decorationImage": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-generator/logo.png"
}

Example Response

To see the main response codes, please refer to the Response Codes page.

{
  "url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/72bc579b37844d9f9e63ce06de5196d8/barcode.png",
  "error": false,
  "status": 200,
  "name": "barcode.png",
  "duration": 380,
  "remainingCredits": 98725598,
  "credits": 7
}

Example CURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/generate' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--data-raw '{
"name": "barcode.png",
"value": "abcdef123456",
"type": "QRCode",
"inline": false,
"async": false
}'

QRCode with Logo Inside Example

Example Payload

To see the request size limits, please refer to the Request Size Limits.

{
  "name": "barcode.png",
  "value": "abcdef123456",
  "type": "QRCode",
  "inline": true,
  "async": false
}

Example Response

To see the main response codes, please refer to the Response Codes page.

{
  "url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/9a87556a8b9e4f4eae60843e697250d4/barcode.png",
  "error": false,
  "status": 200,
  "name": "barcode.png",
  "remainingCredits": 60631
}

Example CURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/generate' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--data-raw '{
"name": "barcode.png",
"value": "abcdef123456",
"type": "QRCode",
"inline": false,
"async": false,
"decorationImage": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/barcode-generator/logo.png"
}'

Data URI as Output Example

Example Payload

To see the request size limits, please refer to the Request Size Limits.

{
  "name": "barcode.png",
  "value": "abcdef123456",
  "type": "QRCode",
  "inline": false,
  "async": false
}

Example Response

To see the main response codes, please refer to the Response Codes page.

{
  "url": "data:image/png;base64,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",
  "error": false,
  "status": 200,
  "name": "barcode.png",
  "duration": 298,
  "remainingCredits": 98725605,
  "credits": 7
}

Example CURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/generate' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: *******************' \
--data-raw '{
"name": "barcode.png",
"value": "abcdef123456",
"type": "QRCode",
"inline": true,
"async": false
}'

Inconsistent URL Encoding in cURL Output: When using cURL to make API requests, the output JSON may show URL characters encoded as Unicode escape sequences. For example, the ampersand character (&) may appear as \u0026 in the cURL output. This is normal JSON encoding behavior and does not affect the validity of the URL. The URL will function correctly when used, as JSON parsers automatically decode these escape sequences. If you’re parsing the response programmatically, your JSON parser will handle this conversion automatically.

Code Samples

JavaScript/Node.js

var https = require("https");

// The authentication key (API Key).
// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
const API_KEY = "***********************************";

// Result image file name
const DestinationFile = "./barcode.png";
// Barcode type. See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
const BarcodeType = "Code128";
// Barcode value
const BarcodeValue = "qweasd123456";

// Prepare request to `Barcode Generator` API endpoint
var queryPath = `/v1/barcode/generate`;

// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
    name: 'barcode.png',
    type: BarcodeType,
    value: BarcodeValue
});

var reqOptions = {
    host: "api.pdf.co",
    path: queryPath,
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
        "x-api-key": API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
    }
};


exports.handler = async (event) => {

    let dataString = '';
    const promise_response = await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {

        // Send request
        var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
            response.on('data', chunk => {
                dataString += chunk;
            });

            response.on('end', () => {
                resolve({
                    statusCode: 200,
                    body: JSON.stringify(JSON.parse(dataString), null, 4)
                });
            });

        }).on("error", (e) => {
            reject({
                statusCode: 500,
                body: 'Something went wrong!'
            });
        });

        // Write request data
        postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
        postRequest.end();
    });

    return promise_response;
};

Python

import os
import requests # pip install requests

# The authentication key (API Key).
# Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
API_KEY = "******************************************"

# Base URL for PDF.co Web API requests
BASE_URL = "https://api.pdf.co/v1"

# Result file name
ResultFile = ".\\barcode.png"
# Barcode type. See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
BarcodeType = "Code128"
# Barcode value
BarcodeValue = "qweasd123456"


def main(args = None):
    generateBarcode(ResultFile)

def generateBarcode(destinationFile):
    """Generates Barcode using PDF.co Web API"""

    # Prepare requests params as JSON
    # See documentation: https://docs.pdf.co/api-reference/barcode/generate
    parameters = {}
    parameters["name"] = os.path.basename(destinationFile)
    parameters["type"] = BarcodeType
    parameters["value"] = BarcodeValue

    # Prepare URL for 'Barcode Generate' API request
    url = "{}/barcode/generate".format(BASE_URL)

    # Execute request and get response as JSON
    response = requests.post(url, data=parameters, headers={ "x-api-key": API_KEY })
    if (response.status_code == 200):
        json = response.json()

        if json["error"] == False:
            #  Get URL of result file
            resultFileUrl = json["url"]
            # Download result file
            r = requests.get(resultFileUrl, stream=True)
            if (r.status_code == 200):
                with open(destinationFile, 'wb') as file:
                    for chunk in r:
                        file.write(chunk)
                print(f"Result file saved as \"{destinationFile}\" file.")
            else:
                print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")
        else:
            # Show service reported error
            print(json["message"])
    else:
        print(f"Request error: {response.status_code} {response.reason}")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

namespace PDFCOWebApiExample
{
  class Program
  {
    // The authentication key (API Key).
    // Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
    const String API_KEY = "***********************************";


    // Result file name
    const string ResultFileName = @".\barcode.png";
    // Barcode type. See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
    const string BarcodeType = "Code128";
    // Barcode value
    const string BarcodeValue = "qweasd123456";


    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      // Create standard .NET web client instance
      WebClient webClient = new WebClient();

      // Set API Key
      webClient.Headers.Add("x-api-key", API_KEY);

      // Prepare requests params as JSON
            // See documentation: https://docs.pdf.co/#barcode-generator
            Dictionary<string, string> parameters = new Dictionary<string, string>();
            parameters.Add("name", Path.GetFileName(ResultFileName));
            parameters.Add("type", BarcodeType);
            parameters.Add("value", BarcodeValue);
            // Convert dictionary of params to JSON
            string jsonPayload = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters);

      try
      {
                // URL of "Barcode Generator" endpoint
                string url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/generate";

                // Execute POST request with JSON payload
                string response = webClient.UploadString(url, jsonPayload);

        // Parse JSON response
        JObject json = JObject.Parse(response);

        if (json["error"].ToObject<bool>() == false)
        {
          // Get URL of generated barcode image file
          string resultFileURI = json["url"].ToString();

          // Download generated image file
          webClient.DownloadFile(resultFileURI, ResultFileName);

          Console.WriteLine("Generated barcode saved to \"{0}\" file.", ResultFileName);
        }
        else
        {
          Console.WriteLine(json["message"].ToString());
        }
      }
      catch (WebException e)
      {
        Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
      }
            finally
            {
                webClient.Dispose();
            }


      Console.WriteLine();
      Console.WriteLine("Press any key...");
      Console.ReadKey();
    }
  }
}

Java

package com.company;

import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
import com.google.gson.JsonParser;
import okhttp3.*;

import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Main
{
    // The authentication key (API Key).
    // Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
    final static String API_KEY = "***********************************";

    // Result file name
    final static Path ResultFile = Paths.get(".\\barcode.png");
    // Barcode type. See valid barcode types in the documentation https://docs.pdf.co
    final static String BarcodeType = "Code128";
    // Barcode value
    final static String BarcodeValue = "qweasd123456";


    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
    {
        // Create HTTP client instance
        OkHttpClient webClient = new OkHttpClient();

        // Prepare URL for `Barcode Generator` API call
        String query = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/generate";

        // Make correctly escaped (encoded) URL
        URL url = null;
        try
        {
            url = new URI(null, query, null).toURL();
        }
        catch (URISyntaxException e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        // Create JSON payload
        String jsonPayload = String.format("{\"name\": \"%s\", \"type\": \"%s\", \"value\": \"%s\"}",
            ResultFile.getFileName(),
            BarcodeType,
            BarcodeValue);

        // Prepare request body
        RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"), jsonPayload);

        // Prepare request
        Request request = new Request.Builder()
            .url(url)
            .addHeader("x-api-key", API_KEY) // (!) Set API Key
            .addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
            .post(body)
            .build();

        // Execute request
        Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();

        if (response.code() == 200)
        {
            // Parse JSON response
            JsonObject json = new JsonParser().parse(response.body().string()).getAsJsonObject();

            boolean error = json.get("error").getAsBoolean();
            if (!error)
            {
                // Get URL of generated barcode image file
                String resultFileUrl = json.get("url").getAsString();

                // Download the image file
                downloadFile(webClient, resultFileUrl, ResultFile);

                System.out.printf("Generated barcode saved to \"%s\" file.", ResultFile.toString());
            }
            else
            {
                // Display service reported error
                System.out.println(json.get("message").getAsString());
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // Display request error
            System.out.println(response.code() + " " + response.message());
        }
    }

    public static void downloadFile(OkHttpClient webClient, String url, Path destinationFile) throws IOException
    {
        // Prepare request
        Request request = new Request.Builder()
                .url(url)
                .build();
        // Execute request
        Response response = webClient.newCall(request).execute();

        byte[] fileBytes = response.body().bytes();

        // Save downloaded bytes to file
        OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(destinationFile.toFile());
        output.write(fileBytes);
        output.flush();
        output.close();

        response.close();
    }
}

PHP

<?php

  // Get submitted form data
  $apiKey = $_POST["apiKey"]; // The authentication key (API Key). Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co
  $barcodeType = $_POST["barcodeType"];
  $barcodeValue = $_POST["inputValue"];

  // Create URL
  $url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/barcode/generate";

  // Prepare requests params
  $parameters = array();
  $parameters["value"] = $barcodeValue;
  $parameters["type"] = $barcodeType;

  // Create Json payload
  $data = json_encode($parameters);

  // Create request
  $curl = curl_init();
  curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array("x-api-key: " . $apiKey, "Content-type: application/json"));
  curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
  curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
  curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
  curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $data);

  // Execute request
  $result = curl_exec($curl);

  if (curl_errno($curl) == 0)
  {
      $status_code = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);

      if ($status_code == 200)
      {
          $json = json_decode($result, true);

          if (!isset($json["error"]) || $json["error"] == false)
          {
              $resultFileUrl = $json["url"];

              // Display generated image
              echo "<div>## Result:<img src=" . $resultFileUrl . "></div>";
          }
          else
          {
              // Display service reported errors
              echo "<p>Error: " . $json["message"] . "</p>";
          }
      }
      else
      {
          // Display request error
          echo "<p>Status code: " . $status_code . "</p>";
          echo "<p>" . $result . "</p>";
      }
  }
  else
  {
      // Display CURL error
      echo "Error: " . curl_error($curl);
  }

  // Cleanup
  curl_close($curl);

?>