how do barcodes work?

[Semidevil]

when I was in korea, I stayed in the dorm room of my gf's brother dorm room.....and to enter the building, the students had to swipe their ID card to open the door.

My gf's brother, then took a regular plastic card, and taped a piece of paper w/ the copyof the bar code, and voila, it opened the door....and gave it to me...

I'm wondering, how did he do that? it's the barcode with the thick and thin lines.....with those, do you just copy it, and it will work?

 

[ElFenix]

yes.

 

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/upc.htm

 

[mwmorph]

it is just line that stand for 1 or 0. binary,. copying it will work.

 

[artikk]

A laser reads a series of lines.
link.

 

[Semidevil]

what about the ones without the thick/thin lines? how would I copy that? haha

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
what about the ones without the thick/thin lines? how would I copy that? haha

what barcodes dont have the thick/thin lines?

magnetic strips on cards??

those are magnetic...

MIKE

 

[RossMAN]

You should buy a CueCat barcode scanner off eBay.com
http://airsoldier.com/~cuecat/

Install catnip and scan in all your DVD's into a DVD database without entering any info.

 

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1

Originally posted by: Semidevil
what about the ones without the thick/thin lines? how would I copy that? haha

what barcodes dont have the thick/thin lines?

magnetic strips on cards??

those are magnetic...

MIKE

'3-D' barcodes are more like a series of spots. Look at a UPS package for an example.

 

[GeekDrew]

Talking about 3D barcodes, a series of patterns? At least I think that's what they're called... yes, copying them should also work fine.

Anything that reads anything with a scanner such as a barcode scanner can work from a photocopy.

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: jumpr
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/upc.htm

wow that's awesome, i had an idea of how they worked, but knowing how the check digit works and how coupon codes work, zero supressed numbers, etc. it's pretty sweet

in fact, after reading how coupon code bar codes work, i think i may try to forge some :evil:

 

[WannaFly]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
it is just line that stand for 1 or 0. binary,. copying it will work.

You, sir, need to read the HSW link.

 

Originally posted by: Joemonkey

Originally posted by: jumpr
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/upc.htm

wow that's awesome, i had an idea of how they worked, but knowing how the check digit works and how coupon codes work, zero supressed numbers, etc. it's pretty sweet

in fact, after reading how coupon code bar codes work, i think i may try to forge some :evil:

Yes, retail fraud is AWESOME!

 

[Kelemvor]

Some barcodes are just the black lines and nothing else. Some can be infrared encoded which makes them impossible to copy. Our badges at work are like that.

FOr normal barcodes you can get software that you enter some info and it prints the barcode for you.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
You should buy a CueCat barcode scanner off eBay.com
http://airsoldier.com/~cuecat/

Install catnip and scan in all your DVD's into a DVD database without entering any info.

I've been meaning to do that, thanks for the...catalyst

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1

Originally posted by: Semidevil
what about the ones without the thick/thin lines? how would I copy that? haha

what barcodes dont have the thick/thin lines?

magnetic strips on cards??

those are magnetic...

MIKE

'3-D' barcodes are more like a series of spots. Look at a UPS package for an example.

You mean 2-d barcodes, not 3-d. that is, unless you found a barcode that has some sort of height to it, which I haven't see yet .

2-D barcodes are a PITA to work with, btw.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
what about the ones without the thick/thin lines? how would I copy that? haha

same idea... just put it on a photocopier and it will copy. your paper will look blank but just because you can't see them doesn't mean the lines aren't there. voila, open sesamé.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1

Originally posted by: Semidevil
what about the ones without the thick/thin lines? how would I copy that? haha

what barcodes dont have the thick/thin lines?

magnetic strips on cards??

those are magnetic...

MIKE

'3-D' barcodes are more like a series of spots. Look at a UPS package for an example.

You mean 2-d barcodes, not 3-d. that is, unless you found a barcode that has some sort of height to it, which I haven't see yet .

2-D barcodes are a PITA to work with, btw.

They're likely referring to the PDF417 symbology.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
Some barcodes are just the black lines and nothing else. Some can be infrared encoded which makes them impossible to copy. Our badges at work are like that.

FOr normal barcodes you can get software that you enter some info and it prints the barcode for you.

You don't even need software; all you need is a font and a suitable printer.

 

[Warthog912]

essentially barcodes are a specific font with bars instead of letters. That's what it boils down too-