Stacked Barcode
A stacked barcode splits a long linear encoding into multiple short rows stacked vertically, keeping symbols compact while preserving a linear-style scan.
What You Need to Know
When a linear barcode becomes too wide for its label, stacking trades width for height: PDF417 arranges up to 90 rows of codewords, GS1 DataBar Stacked compresses a retail symbol into two rows for small items, and legacy designs like Code 49 and Code 16K pioneered the approach. Each row carries its own start/stop and row indicators so the decoder can stitch the rows back into one data stream.
Stacked symbologies need the scanner to capture several rows in one pass or assemble them across passes — laser scanners with rastering beams handle this, and image-based scanners trivially. The row-to-row alignment must stay accurate: label skew, substrate warping, or vertical quiet-zone violations that would be harmless to a single-row code can split a stacked read. ITF-14 is sometimes confused as stacked; it is a single-row code with bearer bars.
Where Stacked Barcode Applies
A stacked-linear 2D code carrying up to 1,850 text characters — the workhorse of IDs, boarding passes, and transport documents.
Generate PDF417 →The two-row stacked DataBar — 14-digit GTIN in a square-ish footprint for fresh produce stickers.
Generate GS1 DataBar Stacked →The variable-length DataBar carrying GTIN plus extra AI data — weights, dates, lot numbers — on fresh food.
Generate GS1 DataBar Expanded →