Should I use Barcodes in my Gallery?

Barcodes are a wonderful thing! Especially when it is time to take inventory. And the good news is that other than a barcode reader, you really DON'T need anything special to begin using barcodes.

Whether your inventory is owned or on consignment, setting up a barcode system can really help you track each piece. And it doesn't matter if it's a $2.00 teaspoon or a $20,000 original. You'll be much more confident that you're dealing with the right piece when the system reads a barcode from the back of the piece instead of having an item number typed in from a keyboard. For those of you who do framing, perhaps you've noticed that most molding manufacturers now barcode their corner samples as well.

The problem, then, is how to take advantage of a barcode system, without jeopardizing the aesthetic aspects of your gallery. Now, I understand that many gallery owners absolutely do not want a barcode to be shown to the public. They feel it cheapens the gallery's image in some way. I would be the first to agree that if you were to stick a barcode label on the front of a $10,000 piece of art it would detract from the piece. Nobody wants his or her gallery to look like a supermarket. But do you EVER stick ANY label on the front of a $10,000 piece? NO. So it's beyond me why some owners think that using a barcode means tagging the front of every item.

On a major work like this, it is common to have a nice printed wall or price card beside the piece. This card shows the Title, Artist, Medium, Price, (whatever...) So why not put the barcode on the back of the card? When you need to sell the piece, you take the card, not the piece, to the front counter to scan the barcode. It's the same when you're taking inventory at the end of the year. Simply scan the backs of all the cards.

For smaller items such as glass, jewelry, and other small pieces, I do not feel it detracts from the piece to have a barcode label on the bottom. Barcodes are so pervasive in our society now that most people expect them. Who knows, it may be that having a nice printed barcode actually implies higher quality than any hand-written label. The barcode tells me that you're more organized and that you're being more careful with tracking the piece. I feel that, because barcodes are so easy to generate and use, any gallery owner with over about 200 pieces is really missing out by not using them.

Hopefully, by now, I've convinced you that using a barcode system is a good thing to do. If not, keep reading and I'll explain why it's so easy to set up. First I'll explain what a barcode is, and then I'll discuss the types of readers you should consider.

In simple terms, a barcode can be just another font on your computer. In Times Roman, "XYZ" looks like this... XYZ. In Arial, it looks like this.... XYZ and in Barcode 3 of 9 it looks like this... XYZ.

The point is that the information is exactly the same, it's just displayed differently. With a barcode, the information is in a format that can be read electronically. When we take a stock number like 12345, we can print it with a barcode as *12345* and it looks like this *12345* Note that I put an asterisk at the start and end of the barcode. This is a convention on the code39 standard that tells your reader when to start and stop reading the actual data.

So if you have a True Type barcode font on your computer, you can begin printing barcodes yourself today.

The next consideration is which font to use. Suppose you were printing a formal invitation. You wouldn't want to use one of the squiggly child fonts to address the envelopes. Well, when you're printing barcodes, some fonts are more appropriate than others are. Items that have pre-printed barcodes (a book, for example) use a special font; usually called UPC-A or UPC-B. All the common readers will handle those so don't worry about them. But for the barcodes you make yourself, you need to pick a particular font and stick with it.

My preference in this area is a font called Code39 (also called Barcode 3 of 9.) Code 39 is a convention and there are several varieties of fonts that support code39. In general, these font includes all the letters of the alphabet (usually just upper case though), plus numbers and several common symbols like @. The reason I like this font is that it doesn't have any difficult formatting requirements like adding check-sums (so it's easier to use) and the Code39 convention is so common that you can be assured that which ever reader you purchase it will support the font.

You can download an excellent Code39 font from http://home.att.net/~daffy-duck/ This font was created by a fellow named Matthew Welch. I don't know him but I think he did an excellent job. The fact that he gives the font away free makes it even more appealing! In fact, he named the font "Free 3 of 9"! I used this font in Microsoft Word to create the barcode examples shown above.

You can try it yourself like this. Go the web site shown above and download the Free39 font file. It comes in a ZIP file so you'll have to unzip it into a directory on your hard disk. (If you don't know how to do that, send me email requesting instructions - it's easy.) After getting the font files, click on Start, Settings, Control Panel. Open the Fonts folder by double clicking on the Fonts icon. Click on File and then Install New Font. Point to the folder on your hard disk where you unzipped the font files. Click the Free 3 of 9 font and then click on install. Now you have this font registered on your system and you can use it whenever you want to, just like any other font.

Then, open up Word (or some other word processing package) and type in some text or numbers. Highlight the text you want to change into a barcode. Click on the Format choice and change the Font to Free 3 of 9. The change should happen immediately. If you print the page, the barcode will be printed as well! Cool.

There are also lots of programs that will print barcodes for you. One good one is called "Barcode Anything" by Zebra Technologies. (Good name! and only about $75.00) The inventory module in our gallery management software will print labels with the barcode, title, price and other information. But look, you can make your own barcode labels with a word processor - for FREE. What's stopping you?

A couple more points and I'll be done. There is a big difference between the various barcode readers. The most common types include Wand, CCD and Laser. There are lots of in-counter readers like in the supermarket but we won't even consider those for a gallery! Let's also rule out CCD readers because they're not to good for odd-shaped pieces. So that leaves us with Wands and Lasers.

A barcode Wand is the type that looks like a pen with a red 'dot' on the end. They're pretty cheap and very rugged. But they are hard to use and take some getting used to. You see, they rely on the accuracy of the operator to get a consistent read. Expect to pay between $50 and $150 for these readers. (you get what you pay for - don't go too low end!)

Laser scanners are the ones that look a little bit like a gun. They shoot out a red laser line that reads the barcode from several inches away. They're REALLY easy to use and worth the extra money. Expect to pay between $200 and $1500. The expensive models can survive being dropped a few more times and some are even cordless. Most galleries we sell readers to go for a model that's about $450.

Finally, just because you don't have a barcode reader now, doesn't mean you can't plan for the future. If you're already printing labels for your inventory and those labels have a stock number, get the free font above and start printing barcodes on the labels as well. That way, when you do get a reader, (and I'm confident you will) you'll be ready to begin immediately. When you're bar-coding, remember to put in the star (*) at the beginning and end and don't barcode the whole title, just the stock number.

Good luck, you'll love it.

James Archer is the President and co-founder of Masterpiece Gallery Products. A former Art Gallery Owner himself, he developed the Masterpiece Art Gallery Manager, a software system designed specifically for the Art and related industries.