How to Create Barcodes in .NET RDLC Local Reports using Visual C#

Create barcode in RDLC report in .NET application

We have built two step-by-step tutorial guides on how to create barcode in RDLC reports in .NET application.

How to print barcode in RDLC report in ASP.NET web application?

How to print barcode in RDLC report in Windows Forms application?

Please follow one of the above tutorial and build a demo .NET application with barcode printed in the RDLC report. Here we will further demonstrate how to customize the printed barcode in RDLC reports, including:

Encode various text formats in barcode
Print barcode with specified image size
Styling QR Code and barcodes
Apply image options for printing

How to encode text string in barcode in RDLC report using C#?

Encode ASCII characters

Some barcode formats support full ASCII 128 characters encoding. Here we will show how to create barcode with ASCII characters encoded in RDLC reports.

List of the barcode formats supporting ASCII characters encoding:

Code 128
Code 39 extension
Data Matrix
PDF417
QR Code

To create barcode with ASCII characters encoded, you can enter the encoding ASCII chars directly to property Data in RDLC report using C#.

barcode.Data = "text string";

Encode ASCII control characters

There are few control characters in ASCII character set, which are non-printable. You cannot enter the control characters directly through keyboard. To create barcode with those non-printable chars using C#, you need pass these control character's ASCII integer value (in three digits format) to the C# barcode generator library.

Enable property ProcessTilde to true
Convert ASCII control character to the following format: ~ddd. Here "ddd" is the ASCII integer value in 3 digits. Set the converted text and other text string to property Data

barcode.ProcessTilde = true;
barcode.Data = "Code~013128";

Encode Unicode text

Using BarcodeLib RDLC Reports Barcode Generator library, you can directly enter the encoding Unicode text to the barcode property Data.

List of the barcode formats supporting Unicode encoding:

QR Code
Data Matrix
PDF417

The C# sample code below, we will create three QR Code with Unicode text encoded in RDLC report in ASP.NET web application.

Go to method Page_Load in the Default.aspx.cs file, we have added three columns with different hello in Chinese, Japanese, Thai to the data table. And we will create three QR Code images with Unicode text encoded in the rdlc report.

In the created QRCodeRDLC object, enable property IsUnicodeData to true. The RDLC barcode library will automatically print QR Code using binary data mode with Unicode text encoded in the report.

DataTable dt = new DataTable();

dt.Columns.Add("Website", typeof(String));
dt.Columns.Add("Barcode", typeof(byte[]));
String id1 = "你好 hello in Chinese";
String id2 = "こんにちは hello in Japanese";
String id3 = "สวัสดีค่ะ hello in Thai";

QRCodeRDLC barcode = new QRCodeRDLC();

barcode.ResizeImage = true;
barcode.UOM = UnitOfMeasure.INCH;
barcode.ImageWidth = 2;
barcode.ImageHeight = 2;
barcode.Resolution = 300;
barcode.IsUnicodeData = true;
barcode.ImageFormat = BLImageFormat.PNG;

barcode.Data = id1;
byte[] imgData = barcode.drawBarcodeAsBytes();
dt.Rows.Add(id1, imgData);

// Create data for the 2nd row in the table.
barcode.Data = id2;
imgData = barcode.drawBarcodeAsBytes();
dt.Rows.Add(id2, imgData);

// Create data for the 3rd row in the table.
barcode.Data = id3;
imgData = barcode.drawBarcodeAsBytes();
dt.Rows.Add(id3, imgData);

// Configure Report
ReportDataSource rds = new ReportDataSource("DataSet1", dt);
this.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.DataSources.Clear();
this.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.DataSources.Add(rds);
this.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.ReportPath = Server.MapPath("~/Report1.rdlc");
this.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.Refresh();

Run the ASP.NET web application using Visual Studio, and you can view the QR Codes printed in RDLC report in web browser.

How to print barcode with specified image size in RDLC report?

Step 1: Set image item display size option

Open report file Report1.rdlc in Design mode
Right click barcode image item, choose Image Properties... in the popup menu list.
Go to Size section, select Fit to size. Click button OK.

Step 2: Set barcode image item with specified size in RDLC report designer

Select the barcode image item in the report designer.
In the image properties window, input the specified image width and height.

Step 3: Customize the barcode generation code with required image size

Go to method Page_Load in the Default.aspx.cs file.

Set the property UOM with INCH, which is the same value in the RDLC report designer.
Set the property ImageWidth and ImageHeight to the same values in the image item size in the designer.
Set the property Resolution to a high value for good printing quality

QRCodeRDLC barcode = new QRCodeRDLC();
barcode.UOM = UnitOfMeasure.INCH;
barcode.ImageWidth = 2;
barcode.ImageHeight = 2;
barcode.Resolution = 300;

Preview the printed QR Code image in PDF reader software

We have run the ASP.NET RDLC report application, and export the printed report to PDF file. You can find that the printed QR Code with 2-inch width and height in the Adobe Acrobat application.

Styling QR Code with colors and logo image in RDLC report

You can easily create and customize QR Code with logo image printed in the RDLC reports.

Use property ECL to increate QR Code error correction level to QRCodeErrorCorrectionLevel.Q. Now you have more space to print logo image on the QRCode.
Set QR Code module color and background color to match the logo style.
Set property LogoImage to the logo image object
Set property LogoRenderSize with the logo image rendering area size

QRCodeRDLC barcode = new QRCodeRDLC();
barcode.ResizeImage = true;
barcode.UOM = UnitOfMeasure.INCH;
barcode.ImageWidth = 2;
barcode.ImageHeight = 2;
barcode.Resolution = 300;

barcode.ECL = QRCodeErrorCorrectionLevel.Q;
barcode.ModuleColor = Color.LightBlue;
barcode.BackgroundColor = Color.White;
barcode.LogoImage = new System.Drawing.Bitmap("C://Input//facebook.png");
barcode.LogoRenderSize = new System.Drawing.SizeF(150, 150);

Print high quality barcode images in RDLC reports

To create high quality barcode images in reports for printing, you need generate high resolution barcode images.

You can set the barcode image resolution (dpi) through property Resolution. Make sure the barcode image resolution is higher than your printer's.

barcode.Resolution = 900;

More Online Tutorial for RDLC Local Report Barcoding:

Other .NET Barcode Generator Components

Barcode C# Encoding, Barcode VB.NET Encoding, Barcode C# Recognition, Barcode VB.NET Recognition, QR Code C# Encoding, QR Code VB.NET Encoding, QR Code C# Scanning, QR Code VB.NET Scanning.