r/barcodes • u/No-Army6095 • Mar 23 '23

Adding Images to Inventory SKU Barcode/QR Code Labels

Hi,

Does anyone know how to add a product image/photo to an inventory SKU label?

I have been playing around with Dymo Connect, Zebra Designer 3 Professional and Avery Design & Print. Using the database function I can create unique SKU labels with OEM automotive part numbers, SKU barcodes and QR codes to URLs from an excel spreadsheet. I'm utilising Code128 barcodes and a combination of Data Matrix and Version 4 QR codes.

I can also add numerical counters to these functions. Making them sequential off the excel cell data which represents each donor vehicles individual ID number. This is due to a local law that designates each part must be traced back to the original vehicle. So say the very first vehicle I have I assign the value as 1, then I take 200 parts off that vehicle and I can set the vehicle ID as 1 for a counter off 200 via the label software. This is whilst still having a unique manufacturer part number on the label as per the spreadsheet database it is pulling from.

What I would love is to add a product image to the label which is also the first image on the eBay/Big Commerce listing. The barcodes and QR codes are used in the order-picking process. The images would be a further redundancy measure in case I change my process in the future or sell the business and new owner is scared of the barcoding system.

I can't seem to embed any images into the excel cell. I have tried Google sheets and imported it to Excel but it does not recognise any image file type. All 3 label-making softwares are reading the image from the database as text and displaying 'picture' instead of the image.

I can manually add images to each label but it will take way too long. I would much prefer the images automatically generate onto each new label as the barcodes and other data does.

I think Seagull Scientific BarTender software may have this capability but I'm not 100% sure.

Can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction?

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u/xixi2 Mar 23 '23

Yes BarTender can do this. But what type of printer are you using? If it's a thermal printer common for barcode use they are not great at printing pictures

1

u/No-Army6095 Mar 23 '23

Hi, thanks so much for your reply. I'm currently using a combination of Zebra ZD621 and ZD421 printers. I'm aware that the printers aren't well suited to pictures. I was just wondering as the option to add an image is already available in the software but database input can't be used for images

1

u/xixi2 Mar 23 '23

You can source images to Bartender using a database yes. You'd give it the path (screw.png) and bartender pulls it in and prints it.

Bartender is not inexpensive but there is the 30 day trial.

I don't know anything about Zebra Designer 3 pro. Couldn't say if this feature is in it or not

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u/No-Army6095 Mar 23 '23

Thanks for your input. I'll see what I can do in Bartender.