Data Matrix Code Generator
A compact square code that stays readable when it is printed small or partly damaged. It is the default choice for marking components directly.
Its finder runs along two whole edges rather than sitting in three corners, so a scuffed corner costs it far less than the same damage costs a QR code. The sizes usually quoted for it, a few millimeters square, assume industrial optics and controlled lighting. A phone camera needs considerably more.
- Electronics and component marking
- Aerospace and automotive parts
- Laboratory samples
- Document tracking
Preview
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About Data Matrix
Compact 2D code for manufacturing, healthcare and logistics. Reads reliably when marked directly on metal or plastic, and stays scannable when partly damaged.
Any text, up to about 2,300 characters
What is Data Matrix?
Data Matrix packs data into a square grid of black and white cells, with a solid L-shaped border on two sides that tells the scanner where the symbol is and how it is rotated. The version in use everywhere is ECC 200, which adds Reed–Solomon error correction so a symbol still reads when part of it is scratched, printed badly or covered. It stays legible at sizes where a linear barcode would be unusable, which is why it is the default choice for marking small components directly.
Technical characteristics
- Symbol
- ECC 200, square, 10×10 to 144×144 modules
- Error correction
- Reed–Solomon, fixed by symbol size
- Capacity
- Up to 2,335 alphanumeric or 3,116 numeric characters
- Quiet zone
- One module on each side
- Orientation
- Read at any angle; the L-shaped finder resolves rotation
The L and the clock track
Two adjacent edges of a Data Matrix are solid dark lines. The opposite two alternate dark and light. Together they tell a decoder where the symbol is, which way it is turned, and how many cells it is across, without any of the corner squares a QR code uses.
That design pays off on damaged labels. A QR code has three small critical regions, and losing one of them makes the symbol unfindable however good the error correction is. A Data Matrix spreads the same job along two whole edges, so a scuffed corner costs it a fraction of a finder rather than all of one.
It does not have to be square
Rectangular versions exist, and they are the reason you find Data Matrix on things no square would fit: cable flags, blister foil between the pockets, the flat of a small component. They hold less than the square sizes, which is the trade, and they are worth reaching for only when the space genuinely dictates it.
How small it really goes
Data Matrix is the format people mean when they say a code can be a couple of millimeters across, and that is true with the equipment those applications use: fixed optics, controlled lighting, a known working distance. It is not true of a phone camera.
Data Matrix FAQs
Data Matrix or QR Code?
Data Matrix is denser at small sizes and needs a much smaller quiet zone, which matters when marking a component. QR is more widely recognized by consumer phone cameras. For industrial marking, Data Matrix; for something a member of the public will scan, QR.
How small can it be printed?
That is set by your printer and scanner, not the format. The limit is whether a module can be reproduced and resolved reliably. Direct part marking commonly goes to a few millimeters square.
What format does the download come in?
Data Matrix codes download as PNG. The symbol is drawn at a whole number of pixels per module, which is what keeps it scannable at the size you asked for.
Will a phone camera read it?
Less reliably than a QR code. Phone cameras are built around QR first, and support for Data Matrix varies by handset, operating system version and app. Where the audience is the general public, use a QR code. Data Matrix earns its place where the reader is a dedicated scanner and the space is too small for anything else.