PDF417

• May 22, 2026
• 2 minutes to read

PDF417 (Portable Data File) is a stacked, two-dimensional barcode used for transport, postal, identification, and inventory workflows. The symbol typically includes 3 to 90 rows of linear codewords.

View Example

Examples

Configure Barcode Settings (PDF417Options)

Use the PDF417Options class to configure PDF417 barcode settings.

The following code snippet creates the PDF417 barcode and specifies its settings:

C#

using DevExpress.Docs.Barcode;
using DevExpress.Drawing;
using System.Drawing;

var pdf417Options = new PDF417Options();
pdf417Options.Columns = 3;
pdf417Options.TruncateSymbol = false;
pdf417Options.ErrorCorrectionLevel = PDF417ErrorCorrectionLevel.Level2;
pdf417Options.BackColor = Color.LightGray;
pdf417Options.ShowText = false;
pdf417Options.Padding = new Padding(5);
pdf417Options.BorderWidth = 1;
pdf417Options.BorderColor = Color.Blue;

using var pdf417OptionsStream = new FileStream(Path.Combine(outDir, "barcode_symbology_pdf417.png"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
using var pdf417OptionsGenerator = new BarcodeGenerator(pdf417Options);
pdf417OptionsGenerator.Export("PDF417 DEMO 1234567890", pdf417OptionsStream, DXImageFormat.Png);

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Docs.Barcode
Imports DevExpress.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.IO

Dim pdf417Options As New PDF417Options()
pdf417Options.Columns = 3
pdf417Options.TruncateSymbol = False
pdf417Options.ErrorCorrectionLevel = PDF417ErrorCorrectionLevel.Level2
pdf417Options.BackColor = Color.LightGray
pdf417Options.ShowText = False
pdf417Options.Padding = New Padding(5)
pdf417Options.BorderWidth = 1
pdf417Options.BorderColor = Color.Blue

Using pdf417OptionsStream As New FileStream(Path.Combine(outDir, "barcode_symbology_pdf417.png"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write)
    Using pdf417OptionsGenerator As New BarcodeGenerator(pdf417Options)
        pdf417OptionsGenerator.Export("PDF417 DEMO 1234567890", pdf417OptionsStream, DXImageFormat.Png)
    End Using
End Using

Configure Barcode Settings (Fluent API)

Use the PDF417OptionsBuilder class to configure PDF417 barcode settings with Fluent API.

The following code snippet creates the PDF417 barcode and specifies its settings:

C#

using DevExpress.Docs.Barcode;
using DevExpress.Drawing;
using System.Drawing;

var pdf417Code = PDF417OptionsBuilder.Create()
    .WithColumns(3)
    .WithTruncateSymbol(false)
    .WithErrorCorrectionLevel(PDF417ErrorCorrectionLevel.Level2)
    .WithBackColor(Color.LightGray)
    .WithShowText(false)
    .WithPadding(5)
    .WithBorderWidth(1)
    .WithBorderColor(Color.Blue)
    .Build();

var filePath = Path.GetFullPath("pdf417_barcode.png");

using var stream = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Create);
using var generator = new BarcodeGenerator(pdf417Code);
generator.Export("PDF417 DEMO 1234567890", stream, DXImageFormat.Png);

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Docs.Barcode
Imports DevExpress.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.IO

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim pdf417Code = PDF417OptionsBuilder.Create() _
            .WithColumns(3) _
            .WithTruncateSymbol(False) _
            .WithErrorCorrectionLevel(PDF417ErrorCorrectionLevel.Level2) _
            .WithBackColor(Color.LightGray) _
            .WithShowText(False) _
            .WithPadding(5) _
            .WithBorderWidth(1) _
            .WithBorderColor(Color.Blue) _
            .Build()

        Dim filePath = Path.GetFullPath("pdf417_barcode.png")

        Using stream As New FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Create)
            Using generator As New BarcodeGenerator(pdf417Code)
                generator.Export("PDF417 DEMO 1234567890", stream, DXImageFormat.Png)
            End Using
        End Using
    End Sub
End Module

Symbology-Specific Options

Property	Description
CompactionMode	Specifies the compaction mode.
ErrorCorrectionLevel	Specifies the error correction level.
Rows	Specifies the number of rows in a PDF417 barcode.
Columns	Specifies number of columns in the symbol’s data region.
TruncateSymbol	Specifies whether the right-hand side of the code symbol is truncated to create a compact code.
YToXRatio	Specifies the Y (the height of each row) to X (width of the narrowest bar) ratio of the symbol.