PDF417

• Jun 19, 2026
• 2 minutes to read

PDF417 (Portable Data File 417) is a stacked linear 2D barcode symbology used for encoding large amounts of structured data. The symbol consists of multiple stacked rows of codewords, typically ranging from 3 to 90 rows.

Refer to the following page for additional information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF417

Configure PDF417 Settings

Use the PDF417Options class to configure PDF417 barcode settings.

Method	Description
setCompactionMode(PDF417CompactionMode value)	Specifies how input data is compacted (text, numeric, or byte mode).
setErrorCorrectionLevel()	Specifies the error correction level.
setRows(int value)	Specifies the number of rows in the symbol.
setColumns(int value)	Specifies the number of columns in the symbol.
setTruncateSymbol(boolean value)	Specifies whether to truncate the right-hand side of the symbol.
setYToXRatio(float value)	Specifies the height-to-width ratio of barcode elements for print optimization.

The following code snippet creates a PDF417 barcode and customizes its encoding parameters:

import com.devexpress.drawing.*;
import com.devexpress.docs.barcode.*;
import com.devexpress.system.drawing.*;
import com.devexpress.docs.Padding;

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        PDF417Options options = new PDF417Options();
        options.setColumns(3);
        options.setTruncateSymbol(false);
        options.setErrorCorrectionLevel(PDF417ErrorCorrectionLevel.LEVEL_2);
        options.setCompactionMode(PDF417CompactionMode.TEXT);
        options.setPadding(new Padding(10));
        options.setShowText(true);
        options.setWidth(600);
        options.setHeight(200);

        Path outputDir = Path.of("output");
        Files.createDirectories(outputDir);

        try (FileOutputStream fileStream = new FileOutputStream(
                outputDir.resolve("pdf417 .png").toFile());
                BarcodeGenerator barcodeGenerator = new BarcodeGenerator(options)) {
                    barcodeGenerator.export(
                            "PDF417 DEMO 1234567890",
                            fileStream,
                            DXImageFormat.getPng());
        }
    }
}

Fluent API

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

The following code snippet creates a PDF417 barcode and customizes its encoding parameters with the Fluent API:

import com.devexpress.drawing.*;
import com.devexpress.docs.barcode.*;
import com.devexpress.system.drawing.*;
import com.devexpress.docs.Padding;

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        PDF417Options options = PDF417OptionsBuilder.create()
            .withColumns(3)
            .withTruncateSymbol(false)
            .withErrorCorrectionLevel(PDF417ErrorCorrectionLevel.LEVEL_2)
            .withCompactionMode(PDF417CompactionMode.TEXT)
            .withPadding(new Padding(10))
            .withShowText(true)
            .withWidth(600)
            .withHeight(200)
            .build();

        Path outputDir = Path.of("output");
        Files.createDirectories(outputDir);

        try (FileOutputStream fileStream = new FileOutputStream(
                outputDir.resolve("pdf417 .png").toFile());
                BarcodeGenerator barcodeGenerator = new BarcodeGenerator(options)) {
                    barcodeGenerator.export(
                            "PDF417 DEMO 1234567890",
                            fileStream,
                            DXImageFormat.getPng());
        }
    }
}