Turn a part number, serial or any text into a Data Matrix code — also written DataMatrix — and download a high-resolution PNG, JPG or SVG. Square or rectangular, ECC 200, no sign-up.
Type or paste what the code should carry — a part number, a serial, a URL or any text.
Still need the label?
The editor puts the barcode onto a real label — text, lines, images, batch and expiry — and you print the whole sheet at once.
✦ Open the label editor
Need GS1 data — GTIN, batch, expiry — inside the code? Use the full generator for GS1 DataMatrix, GS1-128, EAN-13 and more.
A Data Matrix is a two-dimensional barcode that stores text in a grid of black and white squares, read by a camera or an imaging scanner. It is defined by ISO/IEC 16022, which writes the name as two words — Data Matrix — while software and barcode libraries usually write it as one, DataMatrix. Both names mean the same symbology.
It holds up to 2,335 alphanumeric characters, 3,116 digits or 1,556 bytes, though most real codes carry far less: a part number, a serial, a short link. Its strength is density — it stays readable when printed very small, which is why it marks circuit boards, electronic components, surgical instruments, pharmaceutical packs and aerospace parts.
Both are 2D codes and both are read by a camera. Data Matrix fits the same data into a smaller area and survives being printed tiny, so it wins on parts and instruments where there is almost no room. A QR code is the one the public recognises and the one a phone scans out of the box, so it wins when a customer is the reader. If in doubt: Data Matrix for the factory, QR code for the shop.
A Data Matrix is square by default. The rectangular extension — DMRE, Data Matrix Rectangular Extension — fits a long shallow strip instead, which is what you need on a cable label, a pen, a syringe or a narrow component. Choose Rectangular above to get one. Older scanners do not all read rectangular codes, so test with your own hardware before a large run.
Keep the encoded text short, print with strong dark-on-light contrast, and leave a clear quiet-zone margin of at least one module on every side. Use SVG for anything laser-marked or printed large. For direct part marking on metal or plastic, where contrast comes from etching rather than ink, ask your marking supplier what module size their reader needs, and always test-scan with the scanner that will do the job.
The generator above makes a plain Data Matrix, and a plain Data Matrix keeps whatever you type as text. Paste (01)05601234567892(17)250531 into one and the brackets are stored as literal characters: the code draws, it scans, and what comes back is that string with its brackets still in it. No system pulls a GTIN out of it, because there is no GTIN field in there — only text shaped like one. Nothing looks wrong on the label. It looks wrong at goods-in.
A GS1 DataMatrix is the same symbology with the GS1 rules on top: a leading FNC1 character and application identifiers, so the receiving system can tell (01) from (17) and read each as a field. It is in the full generator, on the Pro plan.
Many free generators draw that string exactly as it comes, and say nothing.
Both spellings mean the same symbology. The ISO/IEC 16022 standard writes it Data Matrix, as two words; DataMatrix as one word is common in software and in barcode libraries. This page generates the same code whichever way you spell it.
ECC 200 is the current version of Data Matrix, and the only one you should use for new work. It uses Reed-Solomon error correction, so a code still reads when part of it is damaged, worn or covered. Every code on this page is ECC 200.
Up to 2,335 alphanumeric characters, 3,116 digits or 1,556 bytes at the largest size. In practice most people encode far less — a part number, a serial or a short URL — which keeps the code small and easy to read.
Data Matrix packs the same data into a smaller area and reads reliably at very small sizes, which is why it is used on circuit boards, surgical instruments and pharmaceutical packs. QR codes are better known to the public and are the usual choice when a customer will scan the code with a phone.
A Data Matrix is square by default. The rectangular extension fits a long, shallow strip — useful on cable labels, pens, syringes and narrow components where a square will not fit. Choose Rectangular above; check that your scanner supports it before a large run.
Not in a plain Data Matrix: the brackets would be stored as ordinary text and no GTIN would come out. GS1 data needs a GS1 DataMatrix, which carries the application identifiers properly. It is available in the full generator.
Yes. Data Matrix is one of the core free formats — no sign-up — downloadable as PNG, JPG or SVG. There is no watermark and no logo on the code: the file you download is exactly what you print.