Free PDF417 Generator

Where it is used

What a PDF417 Is Actually For

One rule covers nearly all of it: reach for PDF417 when the payload is too long for a linear barcode and the thing reading it is a scanner rather than a camera.

Worth being direct about

We Generate the Symbology, Not Driver’s Licences

Output

Vector SVG and PDF, at the Size You Will Actually Print

Most free PDF417 tools hand you a PNG and leave the sizing to you. This one exports genuine vector and lets you state the finished dimensions up front — which matters more for a symbol this wide than for a square one.

Step by step

How to Create a PDF417 Barcode

PDF417 Generator — Frequently Asked Questions

What is a PDF417 barcode?

PDF417 is a stacked barcode: instead of one row of bars it prints several, each row a full linear barcode in its own right, stacked one above another and read row by row. The name describes the geometry — Portable Data File, with every codeword made of 4 bars and 4 spaces spanning 17 modules. Each row starts and ends with a fixed pattern so a scanner can find the row edges and tell which row it is looking at, which is what lets an ordinary laser scanner sweep across the symbol and reassemble the data. That is the property that made it the standard for shipping labels, transport documents and identity documents: it holds far more than a Code 128 while still being readable by scanning hardware that only sees a line, not an image. It is defined in ISO/IEC 15438.

How do I create a PDF417 barcode?

Type or paste the data into the generator at the top of this page — it already has PDF417 selected — and the symbol is drawn in your browser as you type. Adjust the cell colour, the background and the module size if you want, then set a target print width in millimetres, inches or pixels and download PNG, SVG or PDF. There is no signup, no account and no watermark. Two things the tool checks for you: the data must be standard ASCII, and the finished module size is compared against 0.254 mm so you get a warning before you print something too small to scan reliably.

Is the PDF417 generator free?

Yes — free, with no account. This generator does not ask you to sign in to create a code or to download the file, it adds no watermark, and it asks for no card. There is no paid barcode tier at QRKIT to upgrade to: vector export, the DPI and print-width controls, and bulk generation are all in the free tool. The codes are yours to use commercially.

Can I generate a driver's licence barcode with this?

No, and we are not going to add it. The barcode on the back of a US driver’s licence or state ID is a PDF417 symbol, so the symbology is the same one this page generates — but what makes it a licence is the payload, an AAMVA-formatted record with a compliance-indicator header, an issuer identification number, jurisdiction-specific field codes and a defined element order. This tool has none of that. It encodes the literal text you type into the box, and there is no AAMVA field builder, no jurisdiction list and no ID template anywhere in it. We generate the symbology; we do not help reproduce an identity document. What the generator is genuinely built for is the other side of PDF417 — shipping labels, transport and customs documents, inventory tags, work orders and any payload too long for a Code 128 to carry.

How much data can a PDF417 hold?

Far more than a linear barcode, and more than this page will let you type. The input here accepts up to 512 characters, which is a limit of our single-line field rather than anything in the standard. The encoder's own ceiling was measured by feeding it longer and longer payloads until it refused: 2,713 digits, 1,852 uppercase letters, 1,554 characters of mixed printable ASCII, and 1,234 mixed-case letters — the tightest case, because switching between upper and lower case costs the encoder a shift each time. So 512 clears the worst case by better than double, and no payload this field can hold will ever run the encoder out of room. In practice the useful limit arrives long before that one does: 512 printable characters is a symbol 256 modules wide and 93 tall, which is a wide label rather than a barcode you can tuck into a corner.

Why is my PDF417 so wide, and can I make it taller or narrower?

Because that shape is the symbology, not a setting. A PDF417 is never square: the encoder picks how many data columns to use and then as many rows as the payload needs, and each of those codeword rows is rendered three modules tall, which is the row height ISO/IEC 15438 recommends. Measured here: a short serial like QRKIT-12345 comes out 103 modules wide by 24 tall, and a 512-character payload comes out 256 by 93. There is no column-count control and no error-correction-level picker on this page — the encoder chooses both — and there is no Height slider either, because making a PDF417 taller without adding rows would just stretch it out of spec. What you can set is how big one module is drawn, and, in the download panel, the exact finished width in millimetres, inches or pixels. Both dimensions scale together from there.

Why does the generator refuse accented or non-Latin characters?

Because encoding them would produce a label that scans back as something you never typed. This one is worth being precise about, because PDF417 can physically encode them: its byte compaction mode will take any octet at all, and the encoder we use will happily build a symbol for “café”. The problem is not storage, it is interpretation. ISO/IEC 15438 says a reader should interpret the bytes as ISO 8859-1 unless the symbol carries an ECI designator saying otherwise, and this tool emits no ECI designator. So an accented character would go in as UTF-8 bytes and come back out of the scanner as “café” — a label that looks perfect, prints perfectly, and says the wrong thing. Rather than hand you that, the input is refused with a message naming the cause. Anything in standard ASCII — letters, digits, punctuation, a URL, a reference number — encodes exactly as typed, and nothing is auto-uppercased, because uppercasing a URL would change where it points.

Can I download a PDF417 as an SVG or another vector file?

Yes. SVG and PDF are both true vector here — the symbol is drawn as real rectangles and written straight into the file, not traced from an image, so it stays crisp at any size and a plate-maker or a thermal-label RIP can use it directly. PNG is the raster option, exported at 72, 150, 300 or 600 DPI. There is no EPS export. If you want a scalable QR code instead, that is on our SVG QR code page.

PDF417 or QR code — which should I use?

It depends on what is going to read it. PDF417 is stacked rows of bars, so a laser scanner can read it by sweeping a line across the symbol — which is why it is specified on shipping labels, transport documents and identity documents, where the reading equipment is often laser-based and already installed. A QR code is a true matrix symbology and needs a camera or an imaging scanner; nothing that only sees a line can decode it. The trade is shape and density: a QR code packs more into a compact square, a PDF417 spreads out into a wide strip that fits a label edge. And a phone matters here — phone cameras read QR codes out of the box and generally do not read PDF417. The full side-by-side is on our QR code vs barcode comparison.

How is PDF417 different from Data Matrix?

Different shape, different reader, different job. Data Matrix is a true square matrix that packs a short payload into a very small area, which is why it ends up marked on circuit boards, surgical instruments and ampoules — and it needs an imaging scanner. PDF417 is stacked rows of bars that a laser scanner can read, and it spreads wide rather than small, which suits a shipping label or a transport document carrying a long payload. Both are in the same picker on this page, so you can type the same data into each and compare the symbols before you commit. The Data Matrix generator has the full detail on that one.

Can I generate PDF417 barcodes in bulk?

Yes. Open “Generate many at once” under the generator, paste a column of values or upload a CSV, and download the batch as a ZIP of PNGs, a ZIP of SVGs, or a single PDF with one code per page. Up to 500 rows run at a time. That cap is a browser-memory limit, not a plan limit — it is the same 500 for everyone, signing in does not raise it, and the tool tells you exactly how many rows were left out so nothing is dropped silently. Every row is checked with the same rules as the single-code field, so an invalid value is reported with its row number instead of quietly producing a broken label.

How small can a PDF417 be printed?

Smaller than most people try, but the limit is your printer rather than the symbology — ISO/IEC 15438 sets no absolute floor. The figure this generator warns you at is 0.254 mm, ten thousandths of an inch, which is a general printing guideline for one module. Because a PDF417 row is drawn three modules tall, holding that number also keeps the row height at about 0.762 mm, which is the 3X the standard recommends. The quiet zone matters just as much and is easy to lose in a label layout: PDF417 wants at least two modules of clear space on all four sides — twice the single module a Data Matrix needs, because a laser has to see clear space before it hits the start pattern on each row, though still only half the four modules ISO/IEC 18004 asks for around a QR code. The tool draws that quiet zone into the exported file, so do not crop tight to the bars. Test a real printed sample with the scanner that will read it before committing to a run.

Do you support Compact PDF417 or MicroPDF417?

No. The generator produces standard PDF417 only. Both variants exist in the encoder we use and both would encode, so their absence is a decision rather than a technical limit — each would need its own validator, its own quiet-zone figure and its own set of interface strings in eighteen languages, and neither has the demand to justify that. If a specification calls for MicroPDF417 in particular, check whether it will accept standard PDF417 at a smaller module size first; that is often the actual constraint.

Can I edit a PDF417 after printing, or track how often it is scanned?

No. Every code this tool makes is static: the data is inside the symbol, so once it is printed it says what it says forever, and nothing routes through us to be counted. There are no scan analytics, no redirects and no editing after download — that is a property of the symbology, not a feature we are holding back. There is also no barcode API here, and no plugin or library. If you need a code whose destination you can change later, or scan counts, use a dynamic QR code instead.

Can QRKIT read or decode a PDF417?

No. This page generates PDF417 symbols; it does not scan or decode them. Our scanner reads QR codes only. To read a PDF417 you need a laser or imaging scanner configured for the symbology, or a phone app that lists PDF417 among the codes it handles — a phone's built-in camera app normally will not do it, because it is looking for QR codes.