So I've been asked about UPC BWR (bar width reduction). And in Kodak Prinergy, I can not find anywhere where it refers to it. I understand the concept. But I'm being asked about what are setting is. And I can't find anything about it. Nor has management provided any info, which they are the ones who have told me all the other settings.
Anyone ever dealt with it in their workflow, that can give me any more real world feedback?

BAR WIDTH REDUCTION CONTROLS AN IMPORTANT SET OF VARIABLES IN THE PRINT PROCESS

Be mindful of all the possible variables in the equation. Ink and substrate are just two and there could be many others. The condition of the press, the state of its bearings, the roller pressure settings, the run speed, even the room temperature and humidity can all contribute to press gain. Variables are always present: the key is to know what they are and how to control—or minimize—them.

There is a pretty good thread at Printplanet about it though not in connection with Prinergy: https://printplanet.com/threads/barcode-bwr-adjustment.17209/

QuoteBasically a BWR adjustment is a compensation for "dot gain" - actually the spread of ink in the presswork that could cause the bars (rather than halftone dots) in a barcode to be unreadable. This is obviously much more of an issue with flexo than with offset. And as you said, this is more of a liability issue with them rather that a technical one since fines can be imposed if the bar fails to be read.

Unless the printing press is distorting the barcodes (as in printing long or short), there really is no need to worry about the BWR.
If the barcode easily reads, should not be a problem.
We used to scan them at almost every stage, from creation to press to  final assembly off the folder/cutter, just to make sure nothing happened during the manufacturing process.

Thanks.
Joe, thanks for the link. Way too much info on BWR. Now great I know even more of that than I ever wanted.

I've talked to management and they feel we don't need to worry, as our ink gains are between .5-2% but probably closer to the low end most of the time.
We have one customer that is asking about BWR again. As I feel they print more on packaging, so we know it's an issue.
Getting to the point, were I just want to retire and volunteer at the local museum so I can run a Heidelberg 1.

Update: contacted Kodak about this, just to see what they had to say.

From Kodak: There are no features or methods available in Prinergy for applying or adjusting bar width reduction.
Prinergy is not prone to inadvertently changing bar codes present in a refined file.
If needed, a separate Kodak product available for purchase is Prinergy Tools, a set of optional plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator. One of the options is the Bar Code Tool which includes the ability to apply/adjust bar width reduction.

also, it's a best practice to make sure the barcodes only print in 1 color (usually black) to avoid any mis-register on whatever the print device may be (digital or conventional).
Of course, it goes without saying, it's always better to have a vector barcode as opposed to a pixelated one, this helps out regardless of press gain to keep the bars consistent.



my .02

Wow! One color? And should be vector? This must be secret information! I know of no one that creates them that way.

they are verrrrrry rare, not really seen out in public, only live in the wild outbacks.






sad actually, because most of the online apps or even some of the software apps generate png or jpegs of the barcodes, and they give you a choice of RGB or CMYK! 
The one I use lets me do a 100 % black .eps vector file.  

Yeah, alll the codes provided seem to be rgb pixels, but both apps that I use make 100%K vector.
I must be doing something wrong?

If I had a nickel for every bar code and QR code I have changed from RGB to black only...

I just close my eyes and hit print, fingers crossed and only thinking happy thoughts.