Barcodes:  

As mentioned above, SmartCodeStudio includes a large number of barcode fonts including a variety of linear, 2D, RSS, FIM and RFID. It also includes industry specific types like HIBC and ISBNs and a variety of Code 128s, Code 39s, UPCs, PDF417s, DataMatrixs and some shipping codes.

We would have liked to have seen this product include the EPC Gen2 type RFID barcode.

Connectivity/ Communication:  

This program can work with many popular database types including OLE, ODBC, dBase, SQL, Oracle, FoxPro and more. It can also import data from ASCII text files, Access and Excel.

It can send print commands to a variety of printers including Brady, Zebra, HP, Epson, IBM, Paxar and numerous others.

We could not find evidence that this program supports Unicode character types.

Label Designer:  

The label designer included with this software offers just about all of the features we were looking for including full text options, image support, password protection, rotation, grouping and shapes. It also includes some templates, but not as many compliance label tools and symbols that we would like to see.

Label Design Ease of Use:  

We found this barcode software fairly easy to use, though the dropdown items at the top of the screen seem to be more responsive than what is displayed on the left. The items on the left look like something that can be clicked on, but we could not get them to work, we had to use the drop down menu.

Help/ Support:  

SmartCodeStudio offers support by email and includes help information embedded in the program and online. A unique quality to SmartCodeStudio is that they offer a community version for non-profits and educational organizations.

For the price, SmartCodeStudio is one of the more affordable programs available. If this barcode software offers the kind of barcodes you need and is compatible with your printers and data source, this is a program you may want to check out.