How can I create a Data Matrix barcode?
To create a Data Matrix barcode here, type or paste your text or link into the box, pick a printed size, and download the code as PNG or SVG. The page opens with the example link https://example.com, so replace it with your own text. You can pick 2, 3, 5 or 10 cm, a PNG at 600 or 300 dpi, black, dark blue or a custom color, and a white or transparent background.
What is a Data Matrix barcode?
A Data Matrix barcode is a square 2D code made of small squares, and the kind this page writes is called ECC 200. Unlike on the QR page, there is no damage-protection level to pick.
What can I put in a Data Matrix?
You can put any text or link in it: the page writes exactly the characters you type, so a link keeps the form you typed it in. If the text is too long for a Data Matrix, the page says so and never cuts it. Software decodes the Data Matrix back in our tests at every published build.
Should I use a Data Matrix or a QR code?
GS1 says mobile devices read a QR Code that holds a web address more readily than a Data Matrix, and that a Data Matrix can suit product packaging where a QR Code will not fit (GS1, 2D barcodes in retail, 2025). For a QR code, use Varnip’s QR code generator.
| What differs | Data Matrix | QR Code |
|---|---|---|
| What you can put in | Any text or link, as typed | Ten kinds, among them a website, a Wi-Fi network and a contact |
| Damage protection | Not a choice on this page | Four levels: Low, Medium, High and Highest |
| Blank margin in the file | One square wide on every side | Four squares wide on every side |
| What GS1 says | Can suit product packaging where a QR Code will not fit | Easier for mobile devices to read when it holds a web address |
Can you scan a Data Matrix code?
GS1 says a Data Matrix “may require an app” on some devices (GS1, 2D barcodes in retail, 2025). No printed Data Matrix has been scanned in our tests, whether with a phone camera, a scanner app or a handheld scanner, so scan one printed code before you print many.
Does this make a GS1 Data Matrix?
No: this page makes a plain Data Matrix that holds the text you type and nothing else. For a product’s GTIN with its batch or date, use Varnip’s GS1 Digital Link generator: it writes them into a web address and draws it as a QR code or a Data Matrix.
What size should a printed Data Matrix be?
This page offers four printed sizes, 2, 3, 5 and 10 cm, and Printed size under the code shows the size of the file you download, blank margin included. The file lands near the size you pick rather than on it, since every square takes a whole number of pixels. Each file also carries a blank margin one square wide on every side, and GS1 New Zealand’s table gives the same, 1 square, for a Data Matrix with a GS1 Digital Link (GS1 New Zealand, 2025). We name no size as the right one for your use, because no printed code has been scanned in our tests.
Can I change a Data Matrix after I print it?
No: this makes a static Data Matrix, so what you type is stored inside the code itself and can’t be changed after you print it; to change it, make a new one. Varnip does not make dynamic codes.
Is it free, and is there a watermark?
Yes: making a Data Matrix here is free, needs no sign-up or account, and puts no watermark on the file. Nothing else is drawn in the file besides the squares, the margin and the background.
Is what I type sent to Varnip?
What you type is encoded in your browser and is not sent to our servers. Varnip does count how the generators are used, such as which format was downloaded, never what you type. The Data Matrix maker is served by Varnip and loads when the page is idle, and if you change the text before it has arrived, the download buttons stay off until it is ready.