Axicon 15000 series User manual

THE BARCODE EXPERTS
Church Road, Weston on the Green, Oxfordshire, OX25 3QP, UK
Tel: [phone] | Email: [email protected]
Web: www.axicon.com
user guide
Axicon 15000 series
2D &linear barcode verier

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Axicon Auto ID Limited | 15000 series verier user guide | July 2023
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This user guide was made using:
5.0 version of the Axicon Camera Verier Software for Windows.

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Contents
Introduction 4
How the verier works 6
Calibration 7
Getting started 8
Operating the verier 11
Cropping 13
Saving and using scan les 15
Saving and printing reports 16
Settings 17
Annual service 30
Warranty 31
Disclaimer 31
Contact 32

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Introduction
The Axicon 15000 series veriers are designed to work with any PC running a
currently supported version of Windows (Windows 10 & 11 – both 32 bit and 64 bit
versions).
Specication and application
The 15200’s eld of view is 60mm x 45mm, and is designed to verify linear and 2D
barcodes, including those used on retail point of sale and healthcare items. These
are typically EAN/UPC or GS1 DataMatrix symbols.
The 15500’s eld of view is 95mm x 70mm, and may be used to scan a larger range
of barcodes at dierent sizes. These include all GS1 symbols, and Code 93, Code
128, ITF, MSI Plessey – if they are no wider than 95mm.
The software is able to decode the following symbols:
Linear barcodes: EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A, UPC-E, Code 39, Code 93, Code 128,
GS1-128, Codabar, ITF, MSI Plessey, GS1 DataBar, Laetus Pharmacode.
2D barcodes: Data Matrix, GS1 DataMatrix, QR Code, GS1 QR Code, GS1 Composite
Code and PDF-417.
Application standards: Data content checking can be carried out on all the symbols
that have been veried. This includes check digits, and combinations of
GS1 application identiers and their element strings especially for various
healthcare applications.
Multiple barcodes within the eld of view will be found and can be veried to the
appropriate standards.

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What is in the case.
• Axicon 15000 Series verier
• Software CD
• Wallet containing this user guide, calibration card and certicate of
conformance to ISO/IEC 15426-1, 15426-2
• Cleaning cloth
System requirements
• Currently supported Windows Operating System (either 32 or 64 bit)
• 100 MB disc space
• 512 MB RAM minimum
• USB 2.0 port or higher
Software installation
Insert the CD into an appropriate drive and the Install program should start
automatically. If it does not, run autorun.exe. When the software has been
successfully installed, leave the CD in the drive, so that the USB driver will be
installed when the verier is connected to the computer. The software is called
Axicon Camera Verier, and the latest version can always be downloaded from the
Axicon website, www.axicon.com. The software will check automatically if a later
version is available. It can be used on any PC or laptop to view the verication scan
les that have been saved even when the verier is not connected.
Hardware installation
Connect the USB lead from the verier to a USB2 or USB3 port on the computer.
Please install the software before connecting the 15000 series verier.

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How the verier works
The verier must be connected to a PC or laptop that is running a currently
supported version of Windows using the USB connection, and used with the Axicon
Camera Verier program.
The verier has two buttons, which both do the same thing, and either one is
pressed to turn the verier on. The image capture process will start and you can
see what the verier sees on the main software window. When the barcodes you
want to verify are in the right place, press one of the buttons again to begin the
decoding and verication of the barcodes.
Ideally each barcode should be veried when it appears on the nal lled item,
in its nal conguration. If the packaging by itself is veried, and is completely
covered by the verier, the verication process will be good.
If the verier is placed on its side, or upside down, take care to minimise the eect
of ambient light. Ensure that any semi-translucent substrates are backed by a
uniform black surface to minimise the eect of light being transmitted through the
substrate.
There are two buttons so that you can easily use the one that is most convenient if
you have the verier on its side or upside down. The keyboard shortcut Ctrl + G is
the equivalent to pressing the button.
The image that has been captured and decoded can be saved as a scan le (.png),
and this can be re-veried at any later time. The software allows the creation of
verication reports for each barcode that appears in the image, and the user simply
clicks on the relevant barcode for which a report is required.
More details about this process, saving scan les, and saving verication reports are
explained later on in this user guide.

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Calibration
When you use the verier for the rst time, it will tell you that it must be
calibrated. This will ensure that its reectance measurements are correct.
Take the calibration card from the plastic wallet, and place on a at surface. Place
the verier over the EAN-13 barcode or the Data Matrix code so that it appears in
the verier window.
Then choose calibrate from the reader menu. The verier will ask you to conrm
positioning and that the Rmax and Rmin gures shown on the window match those
printed on the card. If they are dierent, alter the numbers via the calibration tab
in the settings menu and restart the calibration process. You will then need to press
start.
The verier software will then check the image, calibrate, and recheck the image.
When this has been done a message ‘Calibration Successful’ will be shown. After
this message, another scan will be made so that you can check that the verication
results are correct. The Rmin and Rmax gures need to agree with those on the
calibration card.
The calibration card supplied with the verier provides barcodes with known
maximum and minimum reectance values. The calibration card is certied for a
minimum of one year (unless it has been physically damaged).
When it is not being used please keep the card at in its plastic envelope, and away
from direct sunlight. If the card shows any sign of damage – for example, scratches
or any change in colour – please obtain a new card from us.

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Getting started
After calibration, the home window for the software will look this:
The window main areas are explained below.
The top section includes the le menu and the toolbar with its command icons.
The File menu includes options for saving and loading scans, creating and printing
reports. The View menu gives access to Settings (F5) and User data.
The Reader menu provides options for choosing which verier is operational, reader
information, scanning, decoding, and calibrating the reader (the verier).
The Help menu provides access to the Axicon website, a check for software
updates, and information about the software.

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The Command icons on the tool bar are as follows:
Quit the application, or use Ctrl + Q
Load a saved barcode image, or use Ctrl + O
Save the current image and verication report, or use Ctrl + S
Print, or use Ctrl + P
Start collecting barcode images in the eld of view, or press one of the two
buttons on the verier, or use Ctrl + G. This will be orange when the verier
is connected and grey when it is not. It will change into a pause icon when
scanning.
Stop collecting images from the current reader.
Decode barcodes in the current image. This will change into a stop icon when
the barcodes are being decoded.
Stop searching for barcodes.
Edit the settings for the application, or use F5
Used to calibrate the hardware, or use F2.
Enable and disable DPM mode.
Display and edit user-dened
data for this scan.
If you move the cursor over the
encoded data in the general tab and
right click this will bring up the option
to copy the data to clipboard. If there
is a web address here you can also
click to open it in your default web
browser.

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The top right section provides the overall results for the verication. It will provide
the grade in the format n.n/aa/www (X), where n.n is the ISO/IEC grade, aa is the
aperture reference number, www the wavelength of the light being used for the
verication in nanometres and X is the ANSI equivalent.
This panel also has three tabs, where the rst set of information about the barcode
is shown.
The General tab will show you the decoded data from the symbol, its x and y
dimensions, the print gain, and the aperture size.
The Reader tab simply gives you detailed information about the verier such as its
serial number and build version, and when it was last calibrated.
The Scan tab provides details of when the image to be veried was scanned by the
verier.
The bottom right section includes two tabs; ISO and Details.
The ISO tab will include details of all the parameters dened by ISO/IEC for the
particular barcode being veried.
The Details tab provides a breakdown of the results by individual scan line and by
parameter for the barcode highlighted.
The bottom left panel will include details that relate to the analysis of a symbol by
one or more of the optional plugins. Plugins are chosen by the user and they will be
used to check if the symbol meets the requirements of one or more applications.
More information about this is provided later on in this user guide.
The status bar is at the very bottom of the window, and provides details of what
the verier is doing. If a verier is not connected, the message ‘Found Readers 0’
will appear in the status bar. When a verier is connected, the message will be
‘Selected reader: xxxxx’, where ‘xxxxx’ is the serial number of the verier.
Getting started

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Make sure the Axicon Camera Verier program is open, the verier is connected,
and press one of the buttons on the verier or press the orange ‘Start scanning’
arrow on the toolbar. Then place the verier over the barcode(s).
The message ‘Scanning’ will appear in the status bar at the bottom of the window.
With the verier held still, press one of the verier buttons again to begin the
decode process. You can also press the ‘decode’ icon in the tool bar. Do not move
the verier until ‘Cancel decode’ appears or all codes have been found.
Operating the verier
The verier will draw a purple box around each of the barcodes it has found. You
must click on one of these to select it, and then the results will be displayed. Click
on any other barcode to see its results. Clicking on the selected code will zoom in.
When only one symbol is present the code will be selected automatically. To verify
the next barcode, simply press one of the verier buttons or the orange arrow
to begin the scanning again. This action will clear all the details of the previous
verication.
Any linear barcode will be veried using ten dierent scan lines, as specied by
ISO/IEC 15416, and the verication grade will be based on the average of these ten
readings.

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The bottom right hand section of the window, with the ISO and Details tabs, will
provide you with more information, especially about linear symbols.
If the ISO tab is selected, and you click on the names for each parameter in turn,
you will see the scan lines across the barcode shown in the verier window. These
will change colour according to whether that parameter has a pass (in green) or a
fail (in red) for that particular scan line. To get a scan reectance prole of your
linear barcode you can press F9, select from the ‘view’ menu or click on the Details
tab and select individual scans, and then a particular scan info (1 to 10). The scan
reectance prole (SRP) will now show at the bottom of the scan info results. Click
on the reectance prole to enlarge it. If you select an area of the SRP using your
mouse it will be enlarged. Click away from the
enlargement to return to the complete SRP.
When there are several symbols, click on each in
turn to see its results. The now solid border will
change to dierent status colours to indicate
whether the symbol has passed or failed. Now
click on the selected symbol to enlarge it. To
see how each module has been assessed, click
on the name of one of the parameters. The
size of the circle shows the aperture size, and
a change in colour will highlight any relevant
modules for that particular parameter. Blue is
the neutral colour for all these displays.
Operating the verier

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Cropping
If the verier has to look at a complicated image, with a number of barcodes,
and other images with rectangular edges, the software will take some time to
make sure that any rectangular edges are not plausible 2D barcode images before
decoding all the barcodes correctly. Cropping the image so that it only contains
the barcode you are interested in will speed up this process. This cropping will also
reduce the size of the scan le.
Reposition the verier during the scanning process so that the barcode is
approximately in the centre of the eld of view. Then left click outside and above
the barcode, and a rectangular crop box will be drawn in the centre. You may need
to click again to make sure the box is large enough, and you may need to re-centre
the barcode. Now click on the ‘Search for barcodes’ icon or press one of the verier
buttons. The crop box will become the whole image, the image in the box will be
decoded, and the verication results will appear on the right. The rest of the eld
of view will have been ignored.

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Cropping
Click on the selected image to
enlarge it, and click again to take
it back to its original size.
Clicking on the orange arrow icon
to restart the scanning process
(for another barcode) will reveal
that the cropping box is still
present inside the original eld
of view. Right clicking within the
image panel will remove the box,
and left clicking will create a
new crop box.

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Saving and using scan les
The image, and verication and plugin results of any codes that have been veried
can be saved in a scan le. This is done by choosing ‘Save scan...’ from the File
menu.
The scan le is the basis for the verication reports that are created from it. For
example, one scan le may include four barcodes if each one has been decoded and
each barcode will have its own verication results.
To open a saved scan, select Load Scan from the File menu.
When a saved scan le is opened by the application, the original data is available
and displayed. In addition, the original image can also be re-veried using the
‘search for barcodes and decode them’ icon – this will then automatically use any
plugins that are activated regardless of whether the plugins were used at the time
of original verication. The plugin details will be included in each verication
report.
The full verication results are then shown and reports can be viewed (and printed)
as required.

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A verication report may be saved in .csv, .pdf, .html or .txt formats. Additionally
reports can be manually saved for subsequent printing or printed without saving.
Select ‘Save Report’ from the File menu and select the required format from the
list. This selection will be remembered and can be repeated with the shortcut
Ctrl + R.
If you want the report to be automatically opened on creation (for example, if
there is a need to print the report) then tick the ‘Open Report’ box.
You can append verication reports if you are using a CSV format, and you have
ticked the ‘Append Report’ box. If this box is left unticked and the le name is not
changed, the data will be overwritten.
Saving and printing reports

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Settings
The verier has a range of conguration settings. These can be set by clicking on
View and then selecting Settings.
Appearance: The Appearance tab allows you to set the appropriate colours for
“Fail”, “Warning” and “Pass”, choose the language, set the units of measurement
to metric or imperial units and set the pass grade. Plugins (chosen on the next
tab) will often have pass grades, but if you want to set a higher value for the pass
grade, make the change here. Hover text will appear to help you understand these
settings. The appearance tab also oers the option to resize the appearance of the
toolbar and to show text.
Plugins:

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Settings
Plugins: The Plugins tab is used to select how the symbols will be checked for
their data content, their dimensions, and any other aspects dened by a particular
application. These include GS1 Data Content, which will check for correct
combinations of application identiers, GS1 Retail (point-of-sale) which will check
the type and size of the barcode, and many more. By default, many plugins are
switched o. To change this, select the plugin you require, and choose from the
drop-down list: On will check relevant codes, Always Show will check every code,
O will deactivate the plugin, and Ask User will ask for conrmation everytime.
• O: Never show results from this plugin.
• Default: Use the plugin’s own choice of whether to display results.
• “(O)” means this plugin has requested to be disabled unless explicitly set to
“On”.
• “(On)” means this plugin has requested to show results for all applicable codes.
• On: Show results from this plugin for all applicable codes.
• Always Show: If this plugin can display results, show them for all codes,
whether applicable to the plugin or not.
• Ask User: Display this plugin in a list from which the user can choose, whenever
a code is scanned.
There is also an option at the bottom of the list to disable all or to revert to the
default settings.
The plugins tab also oers the choice to change the default aperture for 2D
barcodes and to prompt when no plugins recommend an aperture.

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In this window you can enable automatic saving and/or printing of reports. Select
the type of report le and choose an output le where the data will be kept. There
is an option to add the records to an existing le rather than replacing the le,
which is of benet with text les, including CSV les. Choose Append and then
where you want these reports kept.
If Use Decode box is ticked, the report name will automatically be created using
the rst digits of the decoded number.
If Use Date and Time box is ticked, the report name will automatically be created
using the date followed by the time as a le name.
If Use Decode and Use Date and Time boxes are both ticked, the le name will
automatically be created using the decoded number followed by the date and time.
Reports

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Saving: The Saving tab can be used to enable automatic saving of all of the scan
les for audit purposes. The enable box must be ticked for the software to save the
scan les. Browse to your chosen location in the directory.
If Use Decode or Use Date & Time (or both) are ticked, then the dialogue box
will appear with the pre-selected data and allow the operator to override this if
required.
Settings
This window enables users to check the GTIN or other data in the barcode being
veried against a database of records. For example, you can check that the GTIN
has been assigned to a current product, and have its description displayed. The
database will need to be exported and saved in a .csv format.
Lookup