This Technical Report gives guidelines to deal with the effects of substrate gloss and/or low opacity on the performance of bar code symbols when scanned by reading and verification systems.

This Technical Report defines methods of measurement for gloss and opacity; it identifies conditions and values that present a risk of reading problems and provides recommendations to users on the specification of substrates and the set-up of scanning systems to minimize these problems. It also addresses the relationship between verification results and read performance when either or both of the factors are present.

This document is intended for those who specify or implement labeling systems and those involved in the reading of bar code symbols on packages, components and other carriers of bar code symbols.