To simplify application design, this manual categorizes the control usage into two design modes: barcode design mode and label design mode. Barcode design mode is for those whose tasks emphasize on the barcode image rather than the “label”. Under barcode design mode, the size of the working area is not fixed and can expand or shrink necessarily to hold the complete barcode label, including quiet zones, comments and margins. On the contrary, under label design mode the working area is predecided and will not expand or shrink. The barcode portion can expand or shrink but it will not impact the overall label space.

The property AutoLabelSize determines the design mode. If AutoLabelSize is TRUE, you are working under the barcode design mode, where the label size is not fixed. If more data is encoded into the barcode, or you add more text into the comment, the overall size increases. Under barcode design mode, the properties LabelWidth and LabelHeight are read only and you can not change them; rather, you can increase or decrease the overall drawing area by changing the margin, barcode data, or comment size.

On the other side, when AutoLabelSize is FALSE, the working area is pre-determined by the properties LabelWidth and LabelHeight. You can modify the natural size by modifying these two properties. Any drawings outside the predefined area are clipped.