This image may not make sense to the human eye but if you were to show it to a barcode scanning machine, it would immediately recognize the text hidden in that image as "Google".

How to create a 2d Barcode Image

If you are excited about Google�s barcode logo and would like to generate a similar Barcode image for your own name or brand, go to morovia.com, choose "Code 128" as the Barcode format and uncheck the setting that says "Show human readable text".

For instance, here�s a barcode representation of "digital inspiration".

How to decode a Barcode Image

Now the reverse case. Say you come across a barcode image on the Internet and would like to read the text that�s hidden inside that graphic. You can either get a barcode scanning machine, or a more easy option would be that you upload the image to ZXing.org and it will try to decode that image for you online.

You can either upload the barcode image from the desktop or simply pass on the web address of the image and ZXing will decode it for you as in this example.

Related: What are QR Codes

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.