Machine and human readable label

Abstract

Disclosed is a human and machine readable label which is divided into three areas. The top portion of the label, which is typically half the length of the label, is divided into two columns. One of these columns contains a bar code with a quiet zone at each end of the bar code. This bar code contains the entire message of the label in a machine readable bar code format. The other column of the top portion of the label contains the first few characters of the human readable portion of the message. The bottom portion of the label contains the remainder of the human readable message and is printed throughout the entire width of the label, thus allowing the characters to be a much larger size that the human readable characters contained in the top portion of the label. The label is of a size that allows it to be placed on one end of a 3480 style tape cartridge, as well as allowing it to be placed on other types of media such a file folders. The human readable characters contained on the label have a background color which is different for each letter or digit of the human readable message. Since the background color is different for each letter or number, out of sequence cartridges are very easy to spot on a shelf. Furthermore, because the lower portion of the label contains much larger letters than the upper portion of the label, it is much easier to discern the message on the label at a longer distance. Also, the larger letters of the bottom portion have a larger colored background area which further aids in distinguishing out-of-sequence cartridges.