Custom Tag Guidelines

Learn how to create custom Microsoft Tags by following these steps and guidelines:

About custom Microsoft Tags

Standard Microsoft Tags use a space-efficient set of color or black-and-white triangles, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Standard Microsoft Tag that uses triangles in four colors.

To provide better branding and creative opportunities, you can customize Microsoft Tags by using dots instead of triangles by increasing the minimum size of the barcode to 1.25" and replacing the background with any image. You can also create a more advanced design by modifying the symbols and incorporating them into the design concept. Customized Tags can be rendered in color or black-and-white.

There are two methods you can use to create a Custom Tag:

• Replace the background image only (”Quick and Easy Approach”)

  

• Integrate the symbols into the design ("Advanced Design")

  

The following steps will show you how to create your own Custom Tags by using either method.

About rendering the custom Tag image file

No matter which method you choose to use to create your Custom Tag, you’ll start by creating a Custom Tag image from the Microsoft Tag web site.

Create the custom Tag image file

1. In your browser, go to http://tag.microsoft.com
2. Do one of the following:
• If you do not already have an account, click Sign Up, and then follow the onscreen instructions to create your account and sign in.
• If you already have an account, click Sign In, and then click your account to sign in. Type your password, and then click Sign in.
3. If you want to create a new Tag, click Create a Tag, specify the details of your new Tag, and then click Save.
4. Under Manage Existing Tags, locate the Tag you want to customize, and then click the icon in the Render column for that Tag.
5. In the dialog box that appears, specify the size of the Tag equal or larger than 1.25", click the Custom radio button, and then click the Render button.
6. If you’re creating a Quick and Easy Tag save the image as WMF (Windows Metafile) for importing into Microsoft Powerpoint or other graphic program.
7. If you’re creating an Advanced Design Custom Tag save the image as a WMF (Windows Metafile) or a PDF file.

Creating a Custom Tag by replacing the background

The simplest way to create a Custom Tag is to add your own background to a Custom Tag that was generated on the Microsoft Tag Web site. To do this, you'll follow these basic steps:

1. Create the Custom Tag image file.
2. Use a program that can edit WMF (Windows Metafile) image files. We've provided steps for using the following programs:
   • Customizing the background of your Tag by using Microsoft PowerPoint
   • Customizing the background of your Tag by using Adobe Illustrator

Add a background image to a Custom Tag by using Microsoft PowerPoint

1. Create the Custom Tag image file in WMF format.
2. In Microsoft PowerPoint, create a new presentation.
3. Click where you want to insert the picture.
4. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Picture.
5. Select the background picture you want to use, and then click Insert.
6. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Picture.
7. Select the Custom Tag image file you generated in step 1, and then click Insert.
8. Right-click the custom Tag image, and then on the shortcut menu, click Bring to Front.
9. Resize, crop, and position the background and custom Tag image as needed to make the background fit inside the Tag area, while maintaining the whitespace around the perimeter of the Tag. For more details, see About the Tag Border.
10. Draw a selection box to select both pictures.
11. With both images selected, under Picture Tools, on the Format tab, in the Arrange group, click , and then click Group.
12. With the grouped image still selected, right-click the image, and then on the shortcut menu, click Save as Picture.
13. Name the image and specify the format you want, and then click Save.

Add a background image to a custom Tag by using Adobe Illustrator

1. Create the Custom Tag image file in WMF or PDF format.
2. In Illustrator, open the WMF or PDF file.
3. Rename Layer 1 to Tag.
4. Create a new layer for the background image and name it Background.
5. Drag the Background layer so that it is beneath the Tag layer, and lock the Tag layer.
6. Click to make the Background layer the active layer.
7. On the File menu, click Place.
8. Select the image you want to use as the background image, and then click Place.
9. Resize, crop, and position the background and custom Tag image as needed to make the background fit inside the Tag area, while maintaining the whitespace around the perimeter of the Tag. For more details, see About the Tag border.
10. Save the Illustrator file.
11. To save the Tag as a file, do one of the following:
    • To save the Tag in JPEG, GIF, PNG or other image format, on the File menu, click Export.
    • To save the Tag in PDF or other file format, on the File menu, click Save As.

Creating a Custom Tag by replacing the color dots

To customized a Tag by replacing the color dots with other imagery or incorporate them into surrounding design artwork, follow these basic steps:

1. Review the Custom Tag design guidelines.
2. Create the Custom Tag image file.
3. In your image-editing program, such as Adobe Illustrator, open the custom tag image you created in step 1.
4. Create a new layer for the new symbols or design elements, and make sure this layer is above the Custom Tag image layer.
5. Create a new symbols or design elements for each color dot, adhering to the location and hue guidelines for the color dots in your Custom Tag image file.
6. Delete or hide the colored dots in the Custom Tag image.
7. Verify the Custom Tag by using the Tag Reader in verification mode.

Custom Tag design guidelines

To create custom Tags that can be read reliably, following these guidelines:

• Preserve the Tag borders.
• Design for the color dots.
• Replace or integrate the colored Tag dots with design elements of the same color family, in equivalent location. You will need to maintain the hue of the original colored dot, but you have some flexibility to work within a range of saturation and brightness within that hue.

About the Tag Borders

The Tag border is the area of the Tag which is fixed and cannot be changed. The Tag border is the white area around the Tag(which is the same width as the height of the bottom black bar), the black border, and timing markers of the Tag frame.

Tag Borders (left). The area in red (right) shows areas of the Tag that cannot be changed or removed.

About designing for the colored dots

To create a reliable Tag with a custom design, you'll incorporate the dots into your design by maintaining the position of the existing dots and placing creative design elements in place of or around the dots to disguise them. There is a range of color flexibility for saturation and brightness to help you with this process. Figure 5 shows an example of how you can replace of the dots with other design elements while maintaining the hue and location of the original color dots.

Figure 5 You can replace the dots with design elements that have the equivalent hue and location.

Depending on your design, you can replace the color dots one by one with other design elements. You can also have a larger design element take the place of multiple color dots, as illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 6 You can use a single shape or design element to cover two or more adjacent color symbols.

Make sure that the center of the original color dot is entirely enclosed within the new design element by using the Tag Reader Verifier. (See Verifying custom Tags for more details about testing your design.)

About hue ranges

Hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB) is a numerical way of describing the relationship between colors. By using HSB values, you can make sure the color hues you use in your custom Tags are within the acceptable ranges of values. Microsoft Tag Reader can work within a range of brightness and saturation values for a color dot hue to provide more creative flexibility within the design. You can use any design element of any color in the areas not occupied by the color dots. Figure 7 illustrates the acceptable range of the three color hues. Black should always remain black.

Figure 7 The red square shows the acceptable range of saturation and brightness for the three color hues.

Figure 8 These three color areas show the dynamic range of saturation and brightness for each of the three color hues.

Make sure that the brightness and saturation of your design elements are within the acceptable range by using the Tag Reader Verifier. (See Verifying Custom Tags for more details about testing your design.)

Verifying Custom Tags

During the design process, it's a good idea to test design element placement and color hue matching as the symbols are being replaced by using the Microsoft Tag Reader in Verification mode so that you can make adjustments early in the design process. During the verification process, the Microsoft Tag Reader checks each sample patch, which is where a dot of a specific color hue is expected.

To verify the correctness and robustness of a custom Tag, live video frames enable rapid checking of Tag integrity in real-time under a variety of angles and lighting conditions, such as outdoor, indoor, and night lighting. Only by doing verification dozens of times per second can a thorough assessment be made. Make sure you fully test your custom Tag in its final printed form (ink and printed media) and likely environmental conditions where the Tag will be encountered by users.

The verification process indicates a Tag's scan quality by outlining the outer and inner viewfinder borders and all sample patch circles in green. In the following examples, the yellow inner border indicates Tag scan quality could be better, and the red sample patch indicates common issues with the reading of sample patches.

Mispositioned symbol

In this example, the red sample patch isn't enclosed within the design element, resulting the sampling of the incorrect color.

Miscolored symbol

In this example, the red sample patch indicates that the color of the symbol is out of the hue or brightness range.

Tag verification hardware requirements

• High-end Smartphones with video access capability, at this time the mobile hardware platforms that support this are:
• Windows Mobile 5 or 6 handsets with compatible* DirectX video capture and a video frame resolution of 320 x 240
• All Symbian S60 3rd Edition handsets, which include Nokia E Series, N Series ,and other 3rd edition based handsets
• Tag Reader version 2.1.73 or later

*A small number of camera equipped Windows Mobile handsets aren't enabled with video access capability

Verify a custom tag

1. On your phone, open the Tag Reader application.
2. On the numeric keypad, type in the following keysequence: 01122

 


The Action icons will no longer appear and a letter 'V' will appear.


3. When a barcode is successfully detected, the outer viewfinder rectangle turns green and small circles for each sample patch are drawn in place of the color dots.


 


If the color of a dot is incorrectly detected, then the sample patch circle for the incorrect dot is red, indicating either it was wrongly colored during the replacement phase or its hue, saturation, or brightness is too far out of range from the original.

If only a red viewfinder rectangle is displayed then too many symbol misplacements or color mismatches have been made and errors could not be tolerated. Revert back to a point where the code can be decoded in order to find the issue at hand.

Checklist

Checklist for Quick and Easy Approach

1. Render the Tag equal to or larger than 1.25"
2. Verify the Custom Tag on the final print process and media in the target environment to ensure no symbols are circled red and the border is solid green
3. If you encounter any issues please contact tagdesgn@microsoft.com

Checklist for Advanced Design Approach

1. Render the Tag equal to or larger than 1.25"
2. Properly position symbol replacements in the same location and covering the same area as the original dot
3. Ensure the color Hue remains identical to the original dot, changing only the Saturation and Brightness values within the specific ranges
4. Verify the Custom Tag as symbols are being replaced
5. Verify the Custom Tag on the final print process and media in the target environment to ensure no symbols are circled red and the border is solid green
6. If you encounter any issues please contact tagdesgn@microsoft.com

Questions?

If you have a technical question about Custom Tags email tagdesgn@microsoft.com for support