Editing Interleaved 2 of 5 (section)

==Applications==
[[Image:ITF-14.svg|thumb|An ITF-14 bar code.  The thick rectangular border is the Bearer Bar.]]
ITF is often used for marking product ID numbers or other codes, of various lengths, on item cartons and multi-unit cases. One specific instance of this, standardized by GS1, is the ITF-14 bar code used to mark packages with [[Global Trade Item Number]]s. In these uses, the ITF bar code symbol is usually printed surrounded with a thick black rectangular border called the Bearer Bar.  The Bearer Bar surrounds the entire symbol and the quiet zones, abutting the ends of the bars. The purpose of a Bearer Bar is to equalize the pressure exerted by the printing plate over the entire surface of the symbol, and to enhance reading reliability by helping to reduce the probability of misreads occurring when the bar code is scanned at too large an angle so that the scanning beam crosses the top and/or bottom edge of the bar code rather than scanning across all bars, entering through the leftmost bar and exiting through the rightmost bar (or vice versa for a reverse scan). Such a "short scan" which does not extend through all of the bars obviously cannot result in a correct read of the complete bar code, but by the nature of the interleaved 2 of 5 code, it is possible for a short scan that begins in the middle of the bar code to begin with a pattern that corresponds to the required start pattern, or for a short scan that ends in the middle of the bar code to end with a pattern that corresponds to the required stop pattern. In this way the short scan, though incorrect, may appear to be a correct full scan. The Bearer Bar prevents this error, as a short scan will pass through the Bearer Bar as it passes across the top or bottom edge of the bar code.  Since the Bearer Bar is much wider than any legitimate black bar, it will ensure that the short scan cannot appear to begin with the correct start pattern and end with the correct end pattern, forcing an invalid scan.  The bar code can then be re-scanned, either automatically or manually.{{efn|If the short scan was not recognized as invalid, the misread data would be accepted and used as if it was good data, and there would be no chance to automatically rescan the bar code to correct the bad data.}}

[[Image:Interleaved 2 of 5 135 film barcode.png|thumb|I2/5 on a 135 film can; part of [[DX encoding]]]]
On 135 film (35&nbsp;mm) canisters, interleaved 2 of 5 is used to identify the manufacturer, the film type, number of exposures and proprietary information using 6 digits.  The barcode is located between the electrically read silver and black [[DX Camera Auto-Sensing Code]] and the film can exit lip. It is optically scanned by many film-processing machines when the cartridge is inserted for developing.<ref>{{cite patent |inventor1-first=David Lynn |inventor1-last=Patton |inventor2-first=Lawrence Joseph |inventor2-last=Travis |inventor3-first=Douglas Andrew |inventor3-last=McPherson |assign1=Eastman Kodak Company |title=Expanded film cartridge bar code |pridate=5 June 1995 |publication-date=2 June 1998 |country-code=US |status=Patent |patent-number=5761558}}</ref>

Identcode and Leitcode are variants of interleaved 2 of 5 with check digits used by [[Deutsche Post]].