pyrxing is a fast, dependency-free Python barcode/QR code reader built using zxing-cpp Rust bindings via PyO3.
This library offers efficient barcode scanning in pure Python environments, with pre-built native wheels — including full support for Alpine Linux and musl-based systems where the official zxing-cpp Python package requires additional build steps.
read_barcode and read_barcodesmusllinux wheels available (no build required).pyi stub filesx86_64, aarch64x64, x86Python 3.11+
Install with pip:
pip install pyrxing
Recommended for Alpine Linux/musl environments: While the official zxing-cpp Python package requires building from source on musl-based systems, pyrxing provides pre-built wheels for immediate installation.
pyrxing delivers excellent performance across a comprehensive range of barcode formats, with particularly strong advantages in multiple barcode detection scenarios:
Performance Summary:
read_barcode() - Single Barcode Detection| Format | pyrxing | zxing-cpp | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPC-E | 555.9 | 710.8 | 28% faster |
| Data Matrix | 260.0 | 330.9 | 27% faster |
| EAN-8 | 881.8 | 1048.2 | 19% faster |
| UPC-A | 1159.5 | 1358.5 | 17% faster |
| EAN-13 | 1161.7 | 1328.4 | 14% faster |
| Code 39 | 1063.5 | 1212.8 | 14% faster |
| ITF | 336.2 | 382.3 | 14% faster |
| Code 128 | 2272.2 | 2541.0 | 12% faster |
| Codabar | 415.1 | 468.1 | 13% faster |
| MaxiCode | 947.5 | 1026.0 | 8% faster |
| PDF417 | 369.6 | 400.1 | 8% faster |
| Aztec | 85.9 | 92.8 | 7% faster |
| DX Film Edge | 302.1 | 314.1 | 4% faster |
| QR Code | 294.5 | 292.3 | 1% slower |
| Code 93 | 281.3 | 276.3 | 2% slower |
| Micro QR | 75.4 | 73.1 | 3% slower |
| rMQR | 84.6 | 84.3 | 0% (tied) |
| DataBar | 198.5 | 196.9 | 1% slower |
| DataBar Exp. | 358.3 | 356.1 | 1% slower |
| DataBar Ltd. | 196.6 | 186.6 | 5% slower |
read_barcodes() - Multiple Barcode Detection| Format | pyrxing | zxing-cpp | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPC-A | 4500.0 | 4817.0 | 7% faster |
| Codabar | 1248.8 | 1341.4 | 7% faster |
| EAN-8 | 2683.3 | 2854.9 | 6% faster |
| UPC-E | 1962.7 | 2062.0 | 5% faster |
| ITF | 1039.5 | 1085.9 | 4% faster |
| Code 39 | 3078.0 | 3206.5 | 4% faster |
| PDF417 | 851.1 | 883.7 | 4% faster |
| EAN-13 | 4566.9 | 4739.6 | 4% faster |
| Code 128 | 7769.5 | 8014.2 | 3% faster |
| Aztec | 558.3 | 575.1 | 3% faster |
| DX Film Edge | 1572.9 | 1609.0 | 2% faster |
| MaxiCode | 2509.3 | 2561.3 | 2% faster |
| Data Matrix | 1002.5 | 1082.3 | 8% faster |
| rMQR | 466.5 | 471.9 | 1% faster |
| QR Code | 2203.3 | 2205.6 | 0% faster |
| Micro QR | 407.0 | 407.8 | 0% faster |
| Code 93 | 950.5 | 937.8 | 1% slower |
| DataBar | 670.4 | 666.9 | 1% slower |
| DataBar Exp. | 1300.4 | 1279.2 | 2% slower |
| DataBar Ltd. | 629.3 | 620.7 | 1% slower |
Test Images: Located in pyrxing/assets/ directory:
test_codabar.png, test_code39.png, test_code93.png, test_code128.png, test_ean8.png, test_ean13.png, test_itf.png, test_upc_a.png, test_upc_e.png, test_data_bar.png, test_data_bar_expanded.png, test_data_bar_limited.pngtest_qr_code.png, test_micro_qr.png, test_rmqr.png, test_aztec.png, test_data_matrix.png, test_pdf417.png, test_maxi_code.pngtest_dx_film_edge.pngReproduce benchmarks: See pyrxing/benchmark.py for the complete benchmark script.
from pyrxing import read_barcode, read_barcodes
# Read a single barcode from an image path
barcode = read_barcode("example.png")
# Read multiple barcodes from an image
barcodes = read_barcodes("example.png")
# Optionally filter by barcode format
barcodes = read_barcodes("example.png", formats=['QRCode'])
You can also pass an object that conforms to the ImageProtocol instead of a path.
from pyrxing import read_barcode
from PIL import Image
# Read a single barcode from PIL.Image.Image object
barcode = read_barcode(Image.open("example.png"))
For full API and type hints, see pyrxing.pyi or use your IDE's autocomplete.
from typing import Any, Literal, Protocol
BarcodeFormat = Literal[
"Aztec",
"Codabar",
"Code39",
"Code93",
"Code128",
"DataBar",
"DataBarExpanded",
"DataBarLimited",
"DataMatrix",
"EAN8",
"EAN13",
"ITF",
"MaxiCode",
"PDF417",
"QRCode",
"UPCA",
"UPCE",
"MicroQRCode",
"RMQRCode",
"DXFilmEdge",
]
class ImageProtocol(Protocol):
@property
def width(self) -> int: ...
@property
def height(self) -> int: ...
def tobytes(self) -> bytes:
"""return pixel data as byte array"""
def convert(self, mode: str) -> Any: ...
def load(self): ...
class BarcodeDecodeError(Exception): ...
class ImageError(Exception): ...
class Point:
@property
def x(self) -> float: ...
@property
def y(self) -> float: ...
class DecodeResult:
@property
def text(self) -> str: ...
@property
def points(self) -> list[Point]: ...
@property
def format(self) -> str: ...
def read_barcode(image: str | ImageProtocol, *, formats: list[BarcodeFormat] | None = None) -> DecodeResult | None: ...
def read_barcodes(image: str | ImageProtocol, *, formats: list[BarcodeFormat] | None = None) -> list[DecodeResult]: ...
Apache License 2.0
FAQs
A barcode reader extension module using zxing-cpp and pyo3
We found that pyrxing demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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