Iowa Driver License & ID Card PDF417 API

Reading Iowa Card Barcodes in Real Workflows

Iowa insurers and equipment dealers collect customer data both in offices and on farms. Field photos are often taken against busy backgrounds with uneven shadows across the card. PDF417 error correction recovers some damage, but an application should never invent identity values when the barcode cannot be decoded.

One API for Iowa Licenses and ID Cards

Iowa cards are issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division. Licenses and identification cards carry the same AAMVA DL/ID PDF417 barcode on the back. Send the back image to the StructOCR PDF417 API: it decodes the barcode deterministically, normalizes the jurisdiction to IA, and returns document_kind as driver_license or id_card. Test a non-sensitive sample in the free PDF417 scanner. For the printed front of the card, use the Driver License OCR API.

Where This Workflow Fits

• Insurance applications: Pre-fill names, dates, and address for insurance applications and keep final confirmation in your application.
• Farm equipment rental: Accept both Iowa licenses and state ID cards, and use document_kind where only a license is acceptable.
• Riverboat casino entry: Send unreadable Iowa barcodes to a retake or manual review step instead of saving partial identity data.

Decode a Iowa Card Back

Upload a JPG, PNG, or WebP image of the full card back. Tap to focus on the barcode, hold the phone parallel to the card, and avoid digital zoom.

Prerequisite: A server-side StructOCR API key and a clear image of the complete card back

curl -X POST https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417 \
  -H "x-api-key: $STRUCTOCR_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@iowa-card-back.jpg"

Illustrative Iowa ID Card Response

This response uses wholly fictional data to show a IA identification card. A license returns document_kind driver_license and its class fields.

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "type": "drivers_license",
    "document_kind": "id_card",
    "source": "pdf417",
    "country_code": "USA",
    "region": "IA",
    "document_number": "SAMPLE1234",
    "surname": "SAMPLE",
    "given_names": "ALEX MORGAN",
    "first_name": "ALEX",
    "middle_name": "MORGAN",
    "sex": "X",
    "date_of_birth": "1990-01-15",
    "date_of_issue": "2025-01-15",
    "date_of_expiry": "2030-01-15",
    "address": "100 EXAMPLE AVE",
    "city": "SAMPLE CITY",
    "postal_code": "00000",
    "vehicle_class": null,
    "restrictions": null,
    "endorsements": null,
    "document_discriminator": "SAMPLE-DISCRIMINATOR",
    "issuer_identification_number": null,
    "aamva_version": 10,
    "jurisdiction_version": 0
  }
}