ZXing Alternative: PDF417 Barcode OCR API

What ZXing Is

ZXing and its zxing-cpp port are open-source barcode libraries that decode PDF417 among many formats. Choosing between it and an API comes down to where processing runs, how you pay, and which documents you need.

Where StructOCR Differs

StructOCR is a server-side REST API: you send an image and receive structured JSON for driver license pdf417. There is no SDK to embed, billing is 2 credits per successful request, credits never expire, and failed requests are not billed. See the Driver License PDF417 API docs or try the free scanner.

Where This Fits

• Choose ZXing when: your images are clean scans and you will build AAMVA parsing and capture handling yourself.
• Choose StructOCR when: you need phone photos handled with retries, AAMVA parsing, and explicit capture hints out of the box.
• Use both when: You capture on a device with one tool and need server-side extraction or a fallback for uploaded images with the other.

Try the API in a Few Lines

A complete request takes one HTTP call with your API key.

Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("license-back.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("document_kind:", data.get("document_kind"))
print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
print("date_of_birth:", data.get("date_of_birth"))
print("region:", data.get("region"))

Response Shape

Illustrative fields returned by the StructOCR API for this document type.

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "document_kind": "…",
    "document_number": "…",
    "date_of_birth": "…",
    "region": "…"
  }
}