In one embodiment, a method for printing a bar in a bar code includes computing a print resolution for printing the bar using Bar Width, Dot Size and Number of Dots where Bar Width is a desired width of the bar, Dot Size is a nominal dimension of each dot measured in a direction across the width of the bar and Number of Dots is a number of dots to be printed across the width of the bar, and adjusting a spacing between dots based on the computed print resolution.