Continuous inkjet printers create a continuous stream of ink that “jets” from the main tank, through a nozzle into a gutter which, with the aid of vacuum pressure, returns the unused ink back into the main tank. This stream is continually broken up (modulated) into individual drops in a very precise and controlled way. To print, the printer then charges single drops within that stream with varying charges, one drop at a time, in a pattern that when flown through a high voltage field inside the printhead, deflects it from the gutter and creates a vertical line of drops (stroke). The greater the charge, the more deflection in the vertical direction. The stroke is a single line of drops which creates one vertical slice of the character(s) or image to be printed. As the product moves past the printer, it creates subsequent strokes with the proper pattern to make up the dots within the dot matrix for each character. The most common “fonts” are made up of seven drops in the vertical direction and five in the direction of travel (stroke). It is also possible to print more than one line at a time, with the lines stacked on top of each other. Single line, dual line, and tri-line codes are most common.