Barcode Generator

About the Barcode Generator

Draw barcodes for products, cartons, documents and labels: EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, GS1-128, ITF-14, Code 128, Code 39, Codabar, Data Matrix, GS1 DataMatrix, PDF417 and Aztec. Check digits are calculated or checked as you type, GS1 data such as GTIN, expiry date and batch is validated field by field, and the barcode is sized in millimetres with the quiet zones the standards ask for.

Download a PNG that prints at the right size (each bar is a whole number of printer dots at your printer’s resolution), an SVG or a vector PDF at the exact size — or paste a list or a CSV file and get hundreds of barcodes in a ZIP. Everything is made in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded.

Common uses

• Retail barcodes for products with GTINs from GS1 India.
• Carton labels with ITF-14 or GS1-128 (SSCC, batch, expiry, weight).
• Inventory, asset and file labels with Code 128 or Data Matrix.
• Hundreds of numbered labels at once from a spreadsheet column.
• GS1 DataMatrix with GTIN, expiry, batch and serial for medicine packs.

Which barcode should I use?

• EAN-13 / UPC-A — products sold in shops. UPC-A is used mainly in the USA and Canada; EAN-13 everywhere else. EAN-8 and UPC-E are short versions for very small packs.
• ITF-14 — outer cartons and cases, often printed straight onto corrugated board. GS1-128 — logistics labels with more data: SSCC pallet numbers, GTIN, batch, expiry, weight.
• Code 128 — your own labels, invoices, assets and courier slips: letters, digits and symbols, compact. Code 39 — older industrial and government systems (capital letters only). Codabar — libraries, blood banks and some courier slips.
• Data Matrix, PDF417 and Aztec — 2D codes that hold much more data in a small space; GS1 DataMatrix carries GS1 fields and is used on medicine packs.

Sizes the GS1 standard asks for

The X-dimension is the width of the narrowest bar. For EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A and UPC-E scanned at a till, the GS1 General Specifications (Release 26.0, Table 5-44) allow 0.264–0.660 mm with 0.330 mm as the target — “100% magnification”. At 0.330 mm the minimum bar height is 22.85 mm for EAN-13, UPC-A and UPC-E and 18.23 mm for EAN-8, not counting the digits; the height scales with X, and the bars must never be cut shorter.

For cartons scanned in warehouses (Table 5-47), ITF-14 and GS1-128 use X 0.495–1.016 mm with bars at least 31.75 mm tall. GS1 DataMatrix on retail packs uses 0.396–0.990 mm, target 0.495 mm (Table 5-46). A GS1-128 barcode may hold at most 48 data characters and be at most 165.10 mm long including its quiet zones; the page warns when it is longer.

The text under the bars should be at least 2 mm high, and at least 3 mm on GS1 logistics labels (section 4.14), so GS1-128 and ITF-14 start at 3 mm. The Text height setting is the height of the digits and capital letters.

Quiet zones and bearer bars

Scanners need a blank margin — the quiet zone — on each side of the bars. GS1 sets 11X on the left and 7X on the right of EAN-13, 7X on both sides of EAN-8, 9X on both sides of UPC-A, 9X and 7X for UPC-E, and 10X for ITF-14 and GS1-128; GS1 DataMatrix needs 1X all round. The quiet zones are included in the downloads, so keep the area blank when you place the code.

ITF-14 needs bearer bars: GS1 asks for a 4.83 mm frame around the code when it is printed with printing plates (flexo on cartons), and bars at least twice the narrow bar width at the top and bottom for other printing. Choose the matching option under Bearer bars. The digits are placed at least 1.02 mm below the bearer bar, as GS1 requires (section 5.3.2.2).

Getting real product numbers (GS1 India)

The barcode is only a picture of a number. For products sold in shops and on marketplaces the number itself — the GTIN — must be licensed from GS1. In India that is GS1 India, the only authorised body for numbers starting with 890. A made-up number, or one copied from another product, can belong to someone else’s item and is rejected by retailers. Books use ISBN numbers (EAN-13 starting with 978 or 979), which Indian publishers get from the Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN. For your own internal labels, Code 128 or Data Matrix needs no licence.

Printing tips

• Print dark bars on a white or light background. Red, orange and light colours are invisible to many laser scanners; most scanners cannot read light-on-dark (inverted) linear barcodes.
• Set the PNG resolution to your printer’s (203 or 300 DPI for most thermal label printers) so every bar is a whole number of dots. The page shows the module width you will really get.
• Print at 100% / actual size — never “fit to page”. The SVG and PDF files carry their size in millimetres.
• Always test-scan a sample on the actual material before a large print run.

Limitations

• The tool draws barcodes; it cannot issue or register product numbers — get GTINs from GS1.
• Print quality (bar width gain, contrast, quiet zones on the pack) decides whether a code scans; a printed code is not graded or verified here.
• Code 128 accepts plain ASCII text here; for other characters use Data Matrix, PDF417, Aztec or a QR code.
• EAN/UPC add-on symbols (2 or 5 extra digits, used on some magazines and books) are not offered.
• Lists are limited to 1,000 barcodes per download.

Privacy

Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.