Free UPC-A barcode generator.

Type

Linear EAN/UPC symbol, omnidirectional

Specification

GS1 General Specifications 26.0, section 5.2.2.3; ISO/IEC 15420

Data

12 digits: GTIN-12 or a restricted number (RCN-12)

Check digit

Last digit; weights 3, 1, 3 … from the left

X-dimension

0.264–0.660 mm (0.0104–0.0260 inch); 0.330 mm nominal

Bar height

22.85 mm (0.900 inch) at 0.330 mm; never below 18.28 mm

Quiet zones

9X left and right; 113 modules overall

Print quality

Grade 1.5 (ANSI C) or better, 6 mil aperture, 660 nm

Numbers from

GS1 US, GS1 Canada

A GTIN-12 consists of a U.P.C. Company Prefix, an item reference and a check digit. The prefix is your GS1 Company Prefix without the 0 in front, so GS1's example 0614141 becomes 614141, leaving 5 digits for 100,000 item references.

The first digit, formerly called the number system character, shows the kind of number:

Check digit of GS1 US's example 61414100001:

1. Multiply the digits by 3 and 1 in turn, starting with 3: 18, 1, 12, 1, 12, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3.
2. Add them up: 48.
3. 50 is the nearest equal or higher multiple of ten: 50 − 48 = 2.
4. Result: 614141000012; as 13 digits 0614141000012, in a 14-digit database field 00614141000012.

In its bars, a UPC-A is an EAN-13 whose first digit is 0. Scanners can report it as 13 digits, 0 plus the GTIN-12; the 0 is a filler and does not change the GTIN.

GS1 US asked North American retailers to process EAN-13 from January 2005 (Sunrise 2005), so EAN-13 products scan in US and Canadian stores too.

• Prefix not starting with 0. It cannot form GTIN-12s; its products get GTIN-13s in an EAN-13.
• Digits. A UPC-A prints 12, the first and last outside the guard bars; an EAN-13 prints 13.
• Quiet zones. 9X on both sides for UPC-A; 11X left and 7X right for EAN-13.

With quiet zones, the symbol is always 113 modules wide; the minimum bar height is 69.24 modules:

• Quiet zones. UPC-A can be scanned from either end, so keep 9X (2.97 mm at nominal size) clear on both sides: no text, perforations or die lines. Below 8X, verifiers grade the scan profile 0.
• Colors. Black on white gives good contrast; dark blue or dark green bars also work. Avoid red, orange and yellow bars: the scanner's laser does not see red.
• Verification. GS1 Canada recommends a third-party check before production and another on the finished pack, contents and overwrap included.

• Dropping zeros at the start. Stored as a number, 012345000058 turns into 12345000058, which the generator reads as 11 new digits: 123450000588. Store GTINs as text, like GS1 US's zero-filled 14-digit field.
• Pasting the 14-digit form. 00614141000012 does not fit the 11- or 12-digit form; drop the two filler zeros.
• Giving the case the unit's GTIN-12. GS1 US requires different GTINs for the retail unit and the case. Give the case its own, such as a GTIN-14 starting with indicator digit 1, in an ITF-14.
• Cutting the bars short. GS1 Canada warns of trading partner penalties for truncated symbols on packs with room for full height. Reduce the X-dimension instead.