Barcodes for Product Labels
From choosing a symbology to printing a label that passes a scan test — the practical sequence for putting a barcode on a product.
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Step 1: get the right number
For anything sold through retail, you need a GTIN licensed from GS1. Not a number you invented, and not one bought from a reseller — retailers verify prefix ownership in GS1's registry, and reassigned numbers are where onboarding fails. For internal use — stock, assets, bins — any numbering scheme you control is fine.
Step 2: choose the symbology
| Use | Symbology | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Retail product, US/Canada | UPC-A | What US retailers expect |
| Retail product, rest of world | EAN-13 | The international GTIN-13 symbol |
| Very small package | UPC-E or EAN-8 | Roughly half the width |
| Shipping carton | ITF-14 | Robust on corrugated board |
| Batch, expiry, serial data | GS1-128 | Carries labelled fields |
| Internal inventory and assets | Code 128 | Dense, checksummed, alphanumeric |
| Books and periodicals | ISBN / ISSN | Bookland EAN-13 |
Step 3: size it before you design around it
Barcode width comes from the data and the X-dimension; it is not negotiable by layout. Work out the real size with the size calculator, then design the label around that block. Never scale a barcode horizontally on its own — the bar-to-space ratios are what a scanner decodes.
Step 4: respect the quiet zones
Linear symbols need clear space of roughly ten times the X-dimension on each side. On a crowded label this is the first thing designers sacrifice and the first thing that breaks scanning. Mark the quiet zone in your artwork so nobody puts a border or an ingredient list in it.
Step 5: colour and material
- Dark bars on a light background. Black on white is not a style choice.
- Red bars are effectively invisible to some red-light scanners — avoid.
- Metallic, transparent and dark packaging need a printed white panel behind the symbol.
- Gloss and lamination scatter light. Test the finished material.
- Direct thermal fades with heat and light. Fine for shipping, poor for a shelf edge.
Step 6: print orientation
On thermal printers, bars printed parallel to the print head ("ladder" orientation) tolerate a failing print element far better than bars printed across it — a single dead element can wipe out a bar in the wrong orientation. Ask your label supplier which way round their stock runs.
Step 7: test properly
- Validate the number in the barcode validator.
- Print on the final material at the final size.
- Scan with a real point-of-sale or handheld scanner, not just a phone app.
- Scan at angles and from both sides of the label.
- If a trading partner requires it, get a formal verification report to ISO/IEC 15416, which grades a printed linear symbol properly.
Step 8: produce them at scale
Generate a whole range in one pass with the bulk barcode generator, then lay them out on label stock with the barcode label maker.
Sources
Symbol dimensions, quiet zones and placement rules are in the GS1 General Specifications. Print-quality grading for linear symbols is ISO/IEC 15416.