How to use it
- Enter the 11 or 12 digits from your GS1 Company Prefix (or your single GTIN).
- Keep the size at 100% unless your packaging needs smaller. Stay between 80% and 200%.
- Download a vector SVG or PDF for your designer, or a 300 DPI PNG for labels.
What a UPC-A barcode is
UPC-A is the 12-digit barcode on almost every product sold in the United States and Canada. The first digits are your GS1 Company Prefix, which identifies your brand. The next digits are the item number you assign to each product and variant, and the last digit is a check digit calculated from the other eleven. Checkouts use the check digit to catch misreads, so one wrong digit means a rejected scan.
The bars encode the same 12 digits as the text underneath. There are 95 modules in total: guard bars at each end and in the middle, and six digits on each side. Each digit takes two bars and two spaces.
Getting the size right
GS1 defines the "100%" UPC-A as 1.469 inches wide and 1.02 inches tall, including the numbers. You can scale it between 80% and 200%. Our generator works in mils (thousandths of an inch) for the narrowest bar: 13 mil is 100%, 10.4 mil is 80% and 26 mil is 200%. Go below 80% and many store scanners start to miss. Also avoid cutting the bars short ("truncating") to fit a tight panel. Retailers may reject truncated codes.
| Magnification | Bar width | Approx. width |
|---|---|---|
| 80% | 10.4 mil | 1.18 in |
| 100% | 13 mil | 1.47 in |
| 150% | 19.5 mil | 2.20 in |
| 200% | 26 mil | 2.94 in |
Print it so it scans
- Dark bars on a light background. Black on white is best. Scanners use red light, so red, orange or pink bars look white to them.
- Leave the quiet zone empty. Keep text, edges and artwork away from the blank margin on both sides.
- Use the vector file for packaging. Send the SVG or PDF to your printer so the bars stay sharp at any size.
- Test before a full run. Print one, scan it with a phone app or a USB scanner, and check the number matches.
Where the number comes from
This tool draws the barcode; it can't give you a valid retail number. To sell through Amazon, Walmart or most stores, the UPC must be licensed to your company by GS1, because Amazon checks it against the GS1 database. See how to get a barcode number, or use Code 128 for internal SKUs that never leave your business.