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Render scale changes resolution, not printed size. To make a retail barcode physically bigger or smaller, resize it in your artwork and keep the magnification between 80% and 200%.
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Up to 2,000 barcodes per run — every one is validated before it is drawn.
Decode a barcode image
Check-digit calculator
GTIN prefix lookup
The first three digits of an EAN-13 identify the GS1 member organisation that issued the prefix — not always the country of manufacture.
Which barcode should I use?
Pick by where the barcode will be scanned, not by which one looks nicest. These are the choices that cover almost every Indian business.
| Use case | Symbology | Data it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Retail product sold in a shop or on Amazon / Flipkart | EAN-13 | 13 digits (GTIN-13) |
| Small pack where EAN-13 will not fit | EAN-8 | 8 digits |
| Retail product sold in the USA or Canada | UPC-A | 12 digits (GTIN-12) |
| Outer carton / shipping case | ITF-14 | 14 digits (GTIN-14) |
| Books, magazines, sheet music | ISBN / ISSN / ISMN | EAN-13 with a 978/977/979 prefix |
| Internal SKU, asset tag, warehouse bin | Code 128 | Any letters, digits and symbols |
| Older industrial scanners, ID cards | Code 39 | A–Z, 0–9 and a few symbols |
| Logistics label with batch, expiry and GTIN | GS1-128 | Structured GS1 Application Identifiers |
| Pallet / shipment serial number | SSCC-18 in GS1-128 | 18 digits |
| Tiny electronic component or surgical instrument | DataMatrix | Up to 2,335 characters in a few millimetres |
| Medicine pack under DSCSA / EU FMD | GS1 DataMatrix | GTIN + batch + expiry + serial |
| ID document, driving licence, boarding pass | PDF417 | Up to 1,850 characters |
| Ticket or mobile coupon in a small square | Aztec | Up to 3,000 characters, no quiet zone needed |
| Marketing, payments, anything a phone scans | QR Code | URLs, UPI strings, vCards, text |
| German pharmacy article number | PZN-8 | 8 digits |
| Blood bags, film canisters, libraries | Codabar | Digits and six symbols |
The three rules that stop a barcode failing at the till
1. Never scale a raster image
A PNG stretched to fit a label smears the edges of the bars and the scanner loses the pattern. Always send SVG or PDF to your printer or designer. Both are vector files that redraw perfectly at any size.
2. Respect the quiet zone
The blank margin on both sides of the bars is part of the barcode. An EAN-13 needs at least 2.31 mm of clear space on the left and 1.65 mm on the right. Artwork or a fold that eats into it will make the code unreadable. The Quiet zone slider in this tool controls exactly that margin.
3. Keep enough contrast
Scanners read reflected red light. Dark blue, black and dark green bars on white work. Red bars never work — a red laser sees red as white. Never invert a retail barcode to white-on-dark, and never print on a metallic or transparent surface without a solid white patch behind it.
Do I need to buy a GS1 number?
This is the question that costs businesses the most money, so here is the honest version.
- Selling in organised retail, on Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket or Blinkit — yes. You need a GTIN prefix licensed from GS1 India. The number must be globally unique and registered to your company, otherwise your listing will be rejected or another company's product will show up when yours is scanned.
- Internal use only — warehouse bins, asset tags, job cards, your own shop's till — no. Generate any Code 128 or EAN-13 you like with this tool. Nothing needs registering.
- Books — an ISBN comes free from the Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency in India; you then turn it into an EAN-13 barcode here.
Resellers who sell single barcodes cheaply are selling numbers from a prefix licensed to them, not to you. That is fine for a hobby shop and a problem the day a large retailer audits your GTIN. Decide with your eyes open.