Barcode Generator

Yes, it is free - no sign-up, no watermark, and the files are yours to use anywhere.

One thing to know: a barcode is only a picture of a number. Shops and marketplaces want the number inside an EAN or UPC to be registered to your company, which you get from GS1 (the body that hands out product numbers). Once you have your numbers, make the barcodes here. Code 128, Code 39 and ITF-14 for your own stock, assets and shipping need no registration.

EAN-13 for retail products almost everywhere, UPC-A for shops in the US and Canada, EAN-8 or UPC-E when the pack is tiny, and ISBN for books.

For anything with letters - stock numbers, serials, Amazon FNSKU labels - use Code 128. Shipping labels with dates and lot numbers use GS1-128, outer cartons use ITF-14. The table above this FAQ compares them all, and our barcode types guide explains each one with examples.

Yes. Amazon FNSKU labels (the codes starting with X00) are Code 128 - pick Code 128, type the FNSKU, and print it on labels with PDF and the Labels page. Avery L7160 and 5160 sheets are built in.

For the product barcode itself, Amazon checks UPC and EAN numbers against the GS1 database, so use numbers registered to your brand.

EAN, UPC, ISBN and ITF-14 numbers end with a check digit, worked out from the other digits so a scanner can catch misreads. Type the number without it and we add it, or type the full number and we check it - if the last digit is wrong you get a warning instead of a barcode that will not scan.

Retail barcodes come in magnifications from 80% to 200%. At 100%, an EAN-13 is 37.29 x 25.93 mm including the white margins; 80% is the smallest a till scanner is sure to read.

Keep the full height - cutting the bars shorter ("truncating") makes codes hard to scan from an angle. Always leave the white margins, and print PDF or EPS files at 100% (Actual size), never Fit to page.

Send PDF or EPS to a print shop or packaging designer: both are vector files made at the exact size in millimetres. SVG is the vector choice for websites and design apps.

Use PNG at 300 dpi or more for labels and documents - we write the dpi into the file, so it prints at the right size. Need to open an EPS file? Try our EPS Viewer, or turn an SVG into an image with SVG to PNG.

Yes, within limits: dark bars on a light background. Black, dark blue, dark green and dark brown bars work. Red, orange and yellow bars do not - shop scanners use red light, and red ink looks white to them, so the bars disappear.

The check under the preview tells you when your colours are risky. Light bars on a dark background (inverted) do not scan on most tills.

Yes. Open Many barcodes at once, paste a list (one code per line), load a CSV with content, name and label columns, or make a numbered series like PART-0001 to PART-0500. You get all files in one ZIP with a list of what is inside - or, with PDF and the Labels page, all of them on printable label sheets.

Need QR codes instead? The QR Code Generator does the same for links, WiFi and contacts, and our guide on how QR codes work explains the difference.