Barcode guides
18 answers to the questions people ask before they print a barcode. They cover where a number comes from and what it costs, what the digits mean, and how a scanner reads the bars. Others get a working barcode into Excel, Word or Canva, or read one back with a phone.
Getting, finding and reading codes
- How to get a UPC code: the GS1 route, what it costs and when you can skip it.
- Where is the UPC code on a product?: finding and reading the digits on a package, receipt or listing.
- ISBN barcode with a price: how a book number becomes an EAN-13 and what the 5 digit add-on says.
- What is a SKU?: how a stock code differs from a UPC, and how to build one.
- Where to find a SKU number: on tags, receipts and seller dashboards, platform by platform.
What the numbers and bars mean
- What is a UPC code?: what the 12 digits mean and how the bars carry them.
- What is a GTIN?: the 8, 12, 13 and 14 digit numbers behind every retail barcode.
- What is a check digit?: the last digit that catches a typo, and the swaps it misses.
- What is a GS1 barcode?: what GS1 is, what it licenses and which barcodes carry its numbers.
- What is a 2D barcode?: Data Matrix, QR and PDF417, and why checkouts are adding them.
- How do barcodes work?: what a scanner sees, how it reads either way, and why red bars fail.
- Who invented the barcode?: the patent, the railway code and the first supermarket scan.
Making a barcode
- How to make a barcode: the number first, then the picture by any route, then size, print and test.
- How to make a barcode in Excel: fonts, formulas and the image route, with what each gets wrong.
- How to make a barcode in Word: the built-in barcode field, and label sheets by mail merge.
- Barcodes in Canva: what Canva draws itself and how to place a print-ready barcode.
Scanning
- How to scan a barcode with your phone: iPhone and Android, QR codes and retail barcodes, without an extra app.
- Does a barcode set off store alarms?: what the gate at the door actually detects.
When you are ready to draw one
The UPC generator draws retail numbers, the barcode generator covers all 10 formats, and the check digit calculator tests a number you were given before anything goes to print.