Canva barcode generator: what it makes and how to add your own

If the app you have does not draw the format you need, make the barcode in the barcode generator. Download the PNG and upload it to Canva like any image. Every other route, and the number that comes before all of them, is set out in the parent guide to making a barcode.

What Canva makes itself

Canva's own generator makes QR codes. In a design, go to Elements, search for QR code, and click Create on the banner that appears, then enter the web address and save. Canva says every code it makes is dynamic. The destination can be changed later without reprinting, and changing it updates the code in every design that uses it. Only the person who created the code can edit it. On Free, Pro, Education and Nonprofit plans the code carries a Canva logo by default. A code can be deactivated if the linked content does not meet Canva's guidelines. Canva also says codes from its old static QR app cannot be turned into dynamic ones. A QR code downloads as PNG, JPG, SVG or PDF.

For a product barcode, the editor has nothing built in. Canva's barcode page says to open Apps on the left sidebar, type barcode in the search field and choose a barcode generator app. The page names three apps, Barcode Generator, Barcodes and Easy Barcodes. It says the first is free while the other two have free trials with paid features. It does not say who makes them. Canva's privacy policy says third-party apps are not controlled by Canva and asks you to read their terms before connecting one.

The nine formats the app covers

Canva lists CODE128, EAN13, EAN8, UPC, CODE39, ITF14, MSI, PHARMACODE and CODABAR. That covers the retail and carton codes most sellers need, but not Data Matrix or PDF417. The page does not say how the UPC option handles a check digit, or what file the app places in the design. Canva's own advice at the end of its page is the right one: test-scan the barcode with your scanner before printing. Its page also calls the output compliant barcodes without saying with what, and it says nothing about GS1 licensing. A barcode drawn in Canva around a made-up number is still a made-up number. For goods you sell, start with how to get a UPC code.

Bringing in a barcode from the UPC generator

If you want the GS1 sizes, the clear space and the warnings, draw the barcode in the UPC generator or the barcode generator. Then upload the file. Canva accepts PNG, JPEG, HEIC and WebP images under 50 MB and up to 250 million pixels in total. SVG files must be under 3 MB, between 150 and 200 pixels wide and saved as SVG 1.1. Canva's page does not say what happens to an SVG outside that width. The SVG files from the UPC generator state their size in millimeters, so the PNG is the safer upload. Set its resolution to your printer's and Canva receives whole dots.

Once the picture is in the design, keep its proportions. A barcode stretched to fill a space has wrong bar widths and may not scan, and a Data Matrix must stay square. Use the rulers, from File, then Rulers and guides, to check that the symbol sits at its real size. Leave the clear space in the file empty of other artwork.

Getting it out for print

Canva's download for print is PDF Print, at 300 dpi, chosen from Share, then Download, then the file type list. On the same screen a Crop marks and bleed box adds both to the PDF. Canva adds 0.125 inches of bleed on all sides for products that get trimmed, and the amount cannot be changed. CMYK color and some other export options are available on Canva Pro, Teams, Education and Nonprofit plans.

For a home or office printer, Canva says to download the PDF Print file first. Then set the print size to 100 percent or Actual Size, since Fit to page shrinks the design. If a print comes out too small or cut off, Canva's own troubleshooting points at that scale setting. For prints ordered through Canva, it recommends artwork of around 300 dpi. It also says it may not be able to check a design before it goes to print, so proof it yourself. A barcode printed at any scale other than 100 percent has every bar width changed. That setting matters more for a barcode than for anything else on the label.

What Canva cannot tell you

Canva does not license numbers, does not check a barcode against the GS1 size range, and does not know your scanner. Whether the finished label scans depends on the printer, the paper and the scanner model. That is why the test scan comes before the print run. What the scanner is looking for is in how barcodes work. Use a check of the last digit to catch a wrong one before the file ever reaches Canva.

The same picture route works in Word and Excel. Once a label is printed, how to scan a barcode with your phone gives you a quick check before the print run.