Barcodes 101 – A Quick Course

Which type of barcode should you use on your products? How to obtain and print it? Keep reading to find the answers to your questions.

What Is a UPC-A Barcode and How to Obtain It?

UPC-A (or GTIN-12) barcodes are the standards in retail business in Canada and the United States. EAN (or EAN-13) codes are used in the rest of the world. The two codes are numerical, and the image for the codes is identical. In fact, the UPC-A is an EAN-13 code without the zero at the beginning of it.

The official supplier for UPC-A barcodes is GS1.

First, determine how many barcodes you need. Remember that each variation of product requires a unique barcode.

Then, subscribe to GS1 Canada. The type of subscription that you choose will change based on your current and future barcode requirements. This subscription includes a GTIN license for the number of barcodes you ask for, and it can be renewed every year.

GS1 Canada will then send you the GTIN of your products, which are the numbers shown at the bottom of barcodes.

Then, ask your designer and printer to generate, create, and produce your barcodes.

What Is a 128 Code?

A code 128 is an alphanumerical code. In fact, the name for the code 128 comes from the 128 ASCII characters that it can use. This type of code is usually used for warehouses, logistics, and transportation since it can include the serial number, lot number, weight, and much more.

What About the QR Code?

Who does not know about the QR code? This square code is made from small black and white squares,and it has multiple purposes throughout the world. These codes can include many characters and information and can easily be read by smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

QR codes are used in many fields for different purposes. They are used, among others, for marketing, business cards, tickets and other travel documents, and production chains.

No license is required to use QR codes.

How to Print your Barcodes?

Now that you know more about these three types of barcodes, how do you integrate them into your packaging and print them?

You could be tempted to use a free online generator. However, the issue with these generators is that the quality is often inferior, which can cause reading errors leading to the products being removed from the shelves of certain merchants.

There are two interesting solutions for you.

At Multi-Action, we have everything necessary so that you can manage your barcodes from A to Z.

Nicelabel, a barcode and sticker software, allows you to manage your stickers and barcodes straight from your Excel database.

We manufacture and sell a wide variety of labels that will meet all of your needs for product identification.

In addition, we sell a variety of barcode printers that are ideal for printing your labels, and barcode readers.

If you need barcode packaging solutions, Multi-Action has the equipment, technology, and expertise to provide you with a turnkey product. Our digital press allows us to create a packaging label based on your company’s profile and to integrate, among others, sequential barcodes, sequential numbering, and VDP (variable data printing) barcodes.