Barcode generator
EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8, Code 128, Code 39, ITF-14 and GS1-128, drawn correctly, with the quiet zone included and the check digit worked out as you type.
How do I make a barcode for my product?
To make a barcode for a product, choose the format your retailer expects (EAN-13 almost everywhere, UPC-A in North America), enter the number your business was issued, and download the SVG or print-ready PDF. The quiet zone is included and the check digit is calculated for you. Klip draws a barcode from a number you already own; the number itself comes from GS1.
The retail standard outside North America. The number must be one you own.
Klip renders a barcode from a number you already own. It does not assign one, a GTIN comes from a GS1 member organisation, which in Kenya is GS1 Kenya.
Check digit added, the full number is 5901234123457.
Advanced
Retail scanners read in red light, where a red bar disappears into a white background. Black on white is not a default so much as the thing that works.
A GS1 member organisation issues it, GS1 Kenya locally. No generator can assign one, and a made-up number can collide with a real product on a real till.
A spreadsheet becomes a sheet of labels (with the right number of copies of each) on a Starter plan. Single barcodes here stay free.
A barcode identifies the product at the till. A QR code takes the shopper somewhere. Most products end up wanting both.
A barcode image is not a barcode number
This is the part that costs money to get wrong. The number under a retail barcode is a GTIN, and it is issued, not generated. A GS1 member organisation allocates a prefix to your business, and every distinct product and pack size gets its own number from within it. Any tool can draw a valid-looking EAN-13; only GS1 can tell you the number is yours.
Klip will not invent one. Enter a number and it is checked and drawn. Ask for an internal code and you get Code 128, which has no registry behind it and belongs to your stockroom rather than to a retailer. That line is deliberate: a fabricated EAN-13 sitting in a live GS1 prefix can clash with somebody else's product at a checkout, and the shop finds out after the labels are printed.
Which format for which job
- EAN-13, the retail default in Kenya and most of the world. Thirteen digits, the last one calculated.
- UPC-A, North American retail. Twelve digits, and it encodes identically to an EAN-13 that begins with a zero.
- EAN-8, for packs genuinely too small for EAN-13. It is issued separately, not shortened from one you already have.
- Code 128, your own codes. Shelf edges, bins, assets, anything a retailer never sees. Letters allowed.
- Code 39, wider than Code 128 and read by scanners old enough to predate it. Asset tags, libraries, workshops.
- ITF-14, the outer case. A checkout will refuse it, which is the point: it identifies the carton, not the item.
- GS1-128, the carton label that says what its numbers MEAN. It carries a GTIN plus a batch, an expiry or a serial, each tagged with an application identifier like
(01)or(17), so a warehouse scanner reads fields rather than one opaque string. Klip checks every identifier and every check digit; the numbers themselves still come from GS1.
Before you send it to print
- Keep the quiet zone. It is drawn into the file here, do not let a layout crop into the white margin either side.
- Print black on white unless you have a reason not to. A scanner reads reflectance, and light bars on a dark ground defeat most hardware.
- Use the PDF for anything printed. Bar widths carry the data, and a rescaled raster softens exactly the edges that matter.
- Scan the printed label, not the screen, with the actual scanner the shop uses, on the actual stock it will be printed on.
Questions
The things people ask before they commit something to paper.
Does this give me an official barcode number?
No, and no online generator can. A GTIN (the number under a retail barcode) is issued by a GS1 member organisation, which in Kenya is GS1 Kenya. What this tool does is turn a number you already own into a correctly drawn, scannable symbol. If you are stocking a supermarket for the first time, get the number from GS1 first.
What is the check digit and why does it change my number?
The last digit of an EAN-13 or UPC-A is calculated from the others, so a scanner can tell a misread from a real number. Type the first twelve and this adds the thirteenth for you. If you paste all thirteen and it says the check digit is wrong, the number has a typo somewhere.
Which format should I use for my products?
EAN-13 for retail in Kenya and most of the world. UPC-A if you are selling into North America. EAN-8 only for packs genuinely too small for EAN-13. Code 128 for your own internal codes (shelf labels, assets, stockroom bins) where no retailer is involved.
Can I use ITF-14 on my products?
Not on the consumer pack. ITF-14 identifies an outer case or carton and a supermarket checkout will not accept it. It belongs on the box the retailer opens, not on the item the shopper picks up.
Why does it refuse some colour combinations?
A barcode scanner reads reflectance, not colour. Low contrast does not scan poorly, it does not scan at all, and light bars on a dark background will be rejected by most hardware even though the contrast measures fine. Black on white is what a printer expects.
Do I get a PDF I can send to a printer?
Yes. The PDF is real vector geometry built from the bar pattern, not a picture of one, so it stays exact at any size. That matters more for a barcode than for most artwork: bar widths are the data, and a rescaled raster softens them.