UPC generator
Turn a UPC-A number you already own into a scannable retail barcode, with the quiet zone included and the check digit calculated as you type.
How do I generate a UPC barcode?
A UPC generator turns your 12-digit UPC-A number into a scannable retail barcode. Enter the number GS1 issued you and this draws it with the quiet zone included and the check digit calculated as you type, ready to download as SVG, PNG or a print-ready PDF. The number itself comes from GS1, not from a generator.
North American retail. Encodes identically to an EAN-13 beginning 0.
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 should be 2
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, GS1 US for North American retail. No generator can assign one, and a made-up UPC can collide with a real product on a real till.
A spreadsheet of numbers becomes a sheet of labels, with the right number of copies of each, on a Starter plan. Single codes here stay free.
Need EAN-13, Code 128 or GS1-128 instead? The barcode generator covers every retail and internal format.
Can I get a free UPC code?
This is the part that costs money to get wrong. A UPC number 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 UPC-A; only GS1 can tell you the number is yours. Klip will not invent one, because a fabricated UPC 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.
If what you actually need is an internal code, a shelf label, an asset tag or a stockroom bin, you do not need a UPC at all. Use Code 128 on thebarcode generator: it has no registry behind it and belongs to your own operation rather than to a retailer.
UPC-A or EAN-13?
- UPC-A, twelve digits, North American retail. The default if you are selling into the United States or Canada.
- EAN-13, thirteen digits, the retail standard in Kenya and most of the world. A UPC-A is really an EAN-13 that begins with a zero, so a modern scanner reads either.
- Which to print, the one your retailer asks for. If you are unsure, EAN-13 is read everywhere; UPC-A is the North American convention.
Before you send it to print
- Keep the quiet zone. It is drawn into the file here, so do not let a layout crop into the white margin on either side.
- Print black on white. A scanner reads reflectance, not colour, and light bars on a dark ground defeat most hardware even when the contrast measures fine.
- 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 scanner the shop actually uses, on the stock it will be printed on.
Questions
The things people ask before they commit something to paper.
Can I get a free UPC code here?
No, and no tool honestly can. A UPC number is a GTIN, and it is issued by a GS1 member organisation, not generated. What this does is turn a UPC number you already own into a correctly drawn, scannable barcode. If you are listing a product for the first time, get the number from GS1 before you print anything.
What is the difference between UPC and EAN-13?
UPC-A is twelve digits and is the retail standard in North America. EAN-13 is thirteen digits and is used in Kenya and most of the rest of the world. A UPC-A encodes identically to an EAN-13 that begins with a zero, so a modern checkout scanner reads both without any change.
How many digits is a UPC and what is the last one?
Twelve. Enter the first eleven and this works out the twelfth, the check digit, the same calculation a scanner uses to tell a misread from a real number. Paste all twelve and if it says the check digit is wrong, there is a typo somewhere in the number.
Can I use a UPC from here on Amazon?
Amazon requires a GTIN that traces back to GS1, so the number has to be one GS1 issued to you rather than one invented. Once you have that number, this draws the scannable UPC-A barcode for your label, box or listing image.
Why will it not just make up a UPC number for me?
Because a fabricated UPC can land inside a prefix GS1 has already assigned to a real company, and the clash surfaces at a till after your labels are printed. Klip draws the barcode; the number comes from GS1. For an internal code with no registry behind it, use Code 128 on the barcode generator.
What can I download?
SVG, PNG or a print-ready PDF. The PDF is real vector geometry built from the bar pattern, not a picture of one, so the bar widths stay exact at any size. Use it for anything printed, because with a barcode the bar widths are the data.