Barcode generator and label maker

What this tool does

This is three tools in one. First, a barcode generator: pick a type, type the number or text, and the barcode draws itself. Second, a label designer: set the label size in millimetres, add the product name, the price or any text, then drag each line where you want it and resize it from its corner. Third, printing: as many copies as you need, laid out on A4 or A5 sticker paper, paper of your own size, or a label printer's roll. Download the whole label or the barcode alone as PNG, JPG or SVG.

Everything happens in your browser. Your labels and files never leave your computer or phone; nothing is uploaded or stored by us.

Which barcode do I need?

EAN-13 and the check digit

An EAN-13 has 13 digits. The first 12 identify the product and the 13th is a check digit, worked out from the others: multiply the digits by 1 and 3 in turn from the right, add them up, and take what brings the total to the next ten. When a scanner reads a code, it does the same sum; if the last digit doesn't match, it knows the scan was wrong. Type 12 digits here and the tool adds the check digit for you; type 13 and it tells you if the last one is wrong.

Where shop barcodes come from

Shops and marketplaces only accept product barcodes that come from GS1, the not-for-profit body that runs the system worldwide, through its office in each country. The first digits show the office that issued the number: India's start with 890, and the UK's with 500–509. You pay a yearly fee for a block of numbers. India's GS1 office, for example, refunds up to 80% of the fees to micro enterprises for three years. Inside your own shop, for your own stock, any number works; this tool makes those freely.

Getting the size right

A product barcode can be printed between 80% and 200% of its normal size: bars from 0.264 mm to 0.66 mm wide, 0.33 mm being normal (GS1 General Specifications). Don't cut the bars short to save space, and keep the quiet zones, the white margins on both sides, free of text and edges. The tool shows the real bar width of your barcode, including after it is scaled to fit a label, and warns when it falls outside the range. For QR codes, aim for at least 2 cm wide; a phone reads a code from about ten times its width away.

Designing a label

Pick a starting point (Price tag, Shelf label, Shipping label, Asset tag, Website QR, Wi-Fi card) and a label size. Under On your label, each line has its own box: type the name, the price or your own words, make it bigger or smaller, or bold. On the label, drag a line to move it, drag the arrows on its corner to resize it, or tap × to remove it. The price sign follows your region. When you change the barcode type, the new code takes the same place on the label.

Printing many

Under Print, pick the paper: A4 or A5 (portrait or landscape), Custom for any other size (US Letter is 215.9 × 279.4 mm), or Label roll for label printers, where labels sit one or two across the roll. Then type how many labels you want; the tool fits as many on each page as it can and shows every page. For different products, turn on Different names or prices and fill up to five rows, each with its own code, name, price and number of copies. Print at 100% / actual size, never "fit to page", and try one page on plain paper held against your sticker sheet first.

An example

A small bakery wants price tags for its five best-sellers, 12 of each. The owner chooses Price tag, keeps the 50 × 30 mm size, turns on Different names or prices and types the five products with their codes and prices. On A4 the tool fits 36 tags a page, so the 60 tags fill two pages. She prints, scans two tags with the shop's scanner, and they ring up correctly.