Free tool
Free UPC, EAN-13 and QR code generator for print
EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8, Code 128 and QR codes as vector files at a size that scans, with the quiet zone included and the check digit worked out. PDF, SVG, EPS or PNG, in 100% black.
barcodes made so far
Made to scan, not just to look right
- Vector, in 100% black: not rich black, which can print with fuzzy edges if the plates shift.
- Standard sizes: retail codes at GS1’s 80% to 200%, with the bars at full height and the guard bars longer.
- Quiet zones included, and the white background behind them if you place the code on color.
- No fonts in the file: the numbers are outlines, so nothing can go missing at the printer.
- Typos caught: a wrong check digit or a character a barcode can’t hold is pointed out before you download.
Putting it on a label or box? Leave room for it when you plan the layout, away from folds, seams and curves; the box dieline maker shows where the panels fall.
Questions
Which barcode do I need?
For products sold in shops: EAN-13 almost everywhere, or UPC-A in the US and Canada, using a number registered to your business. EAN-8 is for packs too small for EAN-13. Code 128 holds any short text, such as a SKU or a shipping reference, for your own scanners. A QR code is for phones: a link, a menu or Wi-Fi details.
Can I make up a barcode number?
It will scan, but retailers and marketplaces check that the number belongs to you. Retail numbers come from GS1, the organisation that runs them, with a company prefix you license. The tool works out the check digit and catches typos; it can’t tell you whether the number is yours.
What size should a barcode be?
An EAN-13 or UPC-A at 100% is about 37.3 × 25.9 mm (1.47 × 1.02 in) with its numbers, and can be printed from 80% to 200% of that. Don’t cut the bars shorter to fit a panel: that is one of the most common reasons barcodes fail. A QR code should be at least 2 × 2 cm (0.8 × 0.8 in), and about a tenth of the distance it is scanned from. See barcode sizes and QR code sizes.
What is the quiet zone?
The blank space either side of the bars (and around a QR code) that tells the scanner where the code starts and stops. It’s included in every file the tool makes. Keep text, edges and folds out of it, and don’t place the code over a pattern.
Which file should I download?
The PDF, SVG or EPS for print: they are vector, so the bars stay sharp at any size and print in 100% black. Place them at 100% in your design. The PNG is 600 ppi, for Word, Canva and other apps that only take pictures; don’t enlarge it.
What is bar width reduction?
Ink spreads on paper, so on some presses, especially flexo labels and packaging, every bar prints a little fatter. Bar width reduction makes each bar thinner by that much to compensate. Leave it at 0 unless your printer gives you a number, often 0.02 to 0.05 mm.
Do I need an account?
To download, yes: a free one, with Google or an email link and no password. The preview and the numbers work without it. Your dashboard keeps every code you download, so you can get it again, open it here with the same settings, or ask us about it.
Printer messages this helps with
- “The barcode is too small to scan”: Retail barcodes (EAN-13 and UPC-A) have a standard size of about 37.3 × 25.9 mm (1.47 × 1.02 in) including the numbers, and shouldn’t be printed below 80% of that, about 30 mm wide.
- “The QR code is too small to scan”: A printed QR code should be at least about 2 × 2 cm (0.8 × 0.8 in) for a short link scanned from arm’s length, and bigger the further away people stand: a common rule is one-tenth of the scanning distance.
- “The barcode and QR code in your artwork aren’t real”: An AI image tool draws something that looks like a barcode or QR code, but it doesn’t encode your number or your link, so a scanner reads nothing.
- “We can’t print a ChatGPT picture of a label”: A label from ChatGPT is a picture of a label, not a label file.
Rather have it done? Labels, stickers & packaging or Book covers & KDP files, at a fixed price.
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Or the rest: Print-ready PDF checker, DPI and print size calculator, Add bleed to a PDF, Seamless pattern checker, RGB and HEX to CMYK converter, Paper weight converter: GSM to lb, UPC and EAN check digit calculator, Label size calculator, and all of them on one page.
Need it placed on your label?
We set your barcode on the printer’s dieline at a size that scans, with white ink and finishes on their own layers.