How do I get a Product Bar Code?

If you want to sell your products in retail stores then you need to get a bar code. The bar code on most retail products in this country is called a UPC (Universal Product Code), and you obtain them from the Uniform Code Council. You first need to become a member of what is mysteriously called their GS1 US Partner Connections. The amount you pay is dependent on the number of different products you will be selling, and your company's gross revenues.

The processing time is usually just 3-5 days and then you receive your company prefix number. You can then create your full bar code number for each product with the help of the membership kit you will receive. Once you have your number you just need the software to create your bar code. Here at Lightning Labels we will be happy to take care of that step for you.

One point to remember when you are designing your labels - keep a space for the bar code. The official size requirement is around 1" high x 1.5" wide. In reality we do bar codes here that are as small as 0.5" high and 1" wide. Any smaller than that and you will have difficulty scanning them. We can always do a test scan for you here to make sure your bar code is ok. One last important point, your bar code needs to be on a white background to be scanned easily. 

Comments

[Jon Simmons]

The cost of purchasing your own UPC Code prefix number can sometimes be cost prohibitive to smaller companies that only have a few products requiring codes. There are a few companies that will sell you a small number of UPC codes for a small fee each. This is frowned upon by the Uniform Code Council but not illegal.
Try a search on something like "buy a barcode" to find some companies that offer this service.

[peterrenton]

Jon, This is a very good point. If you have only a small number of products then buying a bar code from a company that offers this service will be much cheaper for you. If you think that one day you might have hundreds of products then I would bite the bullet now and sign up with the Uniform Code Council.

[Sam]

I have just joined the GS1 US (UCC). I have not gotten my kit yet (about 1 week for that). However I am interested to know a bit more at this point.

1. What font can I use to create bar codes? I normally do my label layout in Corel Draw and I am hoping to just incorporate it into my label and have the printers do it when i print my labels for my bottles. Please note that Corel Draw has over 50 different bar code fonts. Which one do I use?

2. When I signed up for the GS1 US I noted that I would have 500 products. My question is. Can I just use my U.P.C. Company prefix then assign a product number from 001-500 after that? If not then how do I determine the number to use.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

[peterrenton]

Sam,

For UPC bar codes in the US you need the UPC-A bar code font. There is a bar code generator within Corel Draw so will not need to purchase any additional software.

As for assigning item numbers, you should have received instructions when you received your information from the UCC. Their data driver is a useful web based tool to help you manage this:
http://barcodes.gs1us.org/dnn_bcec/Default.aspx?tabid=84

[Ray Lawson]

I am an artist in Australia working on a project and want to include a barcode, is there an alphabet or code conversion? I don't seem to be able to quickly find one.
For example can I "Barcode" my name Ray Lawson as an example.
It is for appearances only, it won't ever be read by a reader, or need to be other than visual.
If you can help, or point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

[peterrenton]

Ray,

You need to get a bar code font, this way you will be able to type anything you like and it will come out in a bar code. You can buy different fonts online at places like bizfonts.com, or you can download one for free here:
http://www.barcodesinc.com/free-barcode-font/

Good luck.

[smith]

I use iWinSoft Barcode Generator to generate, export and print barcodes. It's pretty good and you can find it on http://www.sharewarecheap.com/iWinSoft-Barcode-Generator_software_1926.html