Barcode Generator

From a beach drawing to global retail

The barcode was patented in 1952 by Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland (US Patent 2.612.994). Woodland famously sketched the first idea while drawing in beach sand at Miami, inspired by Morse code's dots and dashes. The original concept used a circular bullseye read by an ultraviolet camera. The technology only became commercially viable two decades later: on 26 June 1974, a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum was scanned at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio — the first ever commercial barcode read.

The main 1D symbologies

• EAN-13 — 13 numeric digits; the global standard outside the United States. Country prefixes are issued by GS1: 789–790 Brazil, 800–839 Italy, 400–440 Germany.
• EAN-8 — 8 digits, used on small packaging where there is no room for EAN-13.
• UPC-A — 12 digits, the retail standard for the United States and Canada.
• UPC-E — a compressed UPC for tiny items (6 visible digits).
• Code 128 — full ASCII, high density, dominant in logistics and shipping labels.
• Code 39 — 44-character set (A–Z, 0–9, symbols), widespread in industry, defence and healthcare.
• ITF-14 — interleaved 2-of-5, encoded on shipping cartons (the GTIN-14 case code).
• GS1-128 — Code 128 enriched with Application Identifiers (batch, expiry date, weight) used in supply chain.

EAN-13 anatomy and check-digit math

An EAN-13 is laid out as PPP MMMMM IIIII C: 3 digits for the GS1 country prefix, a variable-length manufacturer code, a variable-length item code, and one check digit. The check digit C is computed as follows:

sum = (d1 + d3 + d5 + d7 + d9 + d11)
    + (d2 + d4 + d6 + d8 + d10 + d12) * 3
C   = (10 - (sum mod 10)) mod 10

The same modulo-10 algorithm is used by UPC-A and GTIN-14. Many open-source libraries (JsBarcode, bwip-js) recompute the check digit silently when it is missing, but supply-chain ERPs usually require it to be present and correct.

Who issues a real barcode

GS1 is the international non-profit that allocates company prefixes. In Brazil, GS1 Brasil manages the 789 and 790 ranges. A registered manufacturer receives a prefix and uses the remaining digits to identify individual products. Without a GS1 prefix, a barcode is fine for internal warehouse use but will not be accepted by retailers.

FAQ

Can I use the codes generated here to sell a product? No. Retailers and marketplaces require a barcode tied to a registered GS1 company prefix. Use this tool for prototypes, internal labelling, mock-ups and learning.

Barcode vs QR code? A barcode is one-dimensional (a row of bars) and typically encodes 8–20 characters. A QR code is two-dimensional and stores up to roughly 7,000 alphanumeric characters with error correction.

Can I use it for internal inventory? Yes — Code 128 or Code 39 are perfect for asset tags, shelf labels and warehouse management, since no external registration is needed.