Barcodes are nothing more than a group of numbers, letters and unique characters that can be represented graphically according to some predetermined order and following one or more rules or specifications for their generation. The graphical representation of the barcode information is usually depicted as a series of bars and lines. Usually a particular industry has adopted a specific barcode type and created an industry standard for barcoding their products or services to make their system and sales funnel more efficient. Take a look at the list of barcodes we find in the world today, how they are differentiated, and what their use cases are. Types of barcodes:
Barcode types
- Code 11
- Code 39
- Code 93
- EAN
- UPC
- EAN-8
- EAN-5 and EAN-2
- Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF)
- ITF-14
- Code 128
- GS1-128
- QR Code
- Codabar
- Datamatrix
Code 11
Name: Code 11
Alternate name(s): None
Description: 11 characters, any length.
Characters used: numbers 0 to 9, – and *
Industry: Telecommunications
Use cases: Various internal company identifiers
Each number, – or * consists of three bars and two spaces. A single narrow space separates consecutive symbols. The * (Asterisk) is used as a start/stop indicator. One- or two check digits can be included. The barcode image can be presented with or without the numbers (shown above or below).
Code 39
Name: Code 39
Alternate name(s): Alpha39, Code 3 of 9, Code 3/9, Type 39, USS Code 39, or USD-3
Description: Character set limited to 43, variable length. No check digit (but a checksum digit was added to new versions).
Characters used: 43 characters, consisting of uppercase letters (A through Z), numeric digits (0 through 9) and a number of special characters (-, ., $, /, +, %, and space). An additional character (denoted ‘*’) is used for both start and stop delimiters.
Industry: Automotive and Defense
Use cases: Labeling of goods across the supply chain.
The CODE 39 barcode can contain up to 43 characters, which are capital letters (A, B, C …), numbers (1,2,3 ..) or special characters (-, *, ., /, +, $,% and space) and can be enlarged for better human reading (ratios 3:1 to 2:1). Each character uses 5 bars and 4 spaces, totaling 9 in all. The name is derived from the fact that collectively 3 of the 9 are wide, and 6 of the 9 are narrow). There is no check digit and each character is separated by a narrow space. Situations where they are most commonly used is in inventories and industrial applications. See all 43 characters that make up Code 39.
CODE 39 MOD 43 barcode – a variation of the original with a check digit.
Full ASCII CODE 39 – adds lower case letters, more punctuation and control characters.
Code 93
Name: Code 93
Alternate name(s): None
Description: Letters and numbers, of variable length.
Characters used: Same as Code 39. 26 letters, 10 numbers and 7 special characters.
Industry: Post office
Use cases: Canada Post delivery information
An improved version of Code 39. The name of Code 93 comes from its design, each character is represented by 9 columns of at least 3 bars and spaces. Each bar or space is between 1 and 4 elements wide. Two check digits included.
Full ASCII CODE 93 – barcode variate with 128 characters in total.
EAN-13
Name: EAN
Alternate name(s): EAN-13, European Article Number, International Article Number
Description: 13-digit number
Characters used: numbers from 0 to 9.
Industry: Retail
Use cases: Label and scanning of consumer goods at point-of-sale, POS
This is the most commonly used barcode within the retail sector in the regions of Nigeria, Africa, South America and Europe. It contains a 13-digit number only. It is most commonly used during the sale of goods when products are scanned at the cashier (point-of-sale, POS) in supermarkets and stores. Product exceptions include books and magazines that require their own distinct barcode (ISBN or ISSN). Medicines or pharmaceutical drugs that are sold over the counter also use EAN barcodes.
The EAN barcode was derived by adding another digit to the UPC barcode (below), so that the EAN barcode could cater for the millions of products sold globally.
UPC
Name: Universal Product Code, UPC
Alternate name(s): UPC-A
Description: 12-digit number
Characters used: Numbers from 0 to 9.
Industry: Retail (America and Canada)
Use cases: Label and scanning of consumer goods at point-of-sale, POS
The original retail barcode was first developed by Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland, it looked much like a bulls-eye pattern. Later a rectangular version was developed, with middle- and side guard rails that assisted the scanner to detect the direction of the barcode number. Further changes were made including reducing the dimensions and adding a check digit – incorporated to help authenticate the number and this same barcode is what we use today.
EAN-8
Name: EAN-8
Alternate name(s): None
Description: 8-digit number.
Characters used: Numbers from 0 to 9.
Industry: Retail
Use cases: A shortened version of the EAN-13 used for small retail items.
Some retail items do not have enough space for the standard EAN barcode to be placed on them. Stationery store owners and product developers had particular difficulty barcoding their small goods. This dilemma was resolved using a shortened version of the EAN-13 barcode.
Later, EAN-2 and EAN-5 barcodes were introduced to supplement the larger retail barcodes on products, to distinguish between time periods (in magazine circulations e.g. January edition, February edition etc), or for weighted products, such as in food, as to suggest a recommended retail price.
Interleaved 2 of 5
Name: Interleaved 2 of 5
Alternate name(s): ITF
Description: series of numbers, total is an even number.
Characters used: Numbers from 0 to 9.
Industry: Film, Retail
Use cases: 135 film, ITF-14 barcodes, carton barcodes (packaging products)
Each digit is represented by 2 wide bars or lines and 3 narrow bars or lines. Because this barcode is created by encoding the numbers in pairs, the total digits in the number are always even. If the data encoded is an odd number, an extra zero is placed at the beginning of the barcode number. (Sometimes an odd number is also adjusted by adding spaces at the end of the barcode).
Deutsche Post uses variants of the Interleaved 2 of 5, called Identcode and Leitcode.Interleaved 2 of 5 provides the foundation for creating ITF-14 barcodes (see next barcode type).
ITF-14
Name: ITF-14
Alternate name(s): Carton- or packaging barcodes
Description: 14-digit series of numbers
Characters used: Numbers from 0 to 9.
Industry: Shipping
Use cases: Transport of goods in the supply chain.
ITF-14 barcodes are used as package or carton barcodes derived from the EAN or UPC number of the products they contain. They are can be optionally printed with “Bearer bars” (thick border along the outside of the barcode). Should you need ITF-14 barcodes for your products you can order them here.
Code 128
Name: Code 128
Alternate name(s): None but formerly defined as ISO/IEC 15417:2007
Description: Barcode series with numbers, letters and special characters.
Characters used: Alphanumeric. Full 128 ASCII characters using extension symbol, FNC4 (Code Sets A and B, see below).
Industry: Shipping, Packaging and Delivery Systems
Use cases: Supply chain applications, transporting of goods and postal delivery.
There are 4 main sections in a Code 128 barcode:
- Quiet zone (two, one on each side of the barcode)
- Start- and stop symbols
- Encoded data
- Check symbol
- Final bar* (often considered part of the stop symbol)
Although the name suggests it is ACSII compliant, the Code 128 relies on 2 (A and B) sets of character representation, in order to make up all the 128 ASCII characters. “Code Set C” is used to encode digit strings.
- 128A (Code Set A) – ASCII characters 00 to 95 (0–9, A–Z and control codes), special characters, and FNC 1–4
- 128B (Code Set B) – ASCII characters 32 to 127 (0–9, A–Z, a–z), special characters, and FNC 1–4
- 128C (Code Set C) – 00–99 (encodes two digits with a single code point) and FNC1
GS1 – 128
Name: GS1-128
Alternate name(s): UCC/EAN-128, UCC-128 and EAN-128.
Description: Subset of Code 128
Characters used: Numerals
Industry: Shipping and Packaging
Use cases: Supply chain applications
This barcode is designed to add additional product information, such as product weight or expiry dates, quantities, dimensions, volume, area etc
Codabar
Name: Codabar
Alternate name(s): Variations also called Codeabar, Ames Code, NW-7, Monarch, Code 2 of 7, Rationalized Codabar, ANSI/AIM BC3-1995 or USD-4.
Description: Barcode containing numbers and symbols, beginning and ending in a letter.
Characters used: Numbers 0 to 9, symbols (:, /, +, and .) and the letters A, B, C and D as start/stop indicators.
Industry: Database item identification
Use cases: Libraries and delivery tracking numbers.
This barcode was designed for use on labels using old printing means using archaic equipment. FedEx used a variation for the airbills and tracking numbers. Since then this barcode has mostly been replaced with other barcodes able to hold more data and are more robust to handling and environmental damage.
QR Code
Name: Quick Response Code
Alternate name(s): Matrix barcode, 2-D barcode
Description: Two dimensional square image, with three distinct smaller squares at three of its corners.
Characters used: White and dark squares, forming patterns and shapes.
Industry: Various
Use cases: Airline tickets, concert tickets, clothing labels, consumer marketing and more
Take a look at the detailed structure of a QR code.
Datamatrix
Name: Data Matrix
Alternate name(s): None but has been referred to as a two-dimensional, 2D barcode (even though this applies to the group of 2D barcodes and not just this one).
Description: Black and white cells, creating squares or patterns.
Characters used: Black and white squares.
Industry: Various including aerospace, automotive, medical, pharmaceutical etc
Use cases: Various
This barcode holds text or raw data up to 1556 bytes which will allow for 2335 alphanumeric characters (letters or numbers).
Along the borders of the Data Matrix are two noticeable patterns, two solid lines forming an “L” shape and two alternating cell patterns. These are called the “Finder pattern” and “Timing pattern” respectively. The Finder pattern is used by the scanner to understand the barcodes position, the Timing pattern tells the scanner how many rows and columns the barcode contains.
This barcode has built-in error protection, denoted by the letters “ECC”. proceeding by the degree to which the barcode withstands damage or retains information. ECC 000 has no error protection, while the newest version of the Data Matrix is ECC 200 (30% damage still readable). This latest update also included the ability for the barcode to be scanned when printed with inverse colours, additional information added and several barcodes to be connected together to allow for larger sections of information to be transferred.
This barcode is highly versatile and also comes with some controversy, patent rights are currently held by two different companies in two different countries.
A reminder on retail barcodes
Above we can see many barcode options, but the most commonly used when wanting to sell your goods in stores in Nigeria are the EAN-13 barcodes (for individual products) and ITF-14 (being used for packaging, cartons and boxes with EAN-13 barcoded products inside). The code ITF-14 is required for packaged products, so that there will be no need for the box to be opened and individual products to be checked and scanned, which facilitates faster shipment and transportation processing. When the ITF-14 is scanned, the system will display the information on how many units of the product are inside that carton or box.
Should you wish to purchase a barcode for your product or require carton / packaging barcodes, we do both! Click on our Buy Barcodes page or contact us on: +234 (0) 906 127 23 99. You can also fill out a contact form here. We will be happy to help with any questions you have related to barcodes.
Have a wonderful day!
References
1. Code 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_11
2. Code 39. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_39
3. Code 93. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_93
4. EAN. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Article_Number
5. UPC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Product_Code
6. Interleaved 2 of 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleaved_2_of_5
7. ITF-14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITF-14
8. Code 128. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_128
9. GS1-128. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GS1-128
10. Codabar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codabar
11. QR Code. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code
12. Data Matrix. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix All images used in this article are sample examples only for demonstration purposes. Do not attempt to use them on your products, internally within your supply chain or for any other commercial means.
