About Barcode.codes
Barcode.codes is a free website for making, reading and checking barcodes and QR codes, with guides to the numbers and GS1 standards behind them. The tools run in your browser and need no account, and every guide names its sources.
What You Can Do on Barcode.codes
Make a barcode, read one, check a number or learn how barcodes work: each task has its own free tool or guide.
Make Barcodes and QR Codes
Draw 23 barcode types, from UPC-A and EAN-13 to GS1-128, Data Matrix and QR codes, and download them as SVG, PNG, PDF or EPS. Bulk, label sheet and font tools make many at once.
Scan, Read and Check
Read barcodes with your camera or from a photo, and keep a history of your scans. Check what a barcode number is, which GS1 office its prefix belongs to and whether its check digit is right.
Learn the Standards
The guides explain UPC and GTIN numbers, barcode types, GS1 Application Identifiers and the move to 2D barcodes, with diagrams drawn from real barcodes.
How the Tools Work
Every tool is a program that runs in your browser, so barcodes are drawn and decoded on your device rather than on a server.
An Open Encoder and Decoder
Barcodes are drawn by bwip-js, the JavaScript port of the open-source Barcode Writer in Pure PostScript, in a background worker of the page. Scans are decoded with ZXing, compiled to WebAssembly and served from this site. GS1 data is checked with GS1's own Barcode Syntax Engine.
Read Back Before You Download
The generator reads every drawing back with the scanner's decoder and shows whether it scans to the data you typed. A barcode that does not read back is flagged before you download it.
Tested on Every Change
Automated tests decode a sample of every barcode type, run the tools in a real browser and check every page's headings, links and structure. Every change is checked with them before it is published.
What Leaves Your Device
The data you type and the images you scan stay on your device, apart from three things you can see and control.
- Registry searches: on the barcode lookup and the scanners, a search sends the number to the registry you chose, and only when you click it.
- The contact form: sends the message you write by email to the Barcode.codes team.
- Analytics: Google Analytics counts page views. Where the law requires consent, in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, it waits for your choice, and advertising signals are off for everyone.
Privacy policy what is collected, why and for how long.
How the Guides Are Written
The guides are written and reviewed by the Barcode.codes editorial team from primary sources: the GS1 standards, ISO references and the manufacturers' own documentation.
Sources and Review Dates
Each guide lists its sources and shows the date it was last reviewed. Every claim about a standard is recorded with the document and the section it comes from, and rules are labeled as required, recommended or a choice.
Examples You Can Check
Every barcode in a diagram is drawn by the same encoder as the generators and decodes back to its number. Check digits, prefixes and dates in the examples are calculated by the site's own code.
Corrections
If you find a mistake, write to support@barcode.codes with the page and the source. Corrections are checked against the source, fixed, and the guide's review date is updated.
What Barcode.codes Is Not
Barcode.codes is not GS1, does not issue barcode numbers and does not register products.
- Barcode numbers for products sold in stores, GTINs such as UPC and EAN numbers, come from GS1 and its member organizations, such as GS1 US.
- Drawing a barcode for a number does not license or register that number, and a correct check digit does not show who owns it.
- Names of standards bodies, marketplaces and scanner makers are used to describe what a page covers, not to suggest a partnership.
What is a GTIN? where product numbers come from and how to get one.
How the Site Is Paid For
The tools are free to use, with no account and no watermark on what you download.
To keep them free, the site may show ads in the future. If it does, ads will stay out of the tools themselves and away from the camera, and the privacy policy will say so before they appear.
Contact
Write to support@barcode.codes or use the contact form for questions, corrections and problems with a tool.
Contact form send a message without opening your email app.