EAN and UPC barcodes

These would be your most commonly used barcodes as they are used for all general products that are to be sold in retail stores. Anything from DVDs to food items to electrical appliances - if you're selling it in stores, you'll need a retail barcode. UPC and EAN barcodes can be sourced from GS1, or a reputable barcode reseller. 

The UPC barcode is the 12-digit version, whereas the EAN barcode has 13 digits. Each perform exactly the same function of holding product information and releasing it once scanned; however some stores will have a system that better suits either of the two formats. It's up to you to find out which format your intended retailers require of you before you pick a version to incorporate into your packaging design.

ISBN BARCODES

ISBN and ISSN barcodes are more specific barcode formats that are used primarily for books and serial publications. These barcodes however cannot be issued by GS1, and are instead sourced through the National Library of your country where a database of every single barcoded publication is logged. 

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, and is thus used for all books, novels and once-off publications. For magazines, newspapers and serial publications, an ISSN (which stands for International Standard Serial Number) is used. ISSN barcodes are slightly different to ISBN barcodes in that numbers can be added on with each issue. This is obviously necessary for a monthly magazine or weekly newspaper. ​

ITF-14 barcodes

Sometimes used with the EAN and UPC barcodes is the ITF-14 barcode, also known as the box or case barcode.

This barcode is required when supplying large quantities in bulk, and replaces the need to scan every product coming in (or going out). The ITF-14 barcode is linked to the EAN or UPC barcode of individual the product, and contains information on the number of items in that box or case.

QR CODES

QR codes have many different uses, depending on what you need it for. Some of the most common uses of the QR code include incorporating them into mobile payment application (where the QR code is scanned directly with a smartphone), or used as promotional material (where the user can scan the QR code and be redirected to a specific URL).

QR codes are seeing increasing use by businesses in all aspects of business where information needs to be condensed into an easy machine-readable format.

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