Barcodes can be used to save you time and money
Check Digit Calculator
This Check Digit Calculator is provided as a free service by Barcode Solutions Online. If you require further assistance using the check digit calculator or the barcode type you want to use is not listed then please contact us for assistance.
Ordering a bar code for the first time
Ordering bar codes for the first time can be difficult. For the most part, obtaining the right barcode number, Ensuring your bar code supplier knows what he is doing, able to provide barcode support when you need it and of course providing a quick barcode service at a reasonable price.
There are bar code membership companies who offer to register you with a bar code number and there are companies who will sell you a bar code number like Barcode Solutions Online
.Once you have decided on where your product is being distributed, you can then become a registered member of GS1 if selling to major retail stores or use a buy a bar code number service for a all ine one solution. Which process you decide will depend on the point of sale retailer. For the most part almost all retailers will use the "Buy A Barcode" service we offer.
It is most common for small businesses starting up to use our unique Buy Bar code number service as it saves time, money and can be organised same day. The next step is to make sure you make a barcode in the correct size for your type of packaging. For barcode labels, paper you can generally get away with smaller size barcodes but when you are printing on cardboard, plastic, glass or metal, it is highly recommended to use larger ones. The size of the bar code is expressed by what is called Magnification. A standard EAN/UCC barcode can be ordered in approximately sixteen diffferent sizes. The most common sizes ordered are 80%, 90%, 100% Magnification for label printing.
For barcodes that are printed on plastic, cardboard, metal, glass you are better off using a magnification of 110% or greater. Unless you can verify your printer is confident he has done extensive testing on printed bar codes using different types of materials then the larger bar code is always safer to use. Barcodes can be verified and tested to measure the loss or gain from the printing process. This is called Barcode verification. There are also a number of other problems that may go wrong with printed barcodes. Barcodes can also suffer other problems like truncation where the bars have been shortened and therefore out of specifications. This is thought as a negative idea as there is less area for the scanner to pickup from the bars.
Simply by printing the barcode in a larger size makes it easier to see, easier for the checkout operator to scan and find on the packaging and causes less scanning problems.
Barcodes reveal origin of product by what is called the "Application Identifier"
One of the easiest ways to find out the origin of a product is to check the first three digits of the barcode. China is coded 690, for example.
| 00-13: USA - Canada | 20-29: In-Store Functions | 30-37: France |
| 40-44: Germany | 45: Japan (Also 49) | 46: Russian Federation |
| 471: Taiwan | 474: Estonia | 475: Latvia |
| 477: Lithuania | 479: Sri Lanka | 480: Philippines |
| 482: Ukraine | 484: Moldova | 485: Armenia |
| 486: Georgia | 487: Kazakhstan | 489: Hong Kong |
| 49: Japan (JAN-13) | 50: United Kingdom | 520: Greece |
| 528: Lebanon | 529: Cyprus | 531: Macedonia |
| 535: Malta | 539: Ireland | 54: Belgium - Luxembourg |
| 560: Portugal | 569: Iceland | 57: Denmark |
| 590: Poland | 594: Romania | 599: Hungary |
| 600 - 601: South Africa | 609: Mauritius | 611: Morocco |
| 613: Algeria | 619: Tunisia | 622: Egypt |
| 625: Jordan | 626: Iran | 64: Finland |
| 690-692: China | 70: Norway | 729: Israel |
| 73: Sweden | 740: Guatemala | 741: El Salvador |
| 742: Honduras | 743: Nicaragua | 744: Costa Rica |
| 746: Dominican Republic | 750: Mexico | 759: Venezuela |
| 76: Switzerland | 770: Colombia | 773: Uruguay |
| 775: Peru | 777: Bolivia | 779: Argentina |
| 780: Chile | 784: Paraguay | 785: Peru |
| 786: Ecuador | 789: Brazil | 80 - 83: Italy |
| 84: Spain | 850: Cuba | 858: Slovakia |
| 859: Czech Republic | 860: Yugoslavia | 869: Turkey |
| 87: Netherlands | 880: South Korea | 885: Thailand |
| 888: Singapore | 890: India | 893: Vietnam |
| 899: Indonesia | 90 - 91: Austria | 93: Australia |
| 94: New Zealand | 955: Malaysia | 977: International Standard Serial Number for Periodicals (ISSN) |
| 978: International Standard Book Numbering (ISBN) | 979: International Standard Music Number (ISMN) | 980: Refund receipts |
| 981 - 982: Common Currency Coupons | 99: Coupons |
Powdered milk goes into many other products such as hotdogs, sausages, cereals, baby formula where the country of origin may not be as apparent.
Just an interesting aside, the number standard for books (978), music (979) and periodicals (977) is not coded by country. These barcode numbers simply register the type of product.