Technical Specifications
- Standard
- ISO/IEC 15420 / GS1 US Standards
- Character Set
- Numeric digits only (0–9)
- Payload Length
- 11 data digits + 1 Mod-10 check digit (total 12 digits)
- Size
- Bar width (X-dimension) 0.264–0.660 mm, target 0.330 mm: 1.468" wide incl. quiet zones, bars 0.900" high
- Quiet Zones
- Left and Right: 9X module width minimum
Standard Industry Use Cases
- United States and Canada retail store checkout
- Amazon North America FBA product labeling
- Wholesale packaging and consumer goods
- Inventory tracking in big-box retail (Walmart, Target)
How to Make, Print & Test Your UPC-A Code
Step by step
- Get your 12-digit product number (GTIN-12) from GS1 US (or GS1 Canada). Depending on how many products you have, you can license a company prefix or, in the US, buy single GTINs. Our guide How to get a barcode for your product walks through it.
- Open the studio with UPC-A selected (the button above does this) and type the first 11 digits. The 12th check digit is calculated for you. If you enter all 12, the studio checks the last one. Got a 13-digit number instead? That's an EAN-13: see UPC vs EAN-13.
- Keep the human-readable digits under the bars switched on, as retail packaging needs them.
- Scan the preview with the built-in barcode scanner or a phone to confirm it reads back the right 12 digits.
- Download SVG for packaging artwork, or print label sheets with the Avery label maker.
Printing & size
- Size: GS1 sets the size by the width of the narrowest bar (the X-dimension). At the target of 0.330 mm, a UPC-A is 37.29 mm (1.468 in) wide including its margins, with bars 22.85 mm (0.900 in) high. You can scale it between 0.264 mm and 0.660 mm (often called 80% to 200%); don't go below the minimum for retail checkout.
- Margins: keep a blank quiet zone of 9 bar-widths on each side (about 3 mm at 100%). Don't let text, borders or artwork touch the bars.
- Height: don't cut the bars shorter to save space. GS1 US advises against this ("truncating") because it makes the barcode harder to scan at the checkout.
- Colours: black or dark blue bars on white work best. Red bars don't scan, because red-light checkout scanners see red as white.
- Resize the SVG, not a small PNG. Stretching a low-resolution image makes the bar widths uneven.
Common mistakes
- Buying cheap UPCs from resellers for products sold on Amazon or in US retail chains. These platforms check numbers against the GS1 database, and a number licensed to another company can get listings blocked.
- Using one UPC for several variants. Each size, colour, flavour or pack count needs its own number.
- Putting UPC-A on outer shipping cartons. Cartons use ITF-14 or GS1-128 instead.
- Not test-scanning a printed proof before a full print run.
Key Benefits of UPC-A
US & Canadian Retail Standard
The standard 12-digit point-of-sale barcode recognized by every checkout scanner in North America.
Zero Latency Point of Sale
Fixed 12-digit numeric length allows POS cash registers to verify items in milliseconds.
International Compatibility
Scanners worldwide can read UPC-A by simply prepending a leading zero to form a 13-digit GTIN.
What Code Do I Need for My Product? (Customer Decision Guide)
Choosing the right barcode format depends on where your product is sold, the packaging substrate, and scanner infrastructure:
Selling in Walmart, Target, Kroger, or Canadian retail?
UPC-A is the usual retail barcode in the United States and Canada, and many US retailers ask suppliers for it. Checkout scanners there also read EAN-13.
Listing on Amazon North America (FBA)?
Amazon checks UPC and EAN numbers against the GS1 database, so use numbers licensed to your own company, or apply for a GTIN exemption if your product has no barcode.
Need barcodes for shipping cartons or pallets?
Do not use UPC-A on corrugated outer shipping boxes. Use ITF-14 or GS1-128 for wholesale logistics.
GS1 US Registration & Legal Retail Requirements
- Selling through North American retailers and marketplaces requires numbers licensed from GS1 US (a company prefix or single GTINs) or GS1 Canada. Resold or recycled UPCs registered to another company may be rejected by Amazon and major retail chains.
- Maintain a minimum 9X module quiet zone on both sides of the barcode to prevent scanner beam clipping.
- Use high contrast: black or dark blue bars on a white or light background. Red, orange and yellow bars don't scan under red-light checkout scanners.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between UPC-A and EAN-13?
UPC-A is a 12-digit standard primarily used in the USA and Canada, while EAN-13 is a 13-digit standard used across the rest of the world. In fact, a UPC-A code is simply an EAN-13 code with a leading zero.
Does this generator check my UPC-A check digit?
Yes. Enter either 11 digits to have the check digit automatically appended, or enter all 12 digits to have the check digit mathematically verified against GS1 Mod-10 specifications.
Can I print UPC-A barcodes on Avery sticky labels?
Yes. Open the generator, click "Print Avery PDF Label Sheet", and choose Avery 5160 (30 address labels) or Avery 5163 (10 shipping labels). For a title or price next to the barcode, use the label maker instead.
How do I get a UPC code for my product?
Get the number from GS1 US (or GS1 Canada), the organisations that run the UPC system. They license company prefixes, and GS1 US also sells single GTINs, with no yearly renewal fee, for sellers with only a few products. Once you have the number, making the barcode image here is free.
Do I need a different UPC for each size or colour?
Yes. Every product variant that is sold separately, such as each size, colour, flavour or pack count, needs its own number, so stores and marketplaces can tell them apart.
Is a UPC-A number the same as a GTIN-12?
Yes. UPC-A encodes a GTIN-12. Systems that expect 13 digits store it with a leading zero, and systems that expect 14 digits add two leading zeros. It is still the same product number.
Can I make a UPC-E barcode here?
Not yet. This generator makes full-size UPC-A. UPC-E is a shortened 8-digit form for very small packs, and only some UPC-A numbers can be compressed into it.