Making UPC–A Barcodes

To make an UPC–A barcode, you need to start the Barcode generator application and click the big “plus” button at the bottom left corner of the window. The popup menu will appear, where you need to click the UPC–A item to make a new UPC–A barcode.

Once the new barcode is created, double–click it to switch to the editing mode.

There you will see the barcode preview and the parameters panel on the right, where you can modify the main and addon texts of the barcode. Type the data you need and see the barcode updated while you are typing:

If you don’t need the addon — simply leave the addon field blank. If you need a 2–digit addon — enter just two digits, the software will adjust the barcode accordingly.

If you make a mistake and the checksum doesn’t match, or there are too many symbols — Barcode generator will display an error message and offers you to fix the problem. If this is a check digit problem, you can simply click the Fix errors button, otherwise it is better to figure out what the problem is and fix it manually, as otherwise Barcode will simply clip the data or extend it with zeroes.

Once the data is entered, you can switch to the second tab and adjust the visual appearance of the barcode. There are many options to configure there:

From the top to bottom, there are several sections where you can setup the barcode features:

• Human readable text — lets you show and hide the digits at the bottom of the main part and on the top of the addon. You can also configure the font there;
• Addon — this section lets you setup the addon appearance and font;
• Size and proportions — here you can configure the height of the bars and the barcode scale;
• Other — lets you add the light margin indicator, if needed;
• Output — here you can adjust the bars width, setup DPI for raster output and configure the barcode colors.

Once finished, switch to the right most panel to configure the quiet zone around the barcode:

Make sure the Margins block is enabled, then configure the quiet zone size around the barcode by adjusting the margins parameters. It is recommended to have at least 5mm (or 0.2 inches) of free space on the left and right sides of the barcode to make sure it is scanned well. For this particular barcode, the first digit adds some space by itself, so the left margin is fine. As for the right one, it needs to be increased to match the standard. Another option is to enable the light margin indicator on the second panel, which might help.

Once the barcode is finished, you have three options:

• to save it using the button at the top left corner of the window, or using the File menu;
• to print it using another button in the toolbar, or again using the File menu;
• to drag the barcode with your mouse directly to the application where it is needed, or to the Desktop.

Then you can click the Back button in the toolbar, or press Escape to go back to the barcodes list mode.

You can automate the barcode generation in many ways with Barcode. See the batch processing tutorial for the automation example.

More Barcode Tutorials

Installation

• Installation — how to install Barcode generator;
• License Activation — how to activate Barcode software with a license key.

Basics

• User Interface — Barcode user interface explained in details;
• Barcode Management — adding, renaming, cloning and deleting barcodes;
• Importing Barcodes — importing barcode images;
• Custom Texts — adding custom text elements to barcodes;
• Marks Panel — configuring border, margins and canvas of barcodes;
• Bar Width Reduction — adjusting barcodes to compensate for ink spread;
• Quiet Zone — making sure the barcodes can be scanned well.

EAN Barcodes

• Making EAN–13 Barcodes — standard point–of–sale barcodes;
• EAN–13 Calculator — how to compute EAN–13 check digits.

UPC Barcodes

• Making UPC–A Barcodes — learn to make UPC–A barcodes;
• Making UPC–E Barcodes — how to create UPC–E barcodes;
• UPC–A Calculator — compute check digits of UPC–A barcodes.

NDC Barcodes

• NDC Barcodes — learn about NDC barcodes and how to make them;
• NDC Barcode Check Digit Calculator — how to compute NDC check digits.

QR Code

• QR Code — how to make and configure the popular 2D barcodes;
• QR Code with Image — adding custom artwork to QR Code.

Other Barcodes

• ISBN Barcode Generator — how to make ISBN barcodes;
• BC412 Barcode — making barcodes for silicon wafers identification;

Export

• Transparent Barcodes — making barcodes with transparent background;
• PNG Barcodes — exporting barcodes to PNG format;
• Vector Barcodes — exporting barcodes to vector formats;
• Export.js — defining custom file names for exported barcodes.

Automation

• Batch Processing — how to batch–convert text data to barcodes;
• Command Line Processing — command line barcode generation.

Other

• Self–Drawing Barcode — drawing QR codes in browser with just an SVG file;
• Fake Barcodes — need a random barcode as a placeholder?