What is a UPC number Type A?
The UPC-A barcode is the most common type in the United States, and the most widely recognized. It's used mostly in retail settings, such as grocery stores. UPC-A was developed by the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council, in conjunction with IBM, and has been in use since 1974.
What is a UPC code?
The Universal Product Code ( UPC or UPC code) is a barcode symbology that is widely used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. UPC (technically refers to UPC-A) consists of 12 digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item.
What is UPC-A barcode?
UPC-A is one of the most common and well-known barcode types, which is widely applied to retail in the United States. It is also known as Universal Product Code version A, UPC-A Supplement 5/Five-digit Add-On, UPC-A Supplement 2/Two-digit Add-On, UPC-A+5, UPC-A+2, UPC Code, UPC Symbol, GTIN-12, GS1-12, UCC-12.
What is a UPC-E barcode?
If the last two manufacturer codes are 00 but are not available in situation 1, the UPC-E barcode is composed of the first three characters of the manufacturer code, the last two characters of the product code, and the digit "3".
Do you need a UPC barcode?
Most businesses that manufacture or sell physical goods will likely need to use UPC barcodes at some point. What does UPC stand for? UPC stands for Universal Product Code and is often referred to as a barcode. Find the right payment provider to meet your unique business needs.
UPC (technically refers to UPC-A) consists of 12 digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. Along with the related International Article Number (EAN) barcode, the UPC is the barcode mainly used for scanning of trade items at the point of sale, per the specifications of the international GS1 organisation.[1] UPC data structures are a component of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and follow the global GS1 specification, which is based on international standards. But some retailers (clothing, furniture) do not use the GS1 system (rather other barcode symbologies or article number systems). On the other hand, some retailers use the EAN/UPC barcode symbology, but without using a GTIN (for products sold in their own stores only).
Research indicates that the adoption and diffusion of the UPC stimulated innovation and contributed to the growth of international retail supply chains.
The UPC-A barcode is visually represented by strips of bars and spaces that encode the UPC-A 12-digit number. Each digit is represented by a unique pattern of 2 bars and 2 spaces. The bars and spaces are variable width, i.e. 1, 2, 3, or 4 modules wide. The total width for a digit is always 7 modules; consequently, UPC-A 12-digit number requires a total of 7×12 = 84 modules.
A complete UPC-A is 95 modules wide: 84 modules for the digits (L and R sections) combined with 11 modules for the S (start), M (middle), and E (end) guard patterns. The S (start) and E (end) guard patterns are 3 modules wide and use the pattern bar-space-bar, where each bar and space is one module wide. The M (middle) guard pattern is 5 modules wide and uses the pattern space-bar-space-bar-space, where each bar and space is also one module wide. In addition, a UPC-A symbol requires a quiet zone (extra space of 9 modules wide) before the S (start) and after the E (end) guard patterns.
The UPC-A's left-hand side digits (the digits to the left of the M (middle) guard pattern) have odd parity, which means the total width of the black bars is an odd number of modules. On the contrary, the right-hand side digits have even parity. Consequently, a UPC scanner can determine whether it is scanning a symbol from left-to-right or from right-to-left (the symbol is upside-down). After seeing a S (start) or E (end) guard pattern (they are the same, bar-space-bar, whichever direction they are read), the scanner will first see odd parity digits, if scanning left-to-right, or even parity digits, if scanning right-to-left. With the parity/direction information, an upside-down symbol will not confuse the scanner. When confronted with an upside-down symbol, the scanner may simply ignore it (many scanners alternate left-to-right and right-to-left scans, so they will read the symbol on a subsequent pass) or recognize the digits and put them in the right order. There is another property in the digit encoding.
UPC-A is one of the most common and well-known barcode types, which is widely applied to retail in the United States. It is also known as Universal Product Code version A, UPC-A Supplement 5/Five-digit Add-On, UPC-A Supplement 2/Two-digit Add-On, UPC-A+5, UPC-A+2, UPC Code, UPC Symbol, GTIN-12, GS1-12, UCC-12. Moreover, the UPC-A Code and the assignment of manufacturer ID numbers is controlled in the USA by the Uniform Code Council (UCC).
UPC-A is a subset of EAN-13. To be specific, an UPC-A bar code is an EAN-13 bar code with the first EAN-13 number system digit set to "0". Beyond this, UPC-A barcode is able to convert to UPC-E.
UPC-A Structure
A typical UPC-A has the following structure:
UPC-A barcode includes four areas:
Number System: It is one digit only which identifies the "type" of product, e.g., o: Regular UPC codes, 5: Coupons, 9: Reserved, etc.
Manufacturer Code: It has five digits in all, which is assigned by the UCC Council to each manufacturer or company that distributes goods with a printed UPC-A barcode. All products produced by a given company will use the same manufacturer code.
Product Code: It includes five digits, which is a unique code assigned by the manufacture. And manufacturers can assign their product codes randomly as long as all of their products have different codes.
Check Digit: It is an additional digit used to verify the accuracy of the data encoded. And the checksum digit can be computed base on the rest digits of the barcode.
Converting a UPC-A to UPC-E
The conversion between UPC-A and UPC-E has four situations:
If the last three manufacturer codes are 000, 100, or 200, the UPC-E barcode is composed of the first two characters of the manufacturer code, the last three characters of the product code, and the third character of the manufacturer code.
If the last two manufacturer codes are 00 but are not available in situation 1, the UPC-E barcode is composed of the first three characters of the manufacturer code, the last two characters of the product code, and the digit "3".
If the last manufacturer code is 0 but is not available in situation 1 and 2, the UPC-E barcode is composed of the first four characters of the manufacturer code, the last character of the product code, and the digit "4".
If the manufacturer code does not end in 0, the UPC-E code is composed of the entire manufacturer code and the last digit of the product code (5 to 9).
UPC-A Barcode Size Setting
UPC-A barcode width and height can be adjusted by users, but the settings must be in compliance with some requirements. Please obtain more information from UPC-A size setting instruction..
UPC-A Encodable Characters
UPC-A can encode:
Numeric digits: 0 to 9
UPC-A Add-On or Supplement Data
Add-On Symbols are used for encoding supplementary information of the main bar code symbol on periodicals, hardback, and paperback books. The supplement data is 2 or 5 digits which should appear above the additional barcode image.
The UPC A code is the standard version of the UPC code and has 12 digits. It is also called UPC 12 and is very similar to the EAN code.
The structure of the UPC A code is as follows:
The first digit of the UPC A code says what the code contains:
0 - normal UPC Code
1 - reserved
2 - articles where the price varies by the weight: for example meat. The code is produced in the store and attached to the article.
3 - National Drug Code (NDC) and National Health Related Items Code (HRI).
4 - UPC Code which can be used without format limits
5 - coupon
6 - normal UPC Code
7 - normal UPC Code
8 - reserved
9 - reserved
To generate a UPC-A barcode image in GS1 US Data Hub, you must first create the product detail record. When you assign an available GTIN to the product, and click “Save and Continue,” the product status changes from Draft to PreMarket. When the product is in the PreMarket status, click "View Barcode" for a "For Placement Only" or FPO barcode image. When this product is ready to share with the marketplace, click Set Status to In Use.
Code UPC-A encodes eleven digits plus a mandatory check digit. UPC is short for Universal Product Code. An UPC-A barcode is easily recognized. It always starts and ends with two thin bars. It also has two thin bars right in the center of the symbol. Ten digits in two groups of five each are placed under the symbol, two digits are placed outside the symbol on each side. The outer two digits define the so called "quiet zone", this space has to be kept free of other graphical elements. Per convention the outer digits are at 2/3 (two thirds) size of the inner digits.
UPC-A is exclusively used in retail in the US and Canada. It is not used elsewhere in the world. Data encoded in a UPC-A symbol can be compressed to create a smaller symbol, known as UPC-E.
Originally the 12 digit UPC number and the 12 digit UPC barcode were both referred to as UPC-A. Unifying the separate UPC and EAN standards under the GS1 umbrella introduced the GTIN (from Global Trade Item Number) to the world. The previous 12 digit UPC number became the GTIN-12 - another name but the same data content. With the introduction of new barcode symbologies (namely Code 128 GS1 and Data Matrix GS1) the UPC-A barcode is now just one of several barcode symbologies that can be used to create a machine-readable representation of a GTIN-12.
Any GTIN-12 can be converted into "higher" GTINs by prepending zeroes to the number. Adding one zero makes it a GTIN-13 (for example to encode it into an EAN 13 barcode). Adding two zeroes results in a GTIN-14 which can be encoded into Code 128 GS1, Data Matrix GS1 or ITF-14 barcodes.
UPC-A Data Content
UPC-A encodes eleven digits plus a mandatory check digit. The twelve digits of a UPC-A encode the following content:
Digit 1: Number system, usually "0" or "1"
Digit 2-6: Manufacturer identifier as assigned by the GS1
Digit 7-11: Article number / Product code
Digit 12: Check digit
UPC-A Add-on Barcodes
UPC-A can carry an add-on barcode, sometimes also called a satellite code. The add-on can encode another two or five digits of data.
Example of a UPC-A code with two digit add-on, aka "UPC-2":
Example of a UPC-A code with five digit add-on, aka "UPC-5":
The add-on barcode can encode price information and issue numbers of periodicals.
UPC-A sizes are standardized (see these references for EAN / UPC dimensions). The module width and height are only allowed to vary within certain limits. The default, or 100%, size is called SC2, resulting in a code that is roughly 26mm high and 35mm wide. It is permitted to vary the width down to 80% and up to 200%. In addition it is permitted to reduce the height to some degree, this is also known as truncation, see below for an example.
Checksum for Code UPC-A
UPC-A uses a modulo 10 checksum scheme. Starting from the left the numbers are multiplied alternating with "3" and "1" and added up. The sum is integer divided by ten, the reminder is subtracted from ten which yields the check digit.
Example Check Digit Calculation for Code UPC-A
Example: The UPC number to encode is "03600029145", see sample code below.
Summing up: 0 * 3 + 3 * 1 + 6 * 3 + 0 * 1 + 0 * 3 + 0 * 1 + 2 * 3 + 9 * 1 + 1 * 3 + 4 * 1 + 5 * 3 = 58
Dividing: 58 / 10 = 5 Reminder 8
Check Digit: 10 - 8 = 2
UPC-A Printing Considerations
UPC-A is a very demanding barcode with tight tolerances less than half a thou in inches (c. 1/100mm). The minimum recommended print resolution is 300dpi. This is usually not a problem when printing the barcode with current laser or thermal printers. When printing with inkjets, choosing the right paper is paramount; most standard copier or laser paper will behave like blotting paper and cause so called ink spread. This effect will "thicken" the bars of the code, resulting in a UPC symbol that does not conform to the standard.
In many cases, the barcode will have to be created with reduced bar width to compensate for ink spread or -growth. The amount of bar width reduction depends on the respective printing process. Laser, thermal or offset printing will have very low values (to the order of 0-2%) while silicon pad or screen printing will have higher values.
Printing UPC-A with dot-matrix printers is possible, provided the printer has at least a 24-pin print head and supports near letter quality (NLQ) with 300-plus dpi resolution. 9-pin printers do not have sufficient output resolution for UPC barcodes.
How to make a UPC-A barcode?
Visit Website : http://barcodebro.com/
Select the barcode type and size.
Click the “Generate Barcode” button.
Download the resulting image.
