Barcode Types

Industry Standards for Barcodes and Labels

  • Bookland EAN encodes ISBN numbers, used internationally to mark books
  • ISSN and the SISAC Barcode: International Standard Serial Numbering
  • OPC: Optical Industry Associationbarcode for marking retail optical products
  • UCC/EAN-128: Widely used data formatting model for Code 128
  • UPC Shipping Container Symbol: ITF-14
  • Co-Operative labels: Located under software

Numeric-only barcodes

  • EAN-13: European Article Numbering international retail product code
  • EAN-8: Compressed version of EAN code for use on small products
  • UPC-A: Universal product code seen on almost all retail products in the USA and Canada
  • UPC-E: Compressed version of UPC code for use on small products
  • Code 11: Used primarily for labeling telecommunications equipment
  • Interleaved 2 of 5: Compact numeric code, widely used in industry, air cargo, other applications
  • Industrial 2 of 5: Older code not in common use
  • Standard 2 of 5: Older code not in common use
  • Codabar: Older code often used in library systems, sometimes in blood banks
  • Plessey: Older code commonly used for retail shelf marking
  • MSI: Variation of the Plessey code commonly used in USA
  • PostNet: Used by U.S. Postal Service for automated mail sorting

Alphanumeric barcodes

  • Code 39: General-purpose code in very wide use world-wide
  • Code 93: Compact code similar to Code 39
  • Code 128: Very capable code, excellent density, high reliability; in very wide use world-wide
  • LOGMARS: Same as Code 39, this is the U.S. Government specification

2-Dimensional barcodes

  • PDF417: Excellent for encoding large amounts of data
  • DataMatrix: Can hold large amounts of data, especially suited for making very small codes
  • Maxicode: Fixed length, used by United Parcel Service for automated package sorting
  • QR Code: Used for material control and order confirmation
  • Data Code
  • Code 49
  • 16K