Barcode – Design and Preparation for Printing
As a graphic designer, you will often have to include barcodes in your projects. Such an element will certainly be found on the cover design of a book, magazine or packaging design. Before we start working with the barcode, however, I would like to share with you some tips that will definitely come in handy.
Application
Let’s start with why we use Barcodes at all. The main purpose of using barcodes is the automatic identification of products in logistics and trade. The code itself does not contain essential data such as the name of the goods. It is just something like an identifier that allows you to quickly obtain data and information about the product if you enter these into the database and assign them a barcode number. The most common use of barcodes is in marking goods going to wholesale and retail sales. That is why graphics with the need to insert the code are most often encountered when creating packaging.
Types of codes
There are approximately 250 stripe coding solutions. It is impossible to list all of them. It is worth noting, however, that when working on the project, the publishing house or the client should inform us about the code system they use. In this article, I would like to quote the EAN system – it is a type of coding used on labels and packaging of goods to facilitate procedures related to trade and sales and at the same time to improve customer service. The appearance of the EAN code is limited to a system of vertical stripes and a sequence of numbers arranged below them. There are two versions of the EAN barcode: a basic thirteen-digit (EAN-13) and an abbreviated eight-digit (EAN-8) for use in small areas.
The EAN-13 code consists of thirteen digits:
- Country number (first 2 digits),
- Manufacturer or distributor number (next 5 digits),
- Product number (next 5 digits),
- Check digit (last digit).
The last digit is the so-called check digit, which is used to detect an error in the code and is generated automatically according to a special algorithm for a given coding system (in this case for EAN-13).
The EAN-8 code consists of 8 digits:
- Country number,
- Manufacturer number,
- Check digit.
EAN-8 is used only in special cases, e.g. when there is no space on the packaging to put a larger EAN-13. It is also used when we are dealing with the indication of the manufacturer of only one product.
Graphical bar code generation
There are cheap or even free applications that generate barcodes, but unfortunately, they do not meet the standards. Therefore, there is a risk that they generate lines with the wrong proportions and dimensions. I, on the other hand, would like to mention three programs/plugins that I used and they gave me the correct results. The codes I generated with their help were correct and passed all scanning tests. You can become barcode maker online with help of many tools on the internet.
The first of these applications is the very convenient “Corel Barcode Wizard” program. It is built into the “Corel Draw Graphic Suit” package. After starting the application, simply select the encoding system from the extensive list (e.g. EAN-13), then enter the numbers to be encoded.
