If you want to sell and ship products on a national or international scale--whether it be a CD, book or T-shirt--you have to make barcodes for them. A barcode is a part of a larger system that retailers, distributors and other similar parties use to get automatic information about a product using a computer and a scanner. It is fairly easy to create barcodes online in a matter of minutes.
Gather Your Identifying Numbers
Before you create a barcode you have to have your identifying number handy. This is the information that will be associated with the barcode so that whenever someone scans the item the product name, price and other details will be displayed on a computer.
There are several different types of bar codes that you might need to make for different types of items, with the most common ones being for books and magazines (ISBN and ISSN), other retail products (UPC, EAN-13 and EAN-8), distribution channels (ITF-14) and shipments (EAN-128).
You have to contact the various authorities who regulate these numbers. For ISBNs and ISSNs, for instance, you would go to isbn.org or issn.org. The Uniform Code Council (uc-council.org) is your source for UPC, EAN-13 and EAN-8 code information (ITF-14 codes are also based on UPC information). EAN-128 (which is a variation of what are called Code-128 barcodes) are maintained by AIM (Automatic Identification Manufacturers) at aimglobal.org.
Generate the Barcode Online
Once you have your identifying information, whether it be an ISBN or a UPC code, you can then go forward to create your barcode. Go to createbarcodes.com, which charges $10 per barcode and allows you to generate the image instantly on your computer. Enter in your identifying number, price and other information using the easy-to-navigate wizard. When you're ready to generate the code click "Proceed" at checkout to create the file. The finished barcode image will be delivered to your email.
There are also some free services available for creating a barcode, but they have less options and the output file can be very small. There could be trouble scanning the barcode if it is used on an actual product.
Convert the Barcode
The barcode will be delivered to you as a high-resolution EPS (encapsulated postscript) file. You may be able to simply insert the EPS file as is into your graphic design document for your packaging, or you may have to convert the file to a .TIF or .JPG format. Use Adobe Photoshop or another similar image editing program to do this conversion. Finally, "Insert Picture" will adapt the converted file into whatever program you are using to create your packaging. You can then go forth to print the packaging--retail stores and distribution networks will be able to to scan the barcode to get instant information about the item.
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