Type a product number and this online barcode generator draws an EAN-13 barcode, the standard for retail in Saudi Arabia, or a UPC-A or EAN-8, after calculating or checking the final check digit. For internal codes with letters, it draws Code 128 or Code 39. Add the item name and price and the label sheet appears exactly as it will print; "Label size and multiple items" lets you pick an A4 sheet or a label printer and upload a list from Excel. The SKU generator tab builds tidy internal codes for your items and their sizes.
How the barcode check digit is calculated
The last digit of an EAN or UPC barcode is not part of the item number; it is a check digit that catches a misread by the scanner or a typo at the till. Starting from the right, multiply the digits alternately by 3 and 1, add the results, and subtract the total from the next multiple of ten at or above it, the method published by GS1.
Check digit = (10 − (Σ digit × weight) mod 10) mod 10 · weights 3,1,3,1… from the right
If you type all 13 digits and the last one is wrong, the generator tells you the correct digit and offers a button to use it. It will not draw a barcode that scanners would reject.
Product barcodes: which type to choose
The type follows where the item is sold and what kind of code you have. The first three are digits only with a fixed length; the last two accept Latin letters and vary in length.
| Type | Length | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| EAN-13 | 13 digits | The standard for selling products in Saudi Arabia and most of the world; GS1 Saudi Arabia numbers use it. |
| UPC-A | 12 digits | Products imported from North America, or when a distributor there asks for it. |
| EAN-8 | 8 digits | Small packs with no room for EAN-13; GS1 issues these numbers on request. |
| Code 128 | Up to 40 characters | Internal warehouse codes, SKUs, batch and shipment numbers with letters, digits and symbols. |
| Code 39 | Up to 30 characters | Older systems or scanners that read nothing else, and asset tags. Capital letters only. |
The scanner at the till reads all of these, but it is the point of sale software that matches the number to an item. So save the full number, check digit included, exactly as it appears under the barcode.
Internal barcodes vs GS1 barcodes
An internal barcode is a number your business chooses for its own items, and it only works in your own point of sale. A GS1 barcode carries a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) licensed to your company, and GS1 describes itself as the only official provider of GTINs and EAN/UPC barcodes worldwide. Prefix 628 belongs to GS1 Saudi Arabia, and the generator flags numbers that start with it.
GS1 sets aside prefixes 200 to 299 for restricted circulation numbers, so they never clash with product numbers on the open market; that is why the examples here start with 2. For goods you pack or make and sell only in your own shop, a 2-prefixed number in a tidy sequence is enough. If the item is going to a retail chain or a large online marketplace, ask for their requirements before printing, get your numbers from GS1 Saudi Arabia, then generate the barcodes here.
Printing barcode labels with name and price
Type the item name as you want it on the shelf and the price, VAT-inclusive if you are VAT-registered, and the label appears in the preview as it will print. The default is an A4 sheet of 24 labels; under "Label size and multiple items" you can switch to 40 or 65 labels per sheet, or to a thermal label printer at 50 x 25 or 40 x 30 mm, where each label is its own page.
- Measure the label sheets you bought; the listed sizes are common but yours may differ by a millimetre or two.
- Print a test on plain paper and hold it over the label sheet against the light before printing the full run.
- In the print dialog choose actual size or 100% scale.
- Keep barcodes black on white: scanners read contrast, and pale colours fail.
The PDF carries the labels in order, the PNG gives one high-resolution barcode for packaging artwork, and the SVG keeps the bars sharp at any size in your design software.
Creating barcodes for many products from Excel
In "Label size and multiple items" you can paste your products one per line: number, name, price and label count, separated by commas. The generator takes up to 500 labels per file and lists any line with an error by number without stopping the rest.
The Excel list button downloads the same columns as a spreadsheet, with a formula that works out the check digit for each item in its own column. Fill in your products, then upload the file with "Upload Excel or CSV" and the list fills itself. To number new items with internal EAN codes, "Sequential numbers for the list" builds a run from the prefix you choose, such as 200 followed by consecutive numbers.
SKU vs barcode: the difference and how they connect
An SKU (stock keeping unit) is an internal code your business gives each item and each variant of it, so the storekeeper and the cashier know which T-shirt this is, from which brand and in which size. A barcode is a way of writing a number as bars that scanners can read, and the number inside an EAN-13 barcode on retail packaging is a GTIN, one global number for that product wherever it is sold. Your SKU belongs to your store and can differ between two shops selling the same product; the GTIN follows the product.
They meet in two ways. You link each SKU to the GTIN printed on the pack, if there is one, in the item record in your point of sale; or you draw the SKU itself as a Code 128 barcode, since Code 128 takes letters and digits, and stick it on shelves, cartons and items that arrive without a supplier barcode. The "Print as Code 128 labels" button in the SKU tab sends the codes straight to the label list.
Keep the parts short and fixed in length, say three characters for category and brand, and leave out anything that changes, such as the price or the supplier name. If staff will read codes by eye, avoid the letters O and I, which look like zero and one.
Common barcode mistakes
- Inventing a 13-digit number without a valid check digit, so the scanner rejects it or reads it as another item.
- Using a number that starts with 628, or another country prefix, that your company never licensed, so it clashes with a real product.
- Shrinking the barcode until the bars merge, or trimming the white margin around it.
- Printing with "fit to page", which shifts labels out of their slots on the sheet.
- Giving two different items the same number, or changing an item's number after its labels are printed.
What to do after printing
Enter the full number for each item in its record on your point of sale before the labels go on, then scan one label of each item at the till and check that the name and price that come up are right. Keep the product list in Excel as a register of your numbers so you never reuse one.
When the product list outgrows hand-made labels
Barcode labels are the first step; then come price changes, stock counts and knowing what has sold out. At Microtec we offer shops across the Kingdom O-Green, a cashier and point of sale system for retail. Try O-Green with your own items and the codes you generated here, and scan them at the till before you decide.