Thoughts on Barcoding and Labelling for Greeting Cards

Why a Barcode?    

You may have been advised to print a barcode on your Cards, your retailer may be demanding a barcode, you may even be thinking that it just seems like a good idea. Or there is, of course, the opposing view that having anything printed on the card will ruin an otherwise perfect design, particularly if it is a handmade card that certainly does not want a machine printed item on it. So understanding why the barcode is there might help the decision making process.

In essence a barcode is just a means of transcribing data so that it can be read by a machine, and other than the fact that there are several 'systems' with very precise rules it is no more complicated than that....... Once you know what is required of course.

Greeting Card barcodes follow the same system as most shop traded items at point of sale in the UK, which is the GS1 System. Using the GS1 system each product is identified by an unambiguous number, and these numbers can appear in barcode symbology form. When the retailer has entered the barcode number, price, product details etc. onto the POS system any 'scan' of the barcode on your card will result in the till matching it with the stored details.

Which type of Barcode?    

EAN-13

UPC-A

For most of the world outside North America the barcode symbology you will require is EAN.UPC-13, and although North America should also be able to accept and use this symbology it may be necessary to use UPC-A. It would, currently, be wise to consult the distributor or sales outlet in the US prior to allocating a barcode number for card sales in that region.

How do I get a Barcode Number?

Within the UK the issuing authority is GS1 UK, which forms part of the GS1 global organisation, and is dedicated to the development and implementation of global data standards and solutions for the supply chain. These standards being the most widely used in the world.
The first step is to register with GS1 UK and you will receive a 'nine digit' Company Reference Number, which will always be the first nine digits of any UCC.EAN-13 number that you generate. The following 'three digits' are free for you to use in any manner you choose, but it makes sense to start from 000 and progress to 999, taking care to note which code is generated for which product. The final digit of the thirteen digit code is a 'check digit', which is a mathematical algorithm of the preceding 12 digits.
GS1 UK provide an on-line database of your 1,000 numbers complete with check digit.

Can you print barcodes on any card ?    

The answer to this question is not so important as a further question it raises, " Will you be able to read (scan) the barcode printed on your card ?"
If the card has a smooth surface, and if the card is white, and if the barcode is printed at a suitable magnification, and if the barcode is printed in black, then almost certainly there will not be a problem. However, as you can see from all of the if's, it is not quite as simple as it may first appear. Barcodes scan using reflected light so a rough card surface, metalised card surface, inappropriate background colour or barcode colour will all have some detrimental effect on the ability to scan the code correctly.