Deciphering the world of Barcodes
If you are launching a new product there’s a high chance you are going to need one of these bad boys. It’s also an area I’ve seen the most heartbreak when things have gone wrong. There are very strict guidelines in place for barcoding and getting this wrong can be a very costly mistake for your business.
On that note, let’s dive into the weird and wild world of barcodes.
Where do I start?
The place to start is GS1, they are the rulers of the world when it comes to barcoding in NZ. If you’re not familiar with them now is a good time to start.
What are some of the issues I need to look out for?
In all fairness the person completing the work for you should be quite clued up on these guidelines, however it’s not always the case so please check that whoever is producing your artwork is up to speed with artwork specification requirements for barcodes. There are size, colour and clear space guidelines to comply with for different barcodes used in the NZ system and non-compliance of these can see your product not being accepted into the supply chain. Never assume your designer knows everything as these specifications can change.
What can I do to ensure that my product meets GS1 specifications?
GS1 offer a verification service, yes there is a fee involved but peace of mind is priceless I always say. What’s going to be worse… a $110 fee or a potential repackaging of the project and thousands of dollars down the drain due to failed compliance. I would absolutely recommend having the verification done for the fee, regardless of who does the work, it can pick up a problem before it costs you a bomb.
Can I use any other colour except black for the barcode?
Sure you can but I’d advise just leave it black, barcodes aren’t meant to be pretty, they’re meant to serve a purpose so don’t overthink it. Some colours can’t be used as barcodes such as red because scanners won’t pick them up. Again seek the advice of your designer around this if you want to go left field. The more colours used to print the barcode the easier it is for registration problems to creep in and again verification issues can arise.
Can I use a free barcode generator?
Plenty do, just be very careful. Another thing to note is ensuring the barcode is vector and not a rasterised image format to ensure the clarity and scanability of the barcode. If the barcode is pixellated you may run into issues with the scanning which is another cause of verification failure.
