Barcode

Make print-ready barcodes and QR codes right inside Illustrator: 103 types, from EAN and UPC to QR, Data Matrix, GS1, postal and pharmaceutical codes. They come in as clean vector artwork in your exact CMYK or RGB colours, at the right GS1 size, one at a time or in batches. It can also read an old barcode in your artwork and make it again.

See it in the shop · Version 2.4.2 · Needs PowerScripts 3.8.36 or later

Barcode uses BWIPP (Barcode Writer in Pure PostScript), the open standard barcode engine, kept up to date.

Open the PowerScripts panel (Window > Extensions > PowerScripts) and choose Barcode from the Tools scripts. The script has two tabs: Barcode and Layout Options.

1. Under Symbology, choose the type, for example EAN-13 or QR Code.
2. Type the Code. The preview shows the barcode, and the bar above it says whether the code is valid.
3. Press Create Barcode (or Place in Document under the preview).

• Read Barcode from Selection: select an old barcode in your artwork (an image or vector) and Barcode reads it: its type and full contents (handy to see what a QR code holds). Press Use to make it again as clean vector art.
  • It reads small, rotated and rough codes, and several at once: EAN / UPC, ISBN, Code 39 / 93 / 128, GS1-128, ITF-14, Codabar, GS1 DataBar, QR (also Micro QR and rMQR), Data Matrix, PDF417, Aztec, MaxiCode, Telepen and PZN.
  • It works offline: nothing leaves your computer.
• Clear: clear the scan results.

• Symbology: the type of barcode. The ? opens a quick reference for it.
• The options for that type, for example Guard White Space for EAN.
• Save as Defaults: keep these options for this type.
• Code: the data. Each type has its own rules: an example is shown under the box, and the bar under it says Valid Code or what's wrong.
• Some types show tips, for example why a QR code made again can look different from the original.

For QR codes, fill in a short form instead of typing the code by hand: email, phone, SMS, website, a vCard contact card (phones offer to add the contact) or Wi-Fi (phones offer to join the network).

• Commands Used: the settings sent to the barcode engine, for reference.
• Custom Commands: add or change engine options yourself. Type an option to add or change it, or name=false to turn one off (for example includecheck=false). See the options reference, or press View Documentation Online for the options of the type you've chosen.
• Additional Label: text to show under the code.
• Magnification: the size of the code.
• GS1 Use: pick what the code is for (retail point of sale, warehouse, logistic units, healthcare, Digital Link …). Barcode shows the bar width (X-dimension), the GS1 magnification and the bar height, and warns when they're outside the GS1 range. Use GS1 Size sets the right size.
• Placement: put the code on the Active Artboard, in the Current View, or on the Selection.
• Format: Vector (clean shapes in your exact colours), or a CMYK Raster or RGB Raster image.
• Vector File: the file type for Export to file: PDF or EPS (CMYK or RGB, for print; EPS with a preview), or SVG (RGB, for the web).
• File Margin: extra space round exported files, for bleed. Each file is the barcode and its quiet zone, plus this margin.
• Raster Scale: for raster codes, the width of the thinnest bar in pixels, so bars stay crisp.
• Show Text (Human Readable): the numbers under the bars.

• Ink Spread: make the bars (or 2D modules) thinner by this much, in points, to allow for ink spreading on the press. A minus number makes them fatter. Ink Spread H and Ink Spread V set the width and height separately for 2D and stacked codes.
• Text X Align, Text Y Align, Text X Offset, Text Y Offset, Text Gaps, Text Size, Addon Text Size: where and how the text sits.
• Line Height: the height of the tallest bar (for 1D codes). EAN and UPC follow the GS1 rule that the guard bars reach lower than the others.
• Stretch Width to: stretch the whole code (and its text) to exactly this width.

• Show Background: a background behind the code (by default, its quiet zone).
• Show Border: a border round the code.
• Show Bearer: bearer bars above and below the code (as on ITF-14).
• Set Border Offset: the gaps (Top, Bottom, Left, Right) between the code and its border or bearer bars.

• Batch create multiple vector codes: type or paste many codes, one per line. Create Barcode/s lays them out in a grid in your document (60 codes in about 3 seconds), and Export to file saves one file per code.

• Create Barcode/s: make the code in your document.
• Export to file: save it as a PDF, EPS, SVG, PNG or CMYK TIFF file.

• Label Font: the font for labels (the barcode's own text uses an OCR font).
• Target Layer: put codes on the current layer, the top layer, or a New Layer Name.
• Include Check Digit by Default, Include Check In Text by Default.
• Rasterize: turn vector codes into an image at this resolution, in the document's colour mode.
• Add Label with Symbology Type, Add Label with Code Contents: labels under the code, handy for documenting codes with no text.
• Anti-Alias Text in Raster Formats.
• Bar Color, Text Color, Background Color, Border Color: any CMYK or RGB colour. Colour book colours (such as Pantone) come in as their CMYK or Lab values: Barcode doesn't make spot colours.

1. Symbology: EAN-13, type the 12 or 13 digits.
2. GS1 Use: Retail point of sale, then Use GS1 Size.
3. Set Ink Spread if your printer asks for bar width reduction.
4. Press Create Barcode.

1. Tick Batch create multiple vector codes and paste the list, one per line.
2. Press Create Barcode/s to lay them out, or Export to file for one PDF per code.

1. Select the old barcode image and press Read Barcode from Selection.
2. Check the type and contents, press Use, then Create Barcode.

• Always test-scan a printed code before a big run, especially after changing the size or ink spread.
• Online generators give you an RGB picture to recolour, resize and fix. Barcode gives you the finished artwork in your colours, at the right size, where you want it.

• Vector codes are drawn as one group: the bars are one compound path and the text is outlined. Nothing is stroked.
• SVG files are RGB: CMYK colours are converted.

• Point of sale: EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, ISBN, ISMN, ISSN, with add-ons.
• GS1 DataBar: Omnidirectional, Stacked Omnidirectional, Expanded, Expanded Stacked, Truncated, Stacked, Limited, North American Coupon Code, with composites.
• Supply chain: EAN-14, ITF-14, SSCC-18, GS1-128, GS1 DataMatrix, GS1 QR Code, GS1 Digital Link QR Code and Data Matrix, GS1 DotCode.
• 2D: Aztec Code (and Compact, Runes), Data Matrix (and Rectangular, Rectangular Extension), DotCode, Han Xin Code, PDF417 (and Compact, MicroPDF417), QR Code, Micro QR Code, Rectangular Micro QR Code (rMQR), Swiss QR Code, Ultracode, Code One.
• 1D: Code 128, Code 39 (and Extended), Code 93 (and Extended), Interleaved 2 of 5.
• Postal: Australia Post, Deutsche Post Identcode and Leitcode, Japan Post, MaxiCode, Royal Mail, Royal Mail Mailmark, Royal TNT Post, USPS Intelligent Mail, POSTNET, PLANET, FIM, KIX.
• Pharmaceutical: Italian Pharmacode, Pharmacode, Two-track Pharmacode, PZN, HIBC (Code 39, Code 128, PDF417, MicroPDF417, QR Code, Data Matrix, Codablock F).
• Less used: BC412, Channel Code, Codabar, Codablock F, Code 11, Code 16K, Code 25, Code 49, IATA 2 of 5, Matrix 2 of 5, Datalogic 2 of 5, COOP 2 of 5, MSI Plessey, Plessey, PosiCode, Telepen.

• 2.4.2
  • Fixed: the symbology and code labels sit right under the barcode again.
  • Improved: general bug fixes, reliability and speed.
• 2.4.1: New: QR Code templates for a vCard (contact card: phones offer to add the contact) and Wi-Fi (phones offer to join the network).
• 2.4.0: New: export vector barcodes as PDF or EPS files with your exact CMYK or RGB colours, ready for print (EPS with a preview). Each file is the barcode and its quiet zone, with an optional File Margin for bleed.
• 2.3.0: GS1 Digital Link, rMQR, Ultracode, GS1 DotCode and Royal Mail Mailmark; the GS1 size check; barcodes drawn inside Illustrator in your exact colours; the latest barcode engine; faster batches; and a much better barcode reader.
• Older changes: PowerScripts Release Notes