Generate UPC-A barcodes in bulk for US retail, Amazon FBA, and consumer products. Upload your 11- or 12-digit GTINs from CSV or Excel and export print-ready PDF, PNG, or SVG labels — check digit calculated automatically. No signup, no row limit, no watermark.
Generate UPC-A Barcodes Free →UPC-A is required by virtually all US retailers — Walmart, Target, Kroger, CVS — and by Amazon FBA for consumer product listings.
Input 11 digits and the correct 12th check digit is calculated automatically. Existing 12-digit codes are validated on entry.
Upload your GTIN list and generate hundreds of labels at once. Download as a print-ready Avery PDF or a ZIP of 300 DPI PNG images.
Paste your 11- or 12-digit UPC codes one per line, or upload a CSV/Excel product list.
Choose UPC-A from the format picker. Set label size (Avery 5160, custom mm, or thermal).
Download your PDF or ZIP. Labels are sized to the standard 37.29 × 26.26 mm retail barcode footprint at 300 DPI.
Required for checkout scanning at US supermarkets, pharmacies, and convenience stores.
Amazon requires valid GTINs for most product categories. Generate compliant UPC-A labels for your FBA shipments.
US distributors require UPC-A on every SKU for EDI compliance and warehouse scanning.
Any consumer product sold in North American retail requires a UPC-A barcode on its packaging.
UPC-A (Universal Product Code type A) is the dominant retail barcode standard in North America. Introduced in 1974, it was the first barcode scanned at a supermarket checkout. Today, virtually every US grocery, pharmacy, mass-market retailer, and major online marketplace requires UPC-A or its EAN-13 equivalent for product identification.
The 12-digit number consists of a GS1 company prefix (assigned to your business by GS1 US), a product reference number (assigned by you), and a check digit computed from the first 11 digits. For products sold in US retail, obtaining a GS1 prefix is mandatory — this ensures globally unique product identification.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Symbology type | Linear (1D), continuous, fixed length |
| Character set | Digits 0–9 only |
| Data length | Exactly 12 digits (11 data + 1 check) |
| Check digit | Mandatory, modulo-10 with 3-1-3-1 weighting |
| Nominal size | 1.469 × 1.02 in (37.29 × 25.91 mm) |
| Magnification range | 80 % to 200 % of nominal |
| Module width at 100 % | 0.33 mm (13 mil) |
| Quiet zone | 9 modules on each side |
| GTIN equivalent | GTIN-12 |
| Registration required | Yes — GS1 company prefix |
UPC-A is defined at a nominal physical size, and the specification permits scaling only between 80 % and 200 % of it. Printing below 80 % puts the module width under 0.26 mm, at which point supermarket slot scanners begin missing reads. This is why "just shrink the barcode to fit" is not a safe answer when packaging space is tight — switch to UPC-E instead.
A tempting shortcut on narrow packaging is to keep the barcode width but cut its height. Retail scanners — particularly the multi-line laser scanners built into supermarket checkout counters — rely on bar height to catch the symbol at an angle as the item slides past. Truncated UPC-A symbols are a common cause of items needing three or four passes at checkout, which is exactly the friction the format exists to eliminate.
A UPC-A code splits into four parts, and the very first digit carries meaning that most people never notice.
| Segment | Digits | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Number system | 1st | Product category (see table below) |
| Manufacturer code | Next 5 | Your GS1-assigned company prefix |
| Product code | Next 5 | Chosen by you, one per product variant |
| Check digit | Last 1 | Calculated from the preceding 11 |
| Digit | Category |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 6, 7, 8 | Regular retail items — the vast majority of products |
| 2 | Variable-measure items weighed in store (deli, meat, produce) |
| 3 | Drugs and pharmaceuticals, keyed to the National Drug Code |
| 4 | Retailer in-store use — loyalty items, store-specific codes |
| 5, 9 | Coupons |
The practical consequence: if you are labelling a normal packaged product, your GS1-issued prefix already begins with 0, 1, 6, 7, or 8. Do not invent a code starting with 2 or 4 for your own products — those ranges are reserved for in-store systems, and a retailer's POS may treat the value as a weighed item and prompt the cashier for a price instead of looking up your product.
UPC-A weights the digits alternately by 3 and 1, starting with 3 — the reverse of EAN-13's pattern. Sum the weighted values of the first 11 digits, then subtract from the next multiple of ten. For 03600029145: the weighted sum is 50, the next multiple of ten is 50, so the check digit is 2, giving the complete code 036000291452. Enter 11 digits and our generator appends the twelfth; enter 12 and it validates the one you supplied.
UPC-E squeezes a UPC-A code into 8 digits by suppressing runs of zeros, and it exists specifically for packages too small to carry a full-size symbol — single-serve gum, lip balm, cosmetics testers. Not every UPC-A can be compressed; the code needs a qualifying zero pattern in its manufacturer and product segments. A scanner expands UPC-E back to the original 12-digit value before the POS lookup, so the product record is identical either way.
History: The first retail UPC scan happened on 26 June 1974 at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio — a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum, now held by the Smithsonian. UPC-A predates EAN-13 by three years, which is why EAN was designed as a superset able to absorb it rather than replace it.