UPC Barcodes

Universal Product Code (UPC) is a standardized barcode system used primarily in the United States and Canada for identifying products for sale. The UPC barcode family includes several types of barcodes, including UPC-A and UPC-E.

UPC-A is the most widespread type of UPC barcode and consists of 12 digits. It serves to identify most products sold in retail settings in the United States and Canada and is typically found on the packaging of the product. The first six digits of a UPC-A barcode represent the manufacturer code, and the last six digits represent the product code.

UPC-E is a shortened version of the UPC-A barcode intended for smaller items. It contains 6 digits and is typically placed in addition to a UPC-A barcode on the same product. The first digit of a UPC-E barcode represents the number system, the next five digits represent the product code, and the last digit is a check digit.

Universal Product Code (UPC) was developed in the 1970s for use by the US grocery industry, and then, its use has spread into other retail marketplaces in the US and internationally. UPC-A is a subset of the European Article Numbering (EAN) system, which means that any system that can read EAN can also read UPC. A UPC-A symbol that is created in the United States can be transformed into an EAN-13 symbol by prefixing it with a zero. UPC-A is defined in ISO/IEC 15420 Information technology - Automatic identification and data capture techniques, EAN/UPC barcode specification.

GTIN, or Global Trade Item Number, is a system developed by GS1 that is used internationally to identify products. GTIN is a umbrella term that encompasses different numbering codes, including UPC and EAN.