GUIDE深度 · Deep dive
Choosing a 1D Barcode
Retail products use EAN-13 (Europe/global) or UPC-A (North America); shipping cases use ITF-14; internal assets/inventory use CODE128 (dense, full ASCII) or Code39 (simple but wide). Do not mix retail and internal codes.
Retail: EAN-13 / UPC-A.
Cases: ITF-14.
Internal: CODE128 / Code39.
Retail codes need a GS1 prefix/registration.
Digit count and check digit must be correct.
FAQ
Can CODE128 encode Chinese?
Standard CODE128 targets ASCII; use QR for Chinese.
Can I make my own EAN?
For internal use yes, but retail requires a valid GS1 prefix.