Bar-Code Labels
A barcode either scans or it does not, and there is no partial credit. That makes it the one label we print where the specification is not a matter of taste. Most of the barcodes that fail in the field fail for the same four reasons, and all four are decided before anything goes on press.
Why bar-code labels fail to scan
The first is the quiet zone: the clear space either side of the code. Squeeze a barcode into a narrow panel and the artwork crowds those margins, and a scanner that cannot find the start of the code will not read the middle of it. The second is size. Shrinking a code to fit a small container reduces the bar width below what the scanner can resolve, and it is a hard floor rather than a gradual decline.
The third is contrast, and it catches good designers out. Scanners read reflectance, not colour as you see it. Red bars are effectively invisible to a red laser, and a dark code on a dark background has nothing to read against. Black on white is the safest thing in the world here, and dark blue or black on a pale background is the practical limit. The fourth is the substrate: a glossy, metallised or clear stock throws the beam back and can defeat a code that would scan perfectly on matte white. If your brand needs metallic or clear elsewhere on the label, keep a matte patch for the code.
Bar-code labels for freezers, warehouses and outdoors
A retail pack read once at a till is an easy case. A carton read by a fixed scanner on a conveyor at speed is not, and neither is a code that has to be read cold through freezer frost, or on a drum that has been outdoors for a year. Tell us the reading environment and we will pick the facestock, the finish and the adhesive around it. For cold chain that usually means freezer stock, and for outdoor or industrial use a durable construction.
Pre-printed or printed on your own equipment
Buying pre-printed barcode labels means you are not buying a printer, a verifier and the expertise to keep both in spec. Send us your numbers, in whatever format your system exports, and we will print them sequentially or as a supplied list, on the same pass as the rest of the artwork, so there is no second label to apply and no chance of the wrong code on the wrong pack.
If you would rather print in house, we supply blank stock that runs through thermal, laser and inkjet printers, including durable and freezer-rated blanks. Plenty of customers do both: pre-printed for the fixed product codes, blanks for the ones that change daily.
Ordering custom bar-code labels
No minimums, so a run of a hundred asset tags is a normal order. Send us the code type you need, the data, the container and where it will be scanned. If you want to see the codes in your own scanner before committing, free samples are the fastest way to settle it. Types of bar codes covers the symbologies if you are still deciding.
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Popular label formats
Rolls, sheets and die-cut shapes — paper, coated paper, waterproof poly and more.
Need custom bar-code labels?
Tell us your product, size and quantity — we'll recommend the right material and send free samples.