Pallet Barcodes
Pallet barcodes are for pallet packaging. Hence if you are not sending the product by pallet, you may never need pallet barcodes; in this case, you may need an ITF-14 carton code instead.
In most countries, larger retailers—especially supermarkets—or any company operating a large distribution centre, such as McDonald’s, require pallet barcodes. However, we expect more retailers will require them in future.
Pallet barcodes are normally needed as a pair of barcodes; a GS128 and an SSCC.
Sometimes you may just need a new SSCC for a new pallet code, as you already have the GS128 barcode for that stock.
The GS128 barcode encodes multiple data such as expiry dates, batch number, quantity, as well as EAN or UPC number for a product.
The SSCC barcode is a unique number. Retailers or distribution centres use that number to identify every pallet.
Images below show examples of GS128 (top) and SSCC (bottom)
Work out how many you need. Purchase the quantity you need. Let us know the Application Identifiers you want encoded by sending us an email or fill in this online form. Once you have provided the required information, we can make the pallet codes images. We will email them to you in 3 formats (png, svg and pdf formats). We can provide additional formats upon request.
All prices are in US$
| Quantity | Price per barcode |
| 1 | € 15.00 |
| 2 | € 12.00 |
| 3 | € 10.00 |
| 4 + | € 8.00 |
Application Identifiers (AI)
GS1 Application Identifiers (AIs) are numeric prefixes used in barcodes and EPC/RFID tags to define the meaning and format of encoded data elements.
Some of the most commonly used AIs are:
00 – SSCC
01 – GTIN
10 – Batch number
17 – Expiry date
37 – Number of Units (Count)
GS1-128 Barcode Size FAQs
How long can a GS1-128 barcode be?
A GS1-128 barcode can be up to 165 mm long, including the required quiet zones on each side.
How many characters can a GS1-128 barcode contain?
A barcode can include up to 48 characters total, including the FNC1 separator used when combining multiple data elements.
What are quiet zones and how big do they need to be?
Quiet zones are the blank spaces on both sides of the barcode.
They must be at least 10 times the X-dimension (the width of the narrowest bar).
How tall should the bars be?
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In automated distribution systems, the bars must be at least 32 mm tall.
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In other environments, the bars should be as tall as practical, but never less than 13 mm.
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As a rule of thumb, bar height should be at least 15% of the barcode’s overall width or 5 mm, whichever is greater.
What is the X-dimension and what size should it be?
The X-dimension is the width of the narrowest bar or space in the barcode.
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For normal distribution use, it must be between 0.495 mm and 1.02 mm.
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For smaller items or special cases, it can be reduced to 0.25 mm, as long as printing and scanning remain reliable.
What size should the human-readable text be?
The letters and numbers printed below the barcode should:
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Use a clear font such as OCR-B or a basic sans-serif (like Arial).
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Be at least 2 mm high.
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Show Application Identifiers (AIs) in parentheses — noting that the parentheses are not encoded in the barcode itself.