ITF-14 Barcodes for Shipping Cartons: When and How to Use Them

When a carton needs an ITF-14

GS1 limits ITF-14 to trade items that are not expected to pass through a retail point of sale, and notes that it is well suited to printing directly on corrugated board (GS1 General Specifications, section 5.1.1). In practice, that means a case you sell, order or invoice as a unit, such as a case of 12 jars that a store receives in the back room and then unpacks.

Three situations change the answer:

• The case is sold at a register. If a shopper carries the whole case to checkout, it needs a UPC-A or EAN-13, because GS1 requires EAN/UPC symbols on everything scanned at the point of sale.
• The carton holds one large item. An ITF-14 can carry the item's own GTIN-12 or GTIN-13, padded with leading zeros to 14 digits. If that item is also sold at a register, it still needs its UPC.
• You only ship parcels to consumers. The carrier's shipping label does that job, and a case barcode adds nothing.

Most of the time, the push comes from a trading partner's vendor or routing guide that spells out case marking. [VERIFY] Read that document first, because it may ask for GS1-128 instead of, or in addition to, ITF-14.

Build the GTIN-14 with an indicator digit

Every different grouping of the same product needs its own GTIN, so a case of 12 and a case of 24 get different numbers. GS1 allows two ways to do this: assign a new GTIN-12 or GTIN-13, or build a GTIN-14 from the item's GTIN. A GTIN-14 is the indicator digit, then the contained item's GTIN without its check digit, then a newly calculated check digit.

The indicator is a digit from 1 to 8, and GS1 says the indicators carry no meaning. "1" doesn't mean case and "2" doesn't mean pallet; you can use them in any order. Indicator 9 is reserved for variable-measure items. GS1 US adds that a GTIN-14 never starts with zero (GS1 US). This method only works for cases of identical items; a mixed case needs its own GTIN-12 or GTIN-13 first.

Here is a worked example using 614141123452, the example GTIN-12 that appears in GS1's own specifications:

1. Drop the check digit: 61414112345.
2. Add a leading zero to reach 12 digits: 061414112345.
3. Put the indicator in front. For the case of 12, use 1: 1061414112345.
4. Multiply the digits by 3, 1, 3, 1 and so on from the left (for 13 data digits, the first and last get ×3): 3 + 0 + 18 + 1 + 12 + 1 + 12 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 9 + 4 + 15 = 81.
5. Subtract from the next multiple of ten: 90 − 81 = 9.

The case-of-12 GTIN-14 is 10614141123459. A case of 24 could use indicator 2, which gives 20614141123456. Check your own numbers in the check digit calculator, which handles GTIN-14. For more on how GTIN lengths relate, see what is a GTIN.

Build case GTINs only from GTINs your company controls. GS1 US describes creating case and pallet levels as something its GS1 Company Prefix license supports. [VERIFY] This is general information, not legal advice.

Size, quiet zones and bearer bars

ITF-14 uses only two bar widths, narrow and wide. GS1's symbol specification table for items scanned in general distribution (table 2) sets these limits:

• X-dimension (narrow bar width): minimum 0.495 mm (0.0195 in), maximum 1.016 mm (0.040 in).
• Bar height: at least 31.75 mm (1.25 in), not counting the digits or bearer bars. GS1 allows less only when the item is physically too small.
• Quiet zones: at least 10X on the left and the right.
• Wide-to-narrow ratio: 2.25:1 to 3:1, with 2.5:1 as the target.
• Text gap: at least 1.02 mm (0.040 in) between the bottom bearer bar and the human-readable digits.

Width grows with the X-dimension. Using GS1's length formula at the 2.5:1 ratio, the symbol including quiet zones measures:

Bearer bars are the frame. They even out the pressure of a printing plate and help prevent short scans when a slanted scan line enters through the top or bottom of the symbol. With printing plates, GS1 calls for a bearer bar 4.83 mm (0.190 in) thick that completely surrounds the symbol and its quiet zones. Without plates, as on a thermal label, the bar must be at least twice the narrow-bar width and only needs to run along the top and bottom (GS1 US).

Printing ITF-14 directly on corrugated

Brown board is a hard surface for a barcode. GS1 notes that brown corrugate typically reflects only about 27 to 40 percent of light. Even with dense black ink, the best contrast grade it can reach is the lowest passing grade, so GS1 accepts a lower overall quality grade for these symbols.

That leaves little margin for other problems, so cover these points with your box printer before a production run:

• Use an X-dimension of at least 0.635 mm. GS1 says smaller ITF-14 symbols should not be printed directly on corrugate with plate-based processes.
• Print black bars on the lightest board you can get. Avoid red, orange and yellow bars, which many scanners can't see. More on colors is in how to print barcodes that scan.
• Ask about bar width reduction. Flexographic plates spread ink, so bars print wider than the artwork. Printers run a test and thin the bars in the master artwork to compensate. ITF-14 is more sensitive to this than most barcodes, because every bar and space width matters to the scanner.
• Place it by the rules. Put the barcode on a side with the bars vertical, aim for the bottom of the bars 32 mm (1.25 in) above the base, and keep it at least 19 mm (0.75 in) from any vertical edge. GS1 recommends repeating it on a second side when the box is pre-printed.
• Get it verified. A verifier grades the printed symbol against ISO/IEC 15416.

Our barcode generator creates ITF-14 symbols as SVG, a vector format box printers can work with. It doesn't verify print quality, so the test print and verification still matter.

ITF-14 or a GS1-128 / SSCC label?

ITF-14 can only carry a GTIN. When the case needs more information, you move to GS1-128, which uses Application Identifiers (AIs), shown in parentheses under the bars, to label each piece of data (GS1 US). See Code 128 explained for how AIs work.

The SSCC is the number for a logistic unit, meaning any case, pallet or parcel built for transport or storage (GS1). GS1 makes GS1-128 the required barcode for it, and says an SSCC must not be reused for at least one year after the shipment date.

The two systems don't compete. A common setup is an ITF-14 printed on every case at the factory, plus an SSCC logistic label applied when that case or its pallet ships to a customer.

Next step

List every case configuration you ship, such as 12-pack and 24-pack, and build a GTIN-14 for each in the check digit calculator. Then send your box printer the artwork and ask for a printed test that is verified before the production run.