A UPC barcode or UPC barcode specifically represents the identity code assigned to a company that produces or sells a product, plus the code assigned to that product by that company. In some cases, you can get additional information by reading the 12-digit number in the barcode, but alternatively, you can impress your friends by learning how to translate the barcodes and spaces in the barcode into actual numbers. Cut or hide the numbers under the UPC barcode, then "read" the numbers by looking only at the bars.
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Method 1 of 2: Translating the 12 Digit Numbers Printed on the Barcode
Step 1. Look up the meaning of barcodes online, especially for 12-digit barcodes
The UPC system only encodes the manufacturer's identity and identification number for a specific product, except in certain cases which are described below. Specifically, no additional information is entered into the UPC system, so you won't get any information if you try to read the barcode yourself. Instead, look up the meaning of barcodes online using a free search service such as GTIN, the official company for barcode generation in America, or upcdatabase.org, a user-generated database. Enter the 12-digit barcode into "GTIN" or into the "Search for a product" field, for each of these websites.
- There are some exceptions which will be explained at the bottom of this article.
- GTIN according to the UPC data system is part of, for short, the Global Trade Item Number. The 12 digit UPC number can refer to GTIN-12, UPC-A, or UPC-E.
Step 2. Understand the basics of barcodes
Even if a 12-digit barcode doesn't contain human-readable information, you can still learn how it works. The first 6–10 digits of the 12-digit barcode indicate the company that produces or sells a product (both can create barcodes). This code is created and sold by a non-profit organization, GS1, upon request. The remaining digits, except the last one, are made by the company itself, to describe each of its own products.
- For example, a company registers the code 123456. It can then print various 12-digit barcodes starting with 123456, one each for each product. Compare two barcodes from the same company to see if you can understand what the company code means.
- The purpose of using the last digit will be explained later in this section.
Step 3. Learn how to translate a barcode if the first digit is 3
Drugs, pharmaceutical products, and sometimes beauty products usually have a barcode that starts with the number 3. The next 10 digits are the special numbers of the US National Drug Code. The process of converting a drug code to a barcode can result in ambiguity, so you may not always be able to make a list of drug codes to check. Instead, look for the drug code on an online NDC search.
- This type of 12-digit number is sometimes referred to as the UPN, or Universal Product Number.
- Although drug codes are always 10 digits long, they may also include hyphens (or spaces), which are not indicated in the barcode. For example, 12345-678-90 and 1234-567-890 are different drug codes, but only one of them can use the same sequence of numbers as a barcode.
Step 4. Study the barcode with the first digit of the number 2
This barcode is used for items that are sold by weight. Specifically, the first six digits, including the number 2, indicate the company producing the product, and the next five digits are used locally by the store or warehouse to identify the weight of the product, or the price for a specific weight. If you have multiple products from the same location but with different weights, you might try reading the codes for the specific weight. Unfortunately, the system is built by each warehouse or store, so there is no universal code to translate.
Type the entire barcode into the GSI company search, in the "GTIN" field, to search for the company producing the product. You'll be able to see which part of the barcode is the company prefix or company prefix (usually the first six digits, but not always). The remaining digits (except the last one) are codes used to indicate weights or prices
Step 5. Learn the last digit
The last digit, called the "check digit", is automatically determined by entering the previous 11 digits into a mathematical formula. Its purpose is to check for printing errors. While many counterfeit UPC barcodes have been found, usually created by companies that don't understand that they need to register for a barcode, getting the correct check digits is not difficult, so it does not appear to be a reliable method of spotting counterfeiters. (For that purpose, look it up in official databases.) If you're curious or passionate about math, you can enter the barcode into the GTIN-12 check digit calculator, or follow the self-checking formula:
- Add up all the digits in the odd positions (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th digits).
- Multiply the result by 3.
- Add up the multiplication result with all the digits in the even positions (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th digits) - including the check digits.
- "Crop" all but the last digit of the above result, which is the number in the ones place. (This process is called modulo 10, or divide by 10 and find the remainder.)
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Subtract the above result from 10 to get the answer. For example, if the previous step yielded an answer of 8, you would get 10 – 8 =
Step 2.. This answer must be the same as the last twelfth digit of the barcode.
Method 2 of 2: Reading UPC Barcodes Without Numerals
Step 1. Understand this reading method
Although barcodes are designed to be "read" by a scanning machine and translated by a computer, with practice you can also read a UPC barcode and translate it into a 12-digit number. It won't be very useful, especially since these 12 digit numbers are usually printed beneath the bar image, but you can learn it as a clever trick to show a friend or coworker.
Bar codes that use a non-UPC system or have a different number of digits cannot be read this way. Most barcodes on products sold in the United States and Canada are UPC barcodes, but be careful with the abbreviated 6-digit UPC barcode, which has a different and more complex coding system
Step 2. Find three sets of longer lines
The barcode is divided into three sections by three sets of slightly longer lines. Pay attention to the bottom of the vertical bars: some lines are longer than others. There are two longer lines at the beginning, two in the middle, and two at the end. These lines are useful for helping barcode scanners read the code, and not for translating it as numbers. However, the lines also have a use in this method: the bars to the left of the center length line are read slightly differently than the bars to the right. The detailed explanation is below.
Step 3. Identify four different stem widths
Each vertical bar (black or white) has one of four different bar widths. From the thinnest to the thickest, each representing a width of 1, 2, 3, or 4 applies to all bars in this method. Use a magnifying lens if necessary, trying to notice the difference in the width of the rods. Knowing the difference between two bars of almost the same width is probably the most difficult part of reading barcodes.
Don't get me wrong, this is not the actual number you are looking for, the numbers 1 to 4 only show the width of the bar
Step 4. Write down the thickness of the bars on the left
Start with the sticks on the left, between the longer sticks on the far left and the longer ones in the middle. Starting with the first white bar on the left, measure the thickness of each bar, black or white. Each digit in the 12 digit number you are looking for is encoded by four bars. Write down the thickness of each bar, then divide it into groups of four each. When you get to the extra-long middle bar, you'll have six groups of four each.
- For example, if the first white bar after the extra long line on the left is the thinnest, write 1.
- Next, if the black bar to the right is the thickest, write 4.
- If you're done with four bars (black and white), leave some space before writing for the next bar. For example, if you have already written "1422", move the pen to a new line before writing the next bar width.
Step 5. Do the same for the right side, but start with the black bars
Don't mean the extra long rod in the middle. Start with the first normal "black" bar to the right, using the same technique. This time, each group of four bars (representing a single digit) will have a black-and-white-black-and-white pattern. Stop when you have six new groups of four digits each, and don't interpret the extra long bar on the right.
Step 6. Translate the bar width into actual numbers
Now that you know the appropriate bars (of different widths) for each number, what you need next is to know the code to translate those numbers into actual digits in a 12-digit number. Use the following instructions to do this:
- 3211 = 0
- 2221 = 1
- 2122 = 2
- 1411 = 3
- 1132 = 4
- 1231 = 5
- 1114 = 6
- 1312 = 7
- 1213 = 8
- 3112 = 9
Step 7. Check the results
If the numbers are printed below the barcode, read the numbers to see if you made a mistake. You can also search for the product barcode in the GTIN database, type the 12-digit barcode number you are looking for into the "GTIN" field. You'll find any product from a company that has officially registered its barcode, although sometimes the company prints its own barcode incorrectly that isn't entered into the system. Oftentimes, however, these databases will return product names that match the item you're looking for, if you read the barcode correctly.
Tips
- Outside of America & Canada, a 13-digit EAN barcode system similar to this is more commonly used. The EAN system contains an additional digit which is used as the country code, the 12 digit UPC bar code can also add the number "0" in front if you want to write it in the EAN system. The number "0" is used as the country code for Canada and America, but remember that this country code indicates the country of the seller, not the country of manufacture.
- Type your barcode directly into Google to be directed to the free search service upcdatabase.com.
