ITF-14 Barcode Generator – Barcodes for Shipping Cartons and Cases
What Is an ITF-14 Barcode?
ITF-14 (Interleaved Two of Five – 14 digits) is the GS1-specified barcode symbology for identifying trade items at the case or carton level. Unlike EAN-13 or UPC-A, which appear on individual consumer products, ITF-14 is printed on the outer packaging – the corrugated cardboard boxes that contain multiple units of a product during shipping and warehousing.
The “Interleaved Two of Five” encoding technique pairs digits together: the first digit of each pair is encoded in the bars, and the second in the spaces between them. This interleaving achieves high density while maintaining excellent readability even on rough surfaces like corrugated board.
ITF-14 is designed to be printed directly on brown corrugated cardboard using flexographic printing – a process that has lower resolution than offset or digital printing. The symbology’s wide bars and generous tolerances make it the most reliable choice for this demanding printing environment.
Technical Specifications
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Digits | 14 (1 indicator + 12 GTIN digits + 1 check digit) |
| Character set | Numeric only (0–9) |
| Indicator digit | 1–8 (defines packaging level; 0 = same as contained item GTIN) |
| Check digit | Modulo 10 (same algorithm as EAN-13) |
| Symbology type | Linear (1D), continuous, interleaved, fixed-length |
| Bearer bars | Required – thick frame bars around the symbol to prevent partial scans |
| Minimum module | 0.495 mm (at target size) – larger than EAN-13 for corrugated printing |
The bearer bars – thick horizontal or full-box borders around the barcode – are a critical feature of ITF-14. They prevent the scanner from reading a partial code if the scan line drifts to the edge of the symbol, which is especially important on rough, uneven corrugated surfaces.
Common Use Cases for ITF-14
- • Shipping cartons: Every outer box moving through a distribution centre – from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer – carries an ITF-14 barcode for automated sorting and receiving.
- • Multi-pack identification: The indicator digit distinguishes packaging levels. A case of 12 bottles has a different ITF-14 than a case of 24, even if the individual bottles share the same EAN-13.
- • Warehouse receiving: ITF-14 barcodes enable quick check-in of deliveries. Warehouse staff scan the outer carton to record all contained items without opening the box.
- • Retail back-of-store: Stock rooms use ITF-14 to manage inventory by case rather than by individual product unit.
How to Create an ITF-14 Barcode
- 1. Open the Barcode Generator and select ITF-14.
- 2. Enter 13 digits (the check digit is appended automatically) or the full 14-digit GTIN. The first digit is the packaging indicator.
- 3. Configure bearer bar style (top/bottom or full box) and bar height to meet your corrugated printing specifications.
- 4. Download and verify the barcode with a scanner before sending to your packaging printer.
Processing runs entirely client-side – no data upload, no registration required.
ITF-14 vs EAN-13 – When to Use Which
EAN-13 (or UPC-A) goes on the individual product that the consumer picks up from the shelf. ITF-14 goes on the outer carton that contains multiple units of that product. Both encode a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) – but at different packaging levels.
ITF-14 is not suitable for point-of-sale scanning at retail checkout. Its larger bars and bearer bar frame are optimised for industrial scanning environments, not the close-range laser scanners at a supermarket till. Never place an ITF-14 barcode where it might be confused with the consumer-level EAN-13.
For shipping labels that require additional data beyond the GTIN (such as batch numbers, expiry dates or serial numbers), consider GS1-128 barcodes, which use Application Identifiers to encode structured data fields.
Related Topics
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