Barcode Verification

A verification report is a test scan of your barcode exactly as it appears on the finished packaging, carried out on calibrated equipment rather than an ordinary scanner. It measures how reliably the symbol will read across a range of conditions and returns a grade: A, B, C or D is a pass; anything below is a fail, with the reasons set out.

Some retailers ask for one before they’ll list a product. Most don’t. The section below tells you which situation you’re in.

Do you actually need a verification report?

Your retailer has asked for one — yes, you need it, and it needs to be done on the printed packaging, not on artwork. Order below.

You’re stocking supermarkets or hardware chains — likely yes. These are the categories that most often require verification. Check acceptance by retailer.

Nobody has asked, and you want reassurance before you print — you probably want the barcode artwork test instead, at $20 USD. Same equipment, same information, applied to your artwork rather than to a printed pack.

You’re selling online only — no. Verification is a physical scanning requirement. It has no bearing on Amazon listings or e-commerce.

Verification is not a legal requirement anywhere, and it isn’t something we require you to buy. It’s a document some retailers ask for, and you should only pay for it if you have a reason to.

Verification report or artwork test?

These are two different products for two different moments, and choosing the wrong one costs you either money or a reprint.

Barcode artwork test — $20 USD. Done before you print. You email us a PDF of the artwork at 100%, A4 or smaller. We print it in black and white on a laser printer and test it on the same equipment used for verification. You get the same measurements and a grade, but it is not an official report and won’t satisfy a retailer who has asked for one. It tests the symbol, not your final print process — so it won’t catch problems caused by your printer, substrate or ink colours.

Verification report — $59 USD. Done after you print. Tested on the real packaging, in the real colours, on the real material. This is the one retailers accept.

Which? If a retailer has asked for a report, you need the $59 verification. If you’re checking your own work before committing to a print run, the $20 artwork test is the cheaper and more useful option — and doing it first makes a later verification much more likely to pass.

How to give yourself the best chance of passing

Just over 10% of the reports we fail. Almost all of those failures come down to the same small set of mistakes, and every one of them is avoidable before you print.

Size. The most common cause of failure by some distance. The barcode must fall within the official size range — you can reduce it to 80% of the standard size or enlarge it to 200%, but outside that range it will fail. See our EAN-13 specifications.

Quiet zones. The blank margins to the left and right of the symbol are part of the barcode. Crowding them with text or artwork will fail the report even when the bars themselves are perfect. Our images already have the correct quiet zones in place — the problem usually arises when a designer crops or repositions the image.

Print quality. Look at the printed barcode under a magnifying glass. If the edges of the bars look fuzzy, blurred or filled in, it will not pass.

Contrast and colour. Scanners read contrast, not colour. Dark bars on a white or very light background. Avoid red bars, light-coloured bars, and printing over artwork or a busy background.

Surface. Curved surfaces, seams, folds and reflective or transparent materials all cause problems. On a bottle or tube, rotate the barcode so the bars run around the curve rather than across it.

Before you send anything, scan it yourself with a handheld scanner if you have access to one. If it doesn’t scan well for you, it won’t pass verification.

What happens after you order

1. You order, and we get in touch. We’ll email you confirming the postal address and what to send.

2. You post us the packaging. We need the barcode on the finished packaging as it will be sold, or as close to that as possible. Artwork on plain paper is not sufficient for a verification report — that’s what the artwork test is for.

3. We test and report. Reports take 2–3 working days once your packaging reaches us. Allow for postage on top of that, which is the longer part of the wait for most international customers.

4. You receive the report by email. Pass or fail, you get the full results. If it fails, the reasons are itemised.

Our address is on the contact page. Please don’t post anything before ordering — we won’t know what it belongs to.

Common questions

What grade do I need? Depends on the retailer. Many accept a C or better; some specify B or above. Ask before you print, because the difference is often just barcode size.

What happens if it fails? You get the reasons. Usually it’s a dimension or quiet-zone problem, which means correcting the artwork and reprinting. A re-test after reprinting is a new report.

Can you verify from a photo or a PDF? Not for a verification report. Verification measures physical print characteristics that a photo can’t capture. A PDF can go through the artwork test instead.

How long is a report valid? There’s no expiry, but it only describes the print run it was taken from. Change the packaging, the printer or the material, and the report no longer represents what’s on the shelf.

Do I need one for every product? One per barcode. If ten products share the same artwork template, size, and print process, most retailers will accept a report on one of them — but confirm that with the retailer rather than assuming.

Do I need this if I bought my barcode from you? Not because of where the number came from. Verification tests the printed symbol, not the number. Every number we sell is checked before sale, but no supplier can guarantee your printer will reproduce it well.

Order a verification report. Reports are completed within 2–3 working days of receiving your packaging.

Working with a book, magazine, CD or DVD? See book barcodes, magazine barcodes, CD barcodes and DVD barcodes.