Thousands of happy customers Worldwide | 3m+ Barcodes sold globally | 10,000+ scans each day
Barcode Verification
A few of the large retail chains (including some supermarket chains) in Australia and overseas require a “Barcode Verification Report”.
A ‘Barcode Verification’ report is a report generated by a ‘verification machine’ which does some test scans of your final printed barcode (as printed onto the label/packaging) and then assigns a scan grade to the barcode. A, B, C, and D, are “pass grades” and mean that your barcode has been printed well & scans easily. E and F are “fail grades” which mean that your barcode has been printed poorly and is difficult for the barcode scanner to decipher.
If your retailer requires you get a Verification Report please order one below (you will also need to post a sample of your printed barcode, on its packaging/label, to us).
Please note that our verification machine can only verify EAN-13 and UPC-A barcode images that are between 80% and 135% magnification (please see the Standard Barcode Dimensions).
Verification Reports
Barcode verification reports for your barcodes. You will need to post a sample of your final product packaging (or your product’s printed barcode labels) to us, because the verification test has to be done on your final printed barcode. Our postal address is available on our contact us page.
Why do some retailers require a verification report?
Verification Reports are useful for large retail chains as they tell them that your barcode is safe to use in their retail stores. A “pass” verification report gives the retailer confidence that their staff won’t run into issues when they try to scan your barcode at the checkout, or be forced to manually type your barcode number into their system every time a customer purchases one of your products. To see a list of some of the retail chains that require verification reports please click here.
If I order verification what will I receive?
If you order barcode verification from us you will need to post us a sample of your final printed barcode, on the label or product packaging (you can find our address here). When we receive this we will get it verified. Our verification reports are completed to an internationally accepted standard, using advanced verification technology.
Verification reports take about 2-3 working days to be completed. We will email you the verification report (in a PDF document) when its ready.
How do I make sure that my barcode passes?
Barcodes are put through stringent tests with the verification machine to ensure that they are compliant, and able to be easily decoded by a range of retail barcode scanners.
About 20% of the barcodes that we receive fail the verification report. To ensure that your barcode is likely to pass verification please read on:
Your barcode needs to be at least 30mm wide, and have a 3mm blank margin on both the left and right sides (called the “quiet zone”). Please see the Standard Barcode Dimensions.
Ideally your barcode should be printed in black on white (black bars on a white background). Metallic inks are not suitable.
Ideally your barcode should be printed on a glossy surface, instead of a matt surface (because barcode scanners like reflective surfaces). Recycled paper isn’t suitable.
Examine your printed barcode under a magnifying glass and ensure that the vertical bars and spaces are clean and sharp. If there is any ink spread or ‘shading’ in the spaces between the bars, your barcode may fail verification. You could also test-scan the printed barcode (if you have a handheld barcode scanner), or you could email us a PDF of your barcode (inserted onto the label/packaging) and we can print it and test-scan it, and let you know how easily it scans for us.
