What ITF-14 is for
ITF-14 is the barcode printed on the outside of shipping cartons, trays and cases. It carries a GTIN-14, the number for a pack of your products rather than a single item. Warehouses and distribution centres scan it at goods-in to know what is inside without opening the box.
ITF stands for Interleaved 2 of 5. It encodes digits only, in pairs: one digit in the bars and the next in the spaces between them. That makes it tolerant of rough printing, which is why it is used straight onto corrugated cardboard, where an EAN-13 would smudge.
How a GTIN-14 is built
Start with the GTIN-13 of the item inside the carton. Drop its check digit, and put an indicator digit from 1 to 8 in front. The indicator marks the pack level, for example 1 for a case of 12 and 2 for a case of 24. Then calculate a new check digit on the end, using the same method as EAN-13.
So a 12-pack of an item with EAN 5012345678900 might get GTIN-14 15012345678907. Keep a record of which indicator means which pack, and do not reuse an indicator for a different quantity.
When to use ITF-14 or GS1-128
ITF-14 carries one thing: the GTIN-14 of the carton. That is enough for most suppliers shipping identical cases. If your customer also wants a batch number, best-before date or weight on the carton, they will ask for a GS1-128 label instead, which holds several data fields with application identifiers. Our generator does not format GS1-128 yet, so use ITF-14 for the GTIN and check your customer's supplier manual for anything more.
Printed straight onto brown corrugated board, ITF-14 is forgiving. On a white label it can be printed smaller, closer to the lower end of the size range.
How to create an ITF-14 barcode
- Work out your GTIN-14 from the item's GS1 number, as above.
- Choose ITF in the generator and type all 14 digits.
- Check the preview number matches your record exactly.
- Download SVG and give it to your carton printer or packaging designer.
- Print a test carton and scan it with the scanner at your warehouse or your customer's.
Printing ITF-14 on cartons
- Size: nominal is about 152 mm wide by 41 mm tall, with a range of roughly 25% to 100% for cartons scanned by hand.
- Bearer bars: a thick frame around the code, or bars along the top and bottom, stops a scanner making a short, partial read. Most carton specs require it; add it in your artwork if your printer does not.
- Placement: put it on at least two sides of the carton, at least 32 mm from any edge.
- Quiet zone: leave clear space of about ten times the narrow bar width on each side.
