Work out the printed size of a UPC-A, EAN-13 or EAN-8 barcode at any magnification, and check whether the narrowest bar fits your printer's dots cleanly.
At 100% magnification the narrowest bar (the X-dimension) is 0.33 mm. Everything else scales from that:
UPC-A: about 37.29 × 25.91 mm including quiet zones.
EAN-13: about 37.29 × 25.93 mm including quiet zones.
EAN-8: about 26.73 × 21.64 mm including quiet zones.
Retail scanners are designed for magnifications from 80% to 200%. Pick the size that fits your packaging, but avoid shortening the bar height.
Matching the barcode to your printer
Printers place ink in whole dots. If the narrowest bar is not close to a whole number of dots, bars come out uneven and scanning suffers. The calculator shows the bar width in dots and suggests nearby magnifications that land on whole dots for your printer resolution.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard UPC barcode size?
At 100% magnification a UPC-A symbol is about 37.29 mm wide and 25.91 mm high including the quiet zones (1.469 × 1.02 in), with a narrowest bar of 0.33 mm.
How small can a UPC or EAN barcode be?
The usual minimum is 80% magnification (about 29.8 × 20.7 mm for UPC-A). Some packaging allows smaller sizes by agreement, but most retailers expect 80% to 200%.
What is magnification?
A percentage of the nominal size. Everything scales together: the bar width, the overall width and the height. 100% means a narrowest bar (X-dimension) of 0.33 mm.
Why does printer resolution matter?
Each bar must be a whole number of printer dots wide. If 0.33 mm is 3.9 dots on your printer, some bars print wider than others and scanning gets harder. Choose a magnification where the bar width lands close to a whole number of dots.
Can I shorten the bars to save space?
Truncating (reducing the height) is discouraged for retail barcodes because it makes them harder to scan in any direction. Reduce magnification instead, within the allowed range.